Espace, all the courage of Renault – The Republic

A look, also fast, the old model worth a thousand speeches: the Espace revised and re-evaluates thoroughly the concept of “new” often abused in the world of ‘ car. The machine is in fact entirely different and not only from the point of view of design, mechanical or of the preparations: here has changed its approach, it has gone from a minivan to a modern crossover, tall, slender despite its size and terribly the fashion.

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in short, Renault followed the courageous path covered in the recent past with the Mercedes a Class, the Nissan Almera with the Qashqai-: there worked out great and – from early sales numbers – it also seems that the French company the revolution is working well. Of course, we are in a higher segment of the market, here the store travel at different speeds, but one thing is certain: Renault so she went out from the commercial swamp Maxi MPV, more and more difficult to sell on the European market.

Crossover aside, here the news as we said, are still lots. Starting from the work done on driving dynamics because the new Espace was not only “look” sporty, but also “to be.” Here is the fineness of the rear steering wheels at a slower speed to 50 km / h in comfort mode (60 km / h in neutral mode and 70 km / h in sport mode) steer in the opposite direction to the front, with an amplitude maximum of 3.5 degrees. Not little. At speeds above this threshold, the rear wheels turn in the same direction than the front.

In practice, those who are behind the wheel does not notice anything (God forbid, he thinks that horrible feeling, it would be the same as losing of control …) but in terms of sensations, low speed is as if the new Espace step would shorten the benefit of maximum agility. Menttre at higher speeds it has an effect comparable to that of a longer wheelbase, favoring the pleasure of driving, the stability and the feeling of security. Simple and brilliant, especially since we are talking about a big car along almost five meters (4.86 to be precise with a width of 1.89 m, 1.68 height and wheelbase of 2.88 m) so that it becomes particularly agile and quick to change direction. Of course, also it contributes to the feeling of handling the crash diet of 250 kg compared to the previous generation, but much of the credit goes to the four-wheel steering, however.

Among the revolutions the newborn “R-Link 2″, the system multimedia tablet that has a big 8.7-inch touch screen in the center console and the “Multi Sense”, through which you can change the character of the new Espace: you choose from four programmed modes of operation to which it adds a whole customizable (Eco, Comfort, Neutral, Sport and Lost). And to understand what it is combined with the settings, the system changes in the cockpit lighting hue becoming, respectively, green, blue, sepia, red and purple ..

It also changes style, nature of the information display and color of instrumentation, and acoustic sounds of the engine, massage function in comfort mode for the driver and front passenger (lower back, relaxing and tonic, really effective) and reduced power in the operation of the air conditioner in eco mode.

it should be said to be fair that without the steering wheel controls or those on the center console – which is able to control all functions – the famous multimedia system “R-Link 2″ would be a bit ‘too complex to use, with a touch system not perfect (we are spoiled by the perfect homemade tablet …), and with too many features tucked into submenus. But it is not a problem as – fortunately – you can do without touching of the screen.

Rich security provided with the system of driver assistance (ADAS), with speed regulator adaptive, emergency braking system activates, for involuntary alarm on exceeding the roadway, safety distance alarm, Hill Start Assist, Easy Access system II, Easy Park Assist, and other functions. And the same goes for the goodies like Bose stereo with 12 speakers and the infotainment device with Carminat TomTom Live navigation system with real-time updates.

And under the hood, the choice is endless, with technology Twin Turbo (a small, low inertia turbo works at low rpm, the second turbo kicks in at higher rpm), on the Energy dCi 160 160 hp and 380 Nm of torque with dual-clutch 6-speed transmission EDC ( 4.6 l / 100 km, 120 g / km CO2).
In range there is also the frugal Energy dCi 130 from 130 hp and 320 Nm of torque with 6-speed manual transmission (4.4 l / 100 km and 116 g / km CO2), or the powerful Energy TCe 200 EDC 7, 200 hp and 260 Nm of torque with a new dual-clutch transmission EDC 7-speed with short spacing for stronger shots (6.2 l / 100 km and 140 g / km CO2). Change the performance – of course – but not the common characteristic of having a robust low-end torque, absolute guarantee, even for the less powerful versions, an excellent driving dynamics.

Finally the prices: given the content and the space (though talk of a large seven-seater) we can consider them very competitive, ranging from 33,300 euro up. Few are able to offer “much” stuff at this price.