Renault Grand Scenic 1.5 DCI Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Renault Grand Scenic 1.5 dCi
Prices: £16,495–£20,295 - on the road
Insurance Group: 5
Emissions: 134g/km
Performance: Max Speed 112mph / 0-60mph 13.4
Fuel Consumption: (combined) 55.4mpg
Safety: Twin front, side & curtain airbags / ESP / ABS with emergency brake assist / ISOFIX child seat mountings.
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height, 4560/2077/1645mm

GRAND DESIGNS

Our Rating: 7.7 / 10

Renault’s Grand Scenic looks awfully large to be powered by a 1.5-litre diesel. Steve Walker investigates.

Lots of power is a nice thing to have in a car but it isn’t always absolutely necessary. Motorists who are willing to put up with acceleration that’s on the sluggish side and pulling power of sub-epic proportions can save a lot on the upfront purchase price and in the running costs of their vehicle. The question is, how low is it sensible to go? Ordering the seven-seat, 1.5 tonne Renault Grand Scenic with a 1.5-litre dCi diesel engine looks like sailing a little too close to the wind but if all you’re after is a roomy family runabout, the French marque’s little diesel could pull it off.

The Grand Scenic operates in the space between the standard five-seat Scenic and the Renault Espace but that doesn’t give it a whole lot of room for manoeuvre. It’s available with seven seats or with five seats and a boot like an aircraft hangar and its primary focus is on facilitating a simple, hassle free life for a medium to large family. In light of this, it probably doesn’t need an enormously powerful engine but there will still be a tendency amongst buyers to view the 1.5-litre dCi diesel unit as being on the diminutive side for such a sizable vehicle.

You can find the 1.5 dCi engine in a number of Renault products from the Clio supermini to the Laguna medium range family car. None of them are as weighty a proposition as the Grand Scenic, however, or have the potential to gain weight with up to seven passengers and their luggage piled on board. Added to this, the engine’s maximum power output is just 105bhp making it the least powerful of the Grand Scenic’s engines. On the plus side, there’s torque of 240Nm available at 2,000rpm which is substantially better than every one of the Grand’s petrol engine options. It gives the car enough muscle to cope at low speeds even with a large payload on board but the emphasis is on coping. Performance is fairly pedestrian as a 0-60mph time of 13.4s demonstrates.

You automatically approach any seven-seat MPV measuring four and a half meters from nose to tail with certain expectations about how it will drive but it’s worth giving the Grand Scenic the benefit of the doubt. Comfort is the priority and rightly so but Renault has also managed to instil a high degree of poise and manoeuvrability. With its suspension system lifted from the Megane, the Grand Scenic resists cornering roll well and has plenty of grip at the front wheels. The ride quality is first class, the car tiptoeing over poor road surfaces and avoiding too much wobbliness on sudden undulations. The steering is sometimes too light and the manual gearbox isn’t the slickest but in general, and considering the Grand Scenic’s family remit, Renault has got the balance just about right.

There’s no shortage of space inside the Grand Scenic. The front seats are comfortable with plenty of room and a good view out courtesy of the large windscreen. In the second row, three adults can be accommodated without any difficulty and leg room is as generous as that of anything in the compact MPV class. Slide these second row seats forward a touch and it’s also possible to seat a couple of six-foot adults in the rear. Their knees will be bunched up a little as the chairs are set close to the floor but it’s far from uncomfortable and smaller occupants will have no problem.

The third row seats fold into the flat boot floor in a one-touch motion increasing boot space from 208 to as much as 702 litres in the seven seat model. The middle row of seats can fold and tumble forwards, enabling reasonably dignified access to the third row, or be removed completely to create a massive 2,063-litre space. Seat back trays, a deep glovebox and segmented door pockets add to the Grand Scenic’s strong practicality score.

The fact that Renault is offering the 1.5-litre dCi engine across its Grand Scenic trim level range shows the faith the manufacturer has in the unit’s ability to pull its weight. I