Category: Compact MPV 
Price Range: £13,595 to £23,695
Smart looks, spacious cabin, clever interior, feeling of quality, decent boot.
Firm ride, not the most exciting car to drive, some wind noise, awkward rear seat removal.
Renault refines if not revolutionises the compact MPV genre.
Twenty five years after inventing the Espace and some 13 years since it pioneered the Scenic, there's few carmakers with more MPV experience than Renault.
So the new third-generation Scenic better be good then.
So far we've already driven the bigger seven-seat 'Grand' version, but now it's the turn for the cheaper, entry-level short-wheelbase Scenic to impress.
Set to go head to head with the Citroen C4 Picasso and Ford C-Max, the new five-seat MPV is as practical as ever but boasts class-best rear-seat room, a big boot, handling no different to a conventional hatch and quality on a par with the Germans.
Six engines are offered: three petrols including the punchy but efficient 128bhp 1.4 TCe, and three diesels including the 105bhp 1.5 dCi that carries over. In the new Scenic the small diesel helps the compact MPV average almost 58mpg and emits a low 130g/km of CO2 promising some of the lowest running costs for any small MPV.
If that's not enough the Scenic is loaded with kit and is an astonishing £2,000 less than the car it replaces and around the same amount cheaper than the equivalent Ford C-Max.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Renault Scenic
wrote on 04 03 2008
wrote on 11 12 2007
wrote on 08 12 2007
wrote on 23 09 2006