New Renault Laguna Officially Revealed: In Detail

Press Release

A precise, responsive chassis

New Laguna's chassis features among the very best in its segment. Engineered by Renault to surpass the acclaimed dynamic performance of its predecessor, its steering precision and cornering roll control are sure to satisfy the most exacting drivers. Development focused on New Laguna's specific body-roll with front and rear suspension stiffness uprated by 20 and 50%, respectively, plus higher performance anti-roll bars. For enhanced driving pleasure along twisty roads, New Laguna also features closer-ratio steering, as well as unrivalled filtering of the surface's irregularities and an even greater sense of contact with the road. At the same time, specific work was carried out on the dampers to ensure a remarkably comfortable ride. Indeed, like its forebear, New Laguna continues to figure among the very best in terms of comfort and safety, while the new model's weight has been carefully contained, since it is the first new Renault to be lighter than its predecessor after shedding an average 15kg across the range.

Tranquillity and peace of mind

New Laguna's dynamic performance ensures a reassuring ride for all occupants along with highest-standard comfort and safety, plus first class thermal comfort. Particular attention has been paid, too, to New Laguna's acoustics which – notably on the diesel versions – stand out as the benchmark in the car's segment.

The very best of Renault's active and passive safety expertise New Laguna has benefited extensively from Renault’s acclaimed expertise in the realms of both active and passive safety. In addition to the outstanding handling afforded by its chassis, New Laguna’s braking performance puts it at the very top end of its class, especially with regard to its hot performance test results (total stopping distance measured over ten consecutive stops from 100kph to standstill). New generation ABS technology with ESP and electronic Emergency Brake Assist is combined with a new electro-hydraulic control unit.

On the passive safety front, Renault has developed several solutions based on accident research and real-life situations, which ensure a further-reaching and more effective approach to the issue of occupant safety. A much more stringent brief has led to New Laguna being equipped with latest-generation features such as twin-chamber, dual pressure airbags and dualpretensioner seatbelts. The most spectacular progress, however, has been achieved in the domain of protection against side impact, a major cause of accident fatalities. Side impact protection has been improved thanks to the car's advanced electronic architecture, which has evolved to permit occupant protection systems to be triggered sooner. Based on two sensors positioned in the front door and in the B-post, a specific algorithm automatically adjusts the protection systems' deployment as a function of the impact's force. This set-up is combined with a new-generation, double-side airbag that protects both the thorax and the pelvic area.

Practical and extremely comfortable

Three factors have led to making New Laguna the most silent-running Saloon in its segment: reduced engine-generated noise, especially at low revs, the dampening of road-induced noise and, above all, work on combating wind noise at high speeds. New Laguna is also the first Renault model to benefit from the findings of a series of customer surveys conducted in 2001 and 2002 regarding thermal comfort. A better understanding of customer expectations, and the development of a new air-conditioning unit in association with Nissan for the American market have combined to ensure class-leading performance in this domain. The adoption of an externally-controlled, high-capacity compressor also means that cool air can be produced quickly while calling on the car's air-conditioning only as required to curb fuel consumption. On those markets where it has been assessed, New Laguna's air-conditioning system ranks among the very best systems available. In terms of heating, cabin temperature is raised more swiftly thanks to the powerful electrical resistors employed on the diesel versions. The air-conditioning controls feature an innovative new "Soft-Auto-Fast" triple-action system and are intuitively positioned between the air vents. The location of all the controls on the new dashboard and the way information is displayed have also been revised with a view to further facilitating the task of driving.

Dialled-in reliability and strength

With quality an overriding factor throughout New Laguna's design and development phases, the accent was placed very much on strength and reliability. The new model is targeted to rank among the top three cars in its segment in terms of product and service quality and has accordingly sought to build on the progress achieved on the quality front on other recent vehicles. This work not only extended from its original design to production sign-off, but also covered production itself and servicing.

The following four phases in the development of New Laguna were subject to particularly close scrutiny:

• Design: The functional tests that proved so successful in the case of Modus and Clio were stepped up for New Laguna. Three electronic integration platforms reproducing the vehicle's electrical and electronic architecture allowed all possible combinations to be simulated and ensure they functioned without failure. Experience gained solving problems encountered on previous models – and notably Laguna, either during the warranty period or during roadworthiness inspections – has been fully exploited. New Laguna is also the first vehicle to have been put through its paces in the course of its development at the Electro-Magnetic Compatibility unit which was inaugurated at the Aubevoye Technical Centre in France at the beginning of 2006. Meanwhile, New Laguna's robust design also took servicing and repair requirements very much onboard.

• Validation: More than 120 New Lagunas were put through their paces in a far-reaching series of test track, bench and on-road validation tests over the equivalent of more than 6 million kilometres prior to the model's launch. New Laguna was discretely road-tested across the world with a view to evaluating its capacity to resist such extreme environments as Argentina, Russia, Malaysia and Australia. This specifically-tailored programme saw the vehicle tackle severe climates and road conditions ranging from searing heat, humidity, dust, mud, extreme cold, very high speeds, driving at altitude, very rough roads, etc. Every kilometre covered in these conditions was estimated to be equivalent to three kilometres of normal use.

• Production: every aspect of the production process has been thought through to deliver the targeted results. Active discussion began at a very early stage to ensure that the best of existing Renault and Nissan production practices were implemented. This concerted approach has led to assembly operations across the complete production cycle at the Sandouville factory in France becoming even more efficient and better controlled. It has involved optimizing work stations and reconfiguring flows, introducing more stringent inspection processes and ensuring that vehicles are more effectively protected while in the factory. Static and dynamic tests, as well as electronic diagnostics are performed on each and every vehicle that leaves the plant.

• Servicing: efforts geared toward optimising New Laguna's quality do not end once the car has left the factory. The notions of servicing and reparability were taken onboard from the very first computersimulated models of the new car. Prototype workshops were set up to evaluate and test diagnostics tools and repair procedures. Meanwhile, specific staff training programmes have been introduced, including courses in the use of the Alliance CLIP set which will be extended throughout the network, worldwide. Other initiatives in this sense include specific sales and technical training using e-learning techniques. Already in 2006, the quality of service improved from 71 to 75% of customers reporting to be either satisfied or very satisfied. New Laguna will also reap the benefits of the implementation of the Renault Excellence Plan (PER4) which targets customer satisfaction both at the point of sale and regarding after-sales service.

The promise of low running costs

In addition to being affordable, New Laguna has been designed to be competitive with regard to running costs, too. The new car's attractive running, servicing and repair costs rank it among the best in its segment, thanks notably to its 110hp (81kW) and dCi 150hp (110kW) powerplants. The promise of low running costs The constraint of ensuring attractive purchase, running and servicing costs for all category types was imposed on Renault's engineering and development staff. The concept of Total Cost of Ownership was chosen to serve as a yardstick since it takes into account all the financial factors associated with keeping a vehicle (depreciation and residual value), running costs (e.g. fuel duties) and the budget relating to scheduled servicing (tyre wear, servicing, etc.).

Regarding residual value, which is a function of the model's quality and image, New Laguna has several arguments in its favour in terms of real and perceived quality, as well as its performance on the road.

On the running costs front, New Laguna will be highly competitive. Available alongside the 2.0 dCi 150hp (110kW) engine, the dCi 110hp version stands out as a particularly attractive alternative for both private and professional users. Its running and repair costs have been carefully contained regarding both servicing intervals and repair times.

The 1.5 dCi: the market's indisputable eco-leader

Best in its class on New Laguna, this 110hp (81kW) diesel engine sips a mere 5.1 litres of fuel per 100km (equivalent to CO2 emissions of 136g/km), while oil changes are only necessary every 30,000km. This powerful, reliable powerplant is suitable for the toughest of uses, and particularly for high mileage customers.

The 2.0 dCi: a landmark in driving pleasure, reliability and economy

A leader in the realms of performance and driving pleasure, this 150hp (110kW) engine has been carefully tuned to match the performance characteristics of New Laguna's chassis. Given the vehicle's performance characteristics, the Saloon version's combined cycle fuel consumption is an extremely competitive 6 litres/100km, equivalent to 158g of CO2/km. Its timing chain no longer needs replacing and, like the 1.5 dCi version, it offers similarly longer service intervals and complies with forthcoming Euro5 legislation.

An environmentally-respectful design

The Renault eco² appellation is a hallmark of Renault’s environmental policy and applies to vehicles in its range that comply with specific ecological and economical criteria. Renault eco² vehicles must be manufactured in an ISO 14001-certified factory, have CO2 emissions of less than 140g/km (or else run on either E85 bioethanol or B30 biodiesel) and at least 5% of the plastics they contain must be sourced from recycling. The 110hp diesel-powered New Laguna meets all the conditions required to qualify for the Renault eco² appellation. In addition to being 85% recyclable and 95% re-usable in accordance with the quotas anticipated for 2015, it contains more than 35kg of recycled plastic and also more than 15kg ofrenewable materials.