Under the skin of the revised Grand Scenic is an efficiency improvement that makes it the cleanest seven-seater around – at least until Toyota‘s Prius+ arrives later this year.
The engine line-up includes 110hp 1.6 and 115hp 1.2 petrol engines and 110hp 1.5 and 130hp 1.6 diesels, the latter being the new 114g/km unit.
But it’s with the 110hp 1.5 diesel’s efficiency where Renault has made serious inroads, with CO2 down from 128g/km to 105g/km thanks to the introduction of stop/start. That compares with 129g/km for the equivalent Ford Grand C-max and 135g/km for Citroen‘s C4 Grand Picasso. Economy is cited as 68.9mpg.
That huge efficiency gain gives the Grand Scenic a cost per mile of 49.8p, which compares well against 51.1p for a Grand C-max 1.6 TDCi Titanium or 53.1p for a C4 Grand Picasso 1.6 HDi VTR+, according to KwikCarcost. Those figures come despite the Renault being £170 cheaper than the Ford, and having an RV of 28.9% against 31.7% for the Grand C-max.
The C-max still drives better, if that’s any sort of priority in this class of car, while the C4 is probably the best looking of the people movers. The Scenic’s 1.5 diesel isn’t as refined as its newer 1.6 dCi sibling, and performance is adequate rather than impressive. But for those economy figures, expecting anything else would be unreasonable.
The refresh, including “more contemporary front styling”, has at least in part cured the Grand Scenic’s biggest flaw of a rather dull exterior, and the efficiency gains and Renault’s attempts to enhance ownership experience with things like four-year 100,000-mile warranty make it the most appealing all-round seven-seater in the market.
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