It looks benign enough. An inoffensively styled people mover in your rear view mirror. You carry on up the road, check the mirror again and it's disappeared, only to blow past a fraction of a second later with indecent alacrity. The Renault Scenic dCi150 has a fully stamped up set of family credentials but shows that being in charge of a family doesn't mean that driving should be a fun-free experience.

This 150bhp diesel engine has been installed as the flagship powerplant for the latest Scenic range. While it doesn't mean that Renault are going to go chasing the likes of the Vauxhall Zafira VXR or even the SEAT Altea FR 2.0 FSI in the sports compact MPV stakes, it does represent a quick and, most importantly, acceptably economical alternative. Besides, think about this for a moment. If you turned up with an MPV that was on eighteen-inch alloy wheels and was festooned with spoilers, would you really be able to pass it off to your partner as something entirely sensible? Me neither. It would be cue for a lecture about school fees, the annual holiday and credit card bills.

A far stealthier way of sneaking in a car that's capable of some devastating overtaking manoeuvres is to go the diesel route and they don't come a lot more competent that this Scenic dCi150. The 0-60 time of a gnat's over 9 seconds doesn't do justice to the way this common-rail diesel gets its thing on in the midrange, punting the Scenic up the road with some purpose. You'll have 251lb/ft of torque to play with, which is as much as a Porsche Cayman S. That will certainly help when you've got your Scenic loaded to the nines with family and gear and you're looking at a big hill, saving you the hassle of downchanging and ragging the engine through gritted teeth. Just press and go with this barrel-chested powerplant.

If changing gear altogether represents an unacceptable waste of left arm resource, Renault has been good enough to supply a slick-shifting six-speed auto that is smart enough to capitalise on this engine's torque. The dCi150 engine is only offered in the top two trims, Dynamique at £19,415 and Privilege at £20,415. The six-speed auto adds another £1,000 to those prices although fuel consumption and emissions take a hit. In the manual, you can expect to see 35.3mpg and emit 154g/km of carbon dioxide. Opt for the auto and, fitted with its particulate filter to achieve Euro IV compliance, you'll eke 32.8 miles from a gallon of fuel and emit 186g/km.

The long wheelbase Grand Scenic is also available for a premium of around £1,500 in five or seven-seat guise, but most will settle for the regular Scenic we're looking at here, offering as it does a usefully larger cabin than its predecessor. Height-wise it's within a centimetre of the first generation Espace, but it's a significant degree longer and wider while the cabin is massively more space efficient. How times change.

"Renault is leveraging its MPV experience curve with this latest Scenic"

The cabin feels roomy enough, the clean lines and low dashboard adding to the airy feel. Legroom is especially generous in the back, particularly when the rear seats have slid into their rearmost position. The central seating position in the back can be removed and the remaining two seats repositioned to allow more elbowroom but it's not quite as slick as Ford's diagonally sliding system. Aside from that minor niggle though, there's very little to fault the Scenic interior. There are storage cubbies in every conceivable nook and cranny as well as some you may need the user manual to find. Even the glovebox is cavernous. With the rear seats in position, luggage capacity is a respectable 410 litres and loading is made simple by a glass tailgate window that opens independently.

Renault has achieved a full five star Euro-NCAP crash test result for the Scenic. Front, side and curtain airbags are fitted as standard to every variant and all berths are fitted with five-point seat belts. There's even the option of Sleep-Safe headrests, designed to protect the head and neck of 6-10 year old children in the event of an accident.

This dCi150 has been introduced to help capitalise on the Scenic's mid-life facelift. Xenon-look headlamps, LED rear lights and revised front and rear bumper assemblies give the car a sharper, more contemporary look a million miles away from the Teletubby-soft original that took Europe by storm. The Grand Scenic model has also been revised with a five seat model offered. This neatly solves all of the 'people or baggage' quandaries faced by many mini-MPV owners by offering five adult-sized seats and a 501 litre baggage capacity (up from 104 on the seven seat car). There's even another 32 litres of underfloor storage where the last row of folding seats once went.

The interiors have been revised with better quality trims and there's also a different palette of exterior colours and alloy wheel designs. The options list has also swelled to include items such as MP3 stereo compatibility, a panoramic sunroof, front passenger seat height adjustment and front and rear parking sensors.

One area where the Scenic has always excelled is in ride quality and this version is no different, the Scenic making short work of rutted A-roads and poorly surfaced motorways. Even on the optional seventeen-inch wheels, bump and thump through the suspension remains very muted. There is a trade-off when it comes to handling, but Renault have probably judged the ride/handling balance wisely. Those few drivers who feel they need a vaguely sporting mini-MPV will find the Focus S-MAX and the SEAT Altea more to their liking. That said, the driving position is now much more car-like.

The Renault Scenic dCi150 is a vehicle for the family buyer who has really done their homework; who wants a quick and capable car that can still do the utilitarian stuff. Have a look round this car and you'll realise where years of MPV experience have paid off.