| Week at the Wheel | Renault Grand Scenic |

Inside & Out:

When a car is made so specifically for families, its main qualities should be space, versatility, durability and storage. The Grand Scenic has plenty of all those. You might not be able to bet your house on the reliability of the electrics (the previous Scenic was notoriously temperamental in this department), but the surface materials and general sense of build quality is excellent. As is the air of family friendliness, with space for five adults and an extra rear pair of chairs for kids that fold up and down easily. When they're stowed, the boot is perfectly flat-floored and perfectly enormous.

Ergonomically it's a little taxing though, particularly the centrally mounted digital instrument binnacle and tiny, fiddly stereo buttons, but it looks good. The driving position is decent too, although those who don't like feeling perched upright might struggle to get really comfy.

Engine & Transmission:

Our week with the Grand Scenic was powered by the dCi 160 engine, daddy of the diesels with about 160bhp and 280lb.ft of torque. It's really the one to go for if you can justify the price, with a massive swell of mid-range punch that doesn't seem to abate even when the car is full of people. It's pretty quiet too, fairly unobtrusive at town speeds and its effortlessness means it doesn't ever really feel strained.

It comes standard with a six-speed gearbox; it's light and slick, with ratios spaced appropriate to the engine's torque plateau, and whose top sixth gear is tall so refinement doesn't suffer on the motorway. Job done.

Ride & Handling:

The Scenic has a surprisingly good go at being enjoyable to drive - far more so than the clumsily roly-poly Renault Koleos. It's not quite up there with the Ford S-Max for car-like cornering stability, but it is grippy, composed and more agile than you might expect.

There's still quite a lot of body movement to deal with under braking, but that's the result of a supple setup that makes the Scenic ride over most surfaces without too much cabin vibration. The steering is very light and the driving position forces the pedals close to you, like a van, so it's not a car that encourages spirited driving. Mind, if you expected that you're looking in the wrong place.

Equipment, Economy & Value for Money:

The Scenic line-up is extensive, with prices extending from family hatchback money into executive car territory. Perhaps it's an obvious conclusion, but you're best off in the middle somewhere, with this 160 engine or the lesser, gruffer 1.9-litre dCi 130 diesel in Dynamique specification.

Our Dynamique TomTom car has, for around £25,000, a premium specification including satnav (which is not great, frankly - it's infuriating to operate and features awful graphics), 17-inch alloys, air conditioning, Bluetooth, auto headlights and wipers, cruise control, tables for the middle row, and second and third row power points. Negotiate a discount and you'll feel you're getting plenty of people carrying for just over 20 grand, and it's noticeably cheaper than the Ford S-Max.

Overall:

Way more sophisticated than the car it replaces, the latest Renault Grand Scenic is one of the most accomplished and stylish big family MPVs on the market. It's comfortable without sacrificing every bit of driving panache, very spacious, feels of good quality and looks decent. Compared to the lumbering Citroen Picasso or the lacklustre Toyota Verso, the Renault is a far more pleasant way of admitting your glory days are over.