Renault Laguna Coupe Tested
The Renault brand has been around in Malaysia, to my knowledge, for more than 50 years, since the little rear–engined Gordinis that dotted the landscape in the early sixties to the Renault 10’s and Renault 12’s of the late sixties and early seventies. Those of us old enough may also remember the very rare Renault 16, considered to be a powerful car back then, in the mid-sixties.
The brand has gone through numerous ‘stop and go’ actions, with the local distributorship changing hands from the Wearne’s Group to Federal Auto, after which there was a lull of a few years. For the last 6 years, the Renault brand has been distributed by TC Euro Cars, part of the Tan Chong Group, which also distributes Nissan cars. The fact that Renault and Nissan are under the same ownership umbrella sort of explains the situation.
It appears that TC Euro Cars is embarking on a renewed strategy of going into niche marketing as opposed to mass market cars – the introduction of the Megane, the Clio, together with their many variants, and the renewed Espace in the last couple of years signalled the company’s bold new approach in marketing strategy. Earlier this year, the Koleos SUV was added, and just recently, the latest, and possibly the best-looking Renault of all, the Laguna Coupe, made its appearance here in Malaysia.
I missed the launch itself, but to make up for it, TC Euro Cars very kindly arranged for a test drive over a couple of days – for a short while, by virtue of the fact that I was the custodian and occupant of the Laguna Coupe, I was the subject of curiosity, admiration, and perhaps even envy of many who saw me with the car. I am quite sure about the envy bit, because when I parked it near Centre Point Bandar Utama for an hour, somebody maliciously scratched the front bonnet.
Whatever else you may say about the two-door Laguna coupe, you cannot help but agree that it has a beautiful shape – it is timeless, a car that will forever look good, the kind of car that will end up in automotive collectible lists another fifty years down the line. View form the front, it presents a wide, aggressive mask, very contemporarily French at the top, with perhaps a hint of Italian influence in the under-bumper grille design. The expensive-looking one-piece combination headlamp assembly blends into the bonnet, and the sleek lines extend over the low roofline all the way to the rear end. At the rear, it is a sporty-looking but neat design incorporating a mini spoiler and twin exhausts. Sideways, the Laguna Coupe is low-slung, with a sleek silhouette.
Inside, the fittings are top class, with soft leather coverings with stitching, contoured seats that allow you to sit in rather than sit on the seats. Instrumentation is a little Spartan, but functional, with analogue-type tachometer and speedometer. Dual zone climate control air-conditioning keeps you cool all the time. A Bose sound system with a 10-speaker system provides the occupants with high quality sound. Bluetooth connectivity allows hands-free telecommunications. For additional convenience, the rear seats split and fold down in a 60/40 configuration for versatility. Entry is keyless, with a push-button start/stop function, while the handbrake is automatic. A parking sensor at the rear helps to warn of obstacles when reversing. Isofix child seat supports are standard equipment.
On the outside, 18-inch alloys with low profile Continental tyres enhance the looks, while Bi-Xenon headlamps illuminate the night. Tail lights are of LED type.
Under the hood, the heart of the Laguna Coupe is a 2.0 litre Turbo charged, 4-cylinder, 16-valve gasoline engine delivering 170 horsepower at 5,000 rpm. This does seem a little on the low side, but I was told that this is a ‘low pressure’ turbo, which means that the boost pressure is set on the low side for reliability. Maximum torque is 270Nm at 3,250 rpm. Personally, I think they should have considered something like the engine in the Megane RS, which puts out a more impressive 230 horses from the same 2.0 litre capacity.
The saving grace is perhaps the 6-speed automatic, which helps the Laguna along a little; the result is a zero-to-hundred sprint of 9.2 seconds, and a maximum speed of 220 km/h. However, during my test stint, the maximum that I could get up to on a reasonably long straight was 210 km/h. I found the Laguna Coupe to be good for cruising at around the 180 km/h mark; it gets up there pretty quickly, after which it seems to run out of steam, and takes forever to make it to the top. To be fair, and bearing in mind our speed limits, most of the people who would drive this car would find it perfectly fine. For the more particular drivers, I would say that the Laguna Coupe would make a fine high speed cruiser; if you need more than that, go for the Megane RS or something similar.
As far as fuel consumption is concerned, the Laguna Coupe returned a mean figure of 14.3 litres per 100 kilometres over two tanks of fuel, based on a mixed driving style, which included the high speed runs to check out the maximum speed. This works out, at the current price of RM1.85 for Ron95 fuel, to 26.45 sen a kilometre; this is probably the worst case scenario, as a more light-footed driver than I am could save up to 20 percent on this. The official figure for a combined cycle is 8.8 litres per 100 kilometres. The 66 litre tank will give a range of around 450 kilometres before you start to run dry.
The brakes are large ventilated discs at the front, with slightly larger solid discs at the rear; stopping with the Laguna Coupe is not a problem. Standard equipment includes ABS (Anti-lock Brake System), EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) and EBA (Emergency Brake Assistance). Traction control is the form of ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) and ASR (Acceleration Slip Regulation) is also included in the package. On the drive, I found the handling of the Laguna Coupe to be quite impressive, although body roll appears to be a little more than I expected. This is probably due to the relatively soft settings for the suspension to skew the car more for comfort than outright cornering performance. Given the engine specifications, this is understandable, as the Laguna coupe is more for the leisure-minded user rather than the performance driver.
All things said, the Laguna Coupe would appeal to those who want a good-looking two-door coupe either as a day-to-day use car, or as an additional car in the garage for special occasions. Aesthetically, it is pleasing; a real performer it is not, although it can get to places fast enough if you so wish to. For the asking price of RM260k, it does offer a great package, so why not?
