You wouldn’t dare associate the Renault Laguna with an Aston Martin would you? Well that’s until you see the new Renault Laguna Coupe.

With its rear bearing an enormous similarity to James Bond’s company car, the Renault Laguna Coupe is one of the prettiest sub-£30k cars around and the best looking Renault in years.

Adrian Hearn went to Portugal to test the new Renault Laguna Coupe.

After an emergency landing and then a ridiculously turbulent flight, I arrived in Portugal in need of a relaxing car with a calming influence – fortunately the new Renault Laguna Coupe was waiting at the airport.

Legendary British designer Ian Callum remarked that the Renault Laguna Coupe was one of the best looking cars at the 2008 Paris Motor Show – and this man knows a thing or two about cars having designed the beautiful Aston Martin DBS.

And the new Laguna Coupe has clearly taken design cues from James Bond’s car with the rear end looking remarkably similar thanks to the sweeping lights and sleek, flowing lines.

This shouldn’t be much of a surprise really. The Laguna Coupe’s designer’s father owned a selection of Aston Martins when he was growing up and it’s believed he personally owns one of Britain’s finest sports cars now.

The Laguna Coupe’s headlights are the same as the standard Laguna but this is where the design traits end. In standard and GT guise, the Laguna isn’t the most aspiring car but the Coupe, however, is. The 18-inch alloy wheels are smart and from practically every angle the Laguna Coupe looks the part.

With praise heaped on the car’s exterior, it’s important to point of the Laguna Coupe’s inside is also a very pleasant place to sit. On the top GT trim, the interior features full leather seats which are very comforting and supporting. The dash consists of dark well-built plastics while the centre console on our model housed the sat-nav system (a £1,750 option with Bluetooth and six-CD autochanger). Renault is also offering the Laguna Coupe with a top quality Bose sound system which includes ten speakers and an amplifier for £700 extra.

The two downsides to the Laguna’s interior were the indicator stalk which made a very irritating sound and the rear foot room. The front seats practically touch the floor which will prevent a lot of people from putting the feet under – making sitting in the back an awkward experience.

Great handling

One of the most important aspects of the Laguna Coupe is its four-wheel steering set up known as 4Control Chassis. At speeds of less than 37mph, the rear wheels turn in the opposite direction to the front at an angle of up to 3.5 degrees. As a result the car pivots, enabling tighter cornering on winding roads and easier manoeuvrability.

Go above 37mph and the rear wheels turn in the same direction as the front wheels which Renault claims gives the Laguna Coupe the handling prowess of a machine on rails.

The 4Control Chassis is a success. Tight roundabouts are easy to negotiate and when driving at higher speeds the Laguna Coupe feels stable with only minimal understeer when pushed through corners at pace. Overtake at high speed on a motorway and Laguna Coupe is smooth and fills you with confidence. The system debuted on the Renault Laguna GT earlier this year.

At the Portugal launch, the only engines available were the 3.5-litre V6 petrol and 3-litre V6 diesel which produce 240 and 235bhp respectively. There’s good performance to match the power outputs. The petrol will accelerate from 0-62mph in 7.4 seconds and hit 153mph while the diesel manages 7.3 seconds and 151mph.

But it wouldn’t make sense to buy the petrol model. While the diesel is £500 more, you’ll soon recoup the difference with the oil burner averaging 11mpg more than the petrol (39.2mpg VS 28.2mpg). It’s also £190 cheaper to tax and servicing is less frequent. Top level performance figures are practically identical but the diesel benefits from 331lb/ft of pulling power which means better mid-range acceleration than the petrol. To our minds, there is no reason to buy the 3.5-litre V6.

Available purely with a six-speed automatic gearbox, theV6-powered Laguna Coupe make smooth changes and when you want to give it some go, the kick down is quick and effortless.

On the road, the Laguna handles very well. There is plenty of grip through the corners but also a small amount of bodyroll. This is because the suspension isn’t too firm, something important for a cruiser which is likely to rack up a sizeable amount of motorway miles. The downside to this is that because of the softness we found ourselves to feel a bit travel sick after a series of demanding corners.

Renault has worked hard on the Laguna Coupe’s acoustics and there was minimal road noise while both engines tested were enormously refined and quiet. It’s only at tick over you realise you’re actually in a diesel.

View our Renault Laguna Coupe slide show

Good choice of engines

While the V6 models offer good performance, they will only sell in small numbers and – as with large engined French cars – regardless of the car’s looks it’s likely they will suffer from steep depreciation.

There is also a 2-litre turbocharged petrol engine which is capable of 145mph, but it’s anticipated the bulk of sales will go on the 150bhp and 180bhp 2-litre turbodiesels. With the Laguna popular among fleet sales, the 47.1 and 43.4mpg of the diesel engines is likely to be more appealing than the 34.4mpg posted by the 2-litre petrol. All three of these are fitted with manual gearboxes with the 150bhp diesel also available with a manual.

As with all Renaults, there has been a large emphasis on safety with the Laguna Coupe. There are eight airbags and the car shares all the safety features as the standard Laguna which was awarded 36 out of 37 and the full five stars in the EuroNCAP crash test programme.

The Renault Laguna Coupe is a great all-round car. It’s smooth and refined with a variety of engines offering performance or frugality – and in the 3-litre diesel, both. Its natural home is cruising on the motorway or on A-roads, but if you want to give it some stick, the Coupe copes admirably on sharp, winding B-roads. Couple the driving dynamics, with five-star safety and a stunning design and you’ve got a car which may just give its German rivals a run for their money.

Specifications
Models tested: Renault Laguna Coupe 3.0 V6 DCi Auto
On the roads price: £27,995
Price range: £20,995 – £27,995
Date tested: October 2008
Road tester: Adrian Hearn