Category: Large MPV 
Price Range: £20,295 to £35,640
Airy, solidly-made interior, versatile seat-sliding ability, excellent air conditioning, refined V6 diesel, very easy gearchange on manual versions, lots of storage space, quiet ride, crisp handling in four-cylinder versions.
V6 versions feel a bit clumsy, long-wheelbase Grand version's boot is smaller than before, too many hard plastic surfaces, rear seats are heavy and awkward to remove, expensive.
A highly individual MPV with a huge engine choice, but it doesn't seem much of an advance over the previous model.
The suspension is designed to resist body roll, always a good thing with a tall MPV, but this isn't achieved at the expense of a hard, restless ride. It's a good compromise, better in the regular Espace than in the more lurching Grand, and the ride stays acceptably smooth even with a light load on board. Noise levels are impressively low, even wind noise, despite the huge sunroof fitted to top-spec Espaces, although you are prone to cross-winds against the slab-sided body. The automatic air conditioning is very effective; front occupants get their own controls, and ample air vents keep rear passengers cool.
Sitting in the middle row can induce a bit of nausea due to the closeness of the doors and the slightly lumpy ride, and these seats which have little scope for adjustment are upright, short under-thigh and flat; adults may find them uncomfortable for longer journeys. Headroom is quite limited, especially in the rear seats. Roller sun blinds for all rear windows are standard on the top-spec Initiale and available as an option on all other trim levels.
Renault claims the latest Espace to be roomier than the old one, and quotes figures to prove it, but subjectively it doesn't seem that way. Comparing a Grand Espace's three seat rows to comparable legroom positions in both Espace III and Espace IV, the current car has a shorter boot space. This is due partly to its more laid-back driving position, partly to its thicker seats. Rear-row headroom is tight, too. That said, this is still a roomy MPV whose rear seats are wide enough for their occupants not to feel short-changed.
The Espace is unique in the way the two rearmost seats (which are set a little apart from each other) can be slid all the way forward to the mid-seat position (with middle seats removed) if you want more breathing space in the middle row. The three seats that normally occupy that area slide unusually far back, too. All these seats are tricky to remove, though, because they are heavy and the backrests don't lock down in the folded position. Optionally, the front passenger seat can swivel to face rearwards.
The dashboard has a large central glovebox but there's another 'box ahead of the front passenger and two more above the central 'box. One contains the stereo head unit (except in the Grand Espace, which relies on remote control), the other the optional sat-nav. Other storage opportunities abound, including several lidded and lined cubbies atop the dashboard, but the gas-strut supports for the flip-up picnic tables, mounted on the backs of the front seats, have gone. Cheaper springs have taken their place. There does however seem to be a lack of useful storage holes in the middle row, whereas the rearmost passengers do get their own lidded box beneath the windows.
The Espace IV has a 'Grand Auditorium Cabasse' stereo system with a 6-CD changer in the facia or luggage compartment, channelled through a 40 watts per channel amplifier and eight speakers. It sounds good, but when the head unit is boot-mounted you can control it only with the steering column controls or the remote, hand-held key pad which lacks an easily-reached stowage point. This seems an unnecessary complication. The sat nav can be slow to react, lagging behind in a junction count-down, and the screen lives behind a low facia flap. A DVD system is optional, with screens mounted in the backs of the front-seat headrests.
