After three generations, it is time to take stock. Throughout his career, the Laguna will be trolling a reputation of questionable reliability, little benefit image especially with customer that somewhat boudera this a tad baroque sedan both in its line in his philosophy. Back on a somewhat eventful career.
A bit of history
Produced more than two million copies, the first Laguna name however was a great success. Was created in 1994 as a replacement for the R21, the Laguna resumes some characteristics such as the presence of a tail on the sedan version facilitating and giving access to a beautiful volume of loading, one of the best on the market at the time. No engine is however taken from its predecessor. The break for its version will offer 7-seater from ever seen on this category.
The Laguna 3, unveiled in 2007, well intended to burnish the image of the coat of arms of the large sedan from the Diamond brand. Classic, a tad baroque but elegant style, his ambition was simply to impose itself in the top 3 of the medium-sized sedans in terms of quality and perceived image. Despite certain qualities, the flagship model of the Sandouville plant will not reach the expected production figures and turns off this year with fewer than 400,000 copies produced, or more than 5 times less that the 1st generation, fault no doubt to a non-existent image with the public.
Laguna 3, last name
So we are interested especially in the third generation. The model of this "balance grip" is a 3 Laguna 1.5 DCI The "Zen" in 2014. It therefore has the modest diesel entry-developing 110 hp. Also note, it is the "restyled" version of the Laguna 3, retouching focusing on the front that had not conquered the French public. But is that really enough?
The equipment on this copy is quite comprehensive but not surprisingly includes electric rear windows.
The exterior design has hardly changed since the release of the model in 2007 except the darkening optical front and rear and a discrete modernizing the front giving the Laguna. 1 more aggressive style. LED daytime lights are also the most beautiful effect. The line remains very classical, a little too until falling into banality compared to other sedans in this segment. In profile, the Laguna 3 seems quite massive because of a very plunging rear window and a short, high rear trunk. Sobriety lovers will appreciate this setup here, Slate Grey exterior color and interior leather / black fabric.
On the side of the interior, nothing to shock the French way. Everything is in its place and no frivolity has been accepted, you will find all the shades of gray imaginable (there are 50 from what I understood recently), the inner short presentation remains really sad . As for plastics, the time is not the celebration and that's a shame because they are a little "tasks" next to the lovely leather / fabric to the more than respectable finish. Hope that progress will have been made on the Talisman.
Behind the wheel
Let us go now in the thick of it, what it looks behind the wheel? I settle instead conductor fits my driving position - adjustable steering wheel height / depth is really a plus - inserts the dreaded electronic card and starts. I enter my destination the coordinates on the TomTom GPS system, it is very intuitive and easy to use. Small problem, however: the keyboard. The letters are arranged in alphabetical order, despite not being a hard geek, a QWERTY keyboard would have allowed me to find the letters more easily. This is only a detail, but it's that kind of detail that makes the difference and simplifies your daily life (for it is one of the vocations of this car, to be used every day).
First felt the driver's seat is hard enough, rear visibility is not famous because of a very slanted rear window and the size of the mirrors is not exceptional, that brief
Behind the wheel
Let us go now in the thick of it, what it looks behind the wheel? I settle instead conductor fits my driving position - adjustable steering wheel height / depth is really a plus - inserts the dreaded electronic card and starts. I enter my destination the coordinates on the TomTom GPS system, it is very intuitive and easy to use. Small problem, however: the keyboard. The letters are arranged in alphabetical order, despite not being a hard geek, a QWERTY keyboard would have allowed me to find the letters more easily. This is only a detail, but it's that kind of detail that makes the difference and simplifies your daily life (for it is one of the vocations of this car, to be used every day).
First felt the driver's seat is hard enough, rear visibility is not famous because of a very slanted rear window and the size of the mirrors is not exceptional, brief apprehensive before taking off down the road. It starts with small country roads and the result is quite pleasant. Driving is very pleasant, soft suspensions (a little too in the turns) and the holding of truly exemplary way. Even in the manhandling some tight turns, the Laguna 3 does not move and takes the path stride, really nice to feel his vehicle "glued to the road."
Unfortunately, this is the side of the engine it goes bad. The 110 hp 1.5L small DCI are clearly not enough, more the engine is hollow below 2500 rev / min which forces me to shift down too often. And as if that were not enough, this engine is particularly noisy. Paradoxically the highway, the car is pretty nice. I spend 6th and engine noise diminishes with use of cruise control (steering wheel controls are really significant). Therefore, we feel that the highway is the primary purpose of this type of car, but not with this engine! The 110 hp will not customer wanting to find the height of a level of driving pleasure at the wheel of a large sedan. I feel that you say that my speech is a huge paradox "nice but not nice, there are no longer there! ".
If I summarize the philosophy of the Laguna 3 fits perfectly with a motorway use, so flee the entry-level engine that lacks certification or simply to recovery. Livability is a strong point of the Laguna 3. The driver will be perfectly at ease thanks to an adaptable driving position at all points. The front passenger has a very comfortable legroom without amputating that of the rear passengers. At the rear, the two main seats are enveloping and legroom is quite adequate, however the occupants of more than 1m80 (and this is my case) touch the ceiling, nothing more unpleasant than traveling head bent ... Ladies rejoice, the trunk is simply huge! It even offers one of the largest volume in its class. You can always opt for the Sport Tourer version is also in my opinion more elegant than the sedan.
Opt for the 1.5L DCI does not only disadvantages. Boasting the Renault Eco2 label, the consumption of this engine remains very contained, so that a full can largely take over 1000 km long of course to take a driving "cool." Anyway, the Laguna 3 is not particularly made to be rushed.
Balance sheet
La Laguna 3 is a car to live with, and on that side, it almost perfectly fulfills its role. She easily carry 4 passengers and their luggage in a pretty decent comfort.
But the problem of this car surely stands as one word: banality. Laguna 3 has indeed invented anything. The designers have not been intrepid in the design of the car, not particularly beautiful, not particularly ugly, she melted into the flow of traffic upon its release. No revolutionary engine, no technology allowing it to stand, in short nothing to shake the German references come and go and be part of the top 3 in the category. Renault Laguna admits failure and thus buries the name with the disappearance of the third generation.
But this is only a postponement, Talisman has made a notable appearance in the middle of sedans mid / high range. His style is unanimous, the first tests clearly demonstrate a quality finish up, future bestseller? Renault has ambition and we like it!