Review of the new Renault Laguna Coupe Tom Tom

Dipping below the £20,000 price point and featuring standard satellite navigation in addition to the Laguna Coupe's already generous standard specification, the TomTom special edition version looks an attractive prospect. The Laguna Coupe is comfortable, well-built and attractively styled but it isn't the sportiest number when shown a set of bends.

Selling big non-premium coupes to car buyers on these shores is a thankless task. We'll quite happily splash out on a stylish three-door if it's got a prestige badge on its nose but there's an apparent national aversion to any large sporty number that lacks the right brand equity back-up. Maybe we've had our fingers burnt once too often by shaky residual values or perhaps the current crop of such models may simply not be up to much. More likely, as a country, we could just be the worst kind of shameless badge snobs. Whatever the reason, it makes the task facing Renault's Laguna Coupe look a tricky one but the French brand has come out fighting with the TomTom special edition model.

In a bid to boost sales of the likable but easily overlooked Laguna Coupe, Renault fashioned this Laguna Coupe TomTom. It's rooted in Renault's ongoing commercial relationship with leading satellite navigation provider TomTom and we've previously seen TomTom-branded versions of other smaller Renault products. As you've probably guessed by now, the car comes with sat nav as standard but there are other extras thrown in to supplement the Laguna Coupe's already generous standard equipment list and a temptingly low price to boot. Will it be enough?

The most efficient and affordable engine in the Laguna Coupe range forms the basis of the TomTom version. It's a 2.0-litre dCi diesel with 148bhp. Performance isn't electric but the car will see 60mph 9.5s after setting off and there's a top speed of 131mph ripe for exploration where conditions allow.

"The TomTom special edition version certainly makes this three-door Laguna more accessible.."

The Laguna Coupe has a similar firmed suspension set-up to that of the sporty GT model from the standard Laguna range and although the car displays good body control and changes direction very smartly, it never feels seriously sporty. The ride quality is pretty good, while both engine and wind noise are extremely well-suppressed, making the Laguna Coupe a great car to cover big distances in. Unfortunately, the same could be said for the Laguna hatch and the fact that it doesn't provide many more driving thrills than that car is a problem for the Laguna Coupe.

Compared to the Laguna hatchback, the three-door body of the Coupe model is 5cm shorter and 4cm lower. It's also a massively more rewarding car to look at. The long front overhang of the hatch is retained and from some angles, it makes the Coupe appear slightly ungainly but that's the only real bugbear. Employing a classic coupe roof line that falls away to the rear, the Laguna is an elegant proposition. There may even be a hint of Aston Martin about the way the LED tail lights curve around the rear corners and the boot lid lifts to form a narrow lip spoiler. Inside, the impressive interior of the Laguna hatch is carried over with quality soft-touch materials and a neat control layout. The fascia itself is so soft you could lose your keys in it.

Those sleek exterior lines are always going to force some compromises in terms of interior practicality but the Laguna Coupe does work as a four seater. Rear seat passengers can be accommodated in reasonable comfort although those over six feet tall may struggle with the headroom. The boot aperture is narrow so inserting large items could be a struggle but the space inside is generous with a 423-litre capacity available. The levers mounted on either side of the boot interior drop the 60:40 split rear seats in one movement and raise the available load length from 1m to 1.8m.

There's nothing stingy about the Laguna Coupe's equipment quota. The basic package gets you 18" alloy wheels, an advanced Arkamys 3D sound system, automatic headlamps, rain-sensing wipers, climate control and rear parking sensors. Then you have the extras that come with the TomTom special edition package which run to the Carminat TomTom navigation system (one of the better sat nav installations on the market), an automatic parking brake and satin chrome centre console trim. All of that comes at a £2,100 discount on the standard 2.0 dCi Laguna Coupe, putting the TomTom model at a tempting sub-£20,000 price point.

The large coupe sector isn't exactly bristling with activity. While BMW 3-Series Coupe and Audi A5 models continue to do brisk business, the list of cars without premium badges is a short one that starts to peter out after the Laguna Coupe, Peugeot's 407 Coupe and the Passat CC from Volkswagen, which is a four-door car anyway. Renault is looking for the Laguna Coupe to attract buyers who might find smaller coupes like the Volkswagen Scirocco and Alfa Brera too frenetic while tempting premium brand buyers with its value for money. The TomTom model is certainly a boost to the car's value proposition. You'd need well over £4,000 more to get a diesel 3-Series Coupe and it would come with far lower equipment levels.

The 2.0 dCi unit is the Laguna Coupe's cleanest engine and its most affordable from a running costs point of view. It helps the TomTom special edition models to 47mpg combined cycle economy and emissions of 157g/km. The residual values for the Laguna Coupe will not stack up as well as those of premium brand rivals but this apparently well built and good-looking car shouldn't be the financial millstone that some similar vehicles have proven in the past.

The market for large coupes without a prestige badge on the grille isn't a big one in the UK but Renault's Laguna Coupe is at the head of the class. Although not particularly sporty, it is stylish, well built and comes with a big bundle of standard equipment. The challenge facing this car is to generate sales from the larger groups of buyers who purchase big coupes with prestige badges and smaller, sportier coupe models. The TomTom special edition version, with its standard satellite navigation and discounted pricing, certainly makes this three-door Laguna more accessible and should help give sales levels the necessary shot in the arm.