Specifications
Price:
£27 850 - 33 150 (R337 500 - R402 000)
Maximum speed:
203km/h, 0-100km/h in 10 seconds
Combined fuel economy:
7.6 litre/100km
I'm in France, learning to cook. This isn't just one of those long weekends in Provence where you make a quiche, drink too much Côtes du Rhône, and flirt with divorcees from Surrey.
I'm studying at a grand culinary school in Paris, busy every day stuffing things into small creatures, making mushrooms look like flowers and doing unspeakable things to live lobsters.
The chefs shout at us if we over-whisk our hollandaise, I have calluses on my fingers from chopping things into brunoise and sisolé and paisan all day, and my hands always seem to smell funny.
So a bunch of my fellow students and I decided to take a trip to Champagne for a break and I promised to supply the wheels. Obviously we needed a people-carrier, but which?
This was easy. There are certain immutable truths in life. In the realm of food, for instance, I have come to the conclusion that the more splendid a nation's domestic kitchens, the worse its cuisine (Americans microwave their popcorn in grand, marble-lined showrooms; the French make ballotine de volaille à la mousse de foie gras in grubby, two-hob galleys).
Meanwhile, if you want the best people-carrier on the market, you should buy a Renault Espace.
So I borrowed the new Grand Espace, the "stretched" version, which is now available with the world's most powerful two-litre diesel - the Dci 175 from the Laguna.
For 2006 they've given the Espace a makeover with new lights and grille, gadgets (such as a large-screen, Bluetooth 3D satellite navigation system), and the world's largest sunroof (2.2sq m).
But what our car lacked, I was dismayed to find as I picked it up from Renault's HQ in south-west Paris, was two seats...the two that take it to seven.
The Gallic media man shrugged: "Our media-fleet Espaces only come with five seats, I'm afraid."
To me this seemed about as logical as offering a sports car with no engine or an off-roader with only two-wheel drive (which, now I come to think of it, has been known).
Never mind. A quick detour to pinch some sofa cushions sorted that and two of our number had a great time lounging in the boot.
Fantastic diesel
But how would an engine from a sedan cope with hauling a gigantic bus loaded with seven proto-chefs, some of whom (OK, me) have overdone the crème Anglais recently? As it turned out, very well indeed.
This is a fantastic diesel engine - quiet and smooth and (once it has struggled to get off the mark) possessed of ample mid-range thrust.
Even packed to the sunroof with our United Nations Culinary Peace Force (representatives from Brazil, the US, Japan, France, Costa Rica and the UK), we had no problem keeping up with the usual Death Race 2000 on the Périphérique (the Paris ring road) and were soon swinging through the gates of Moët et Chandon for a tour of their caves.
Here we had a fascinating insight into the production of the world's most sought-after beverage. As I understand it, they take white wine, give it a really good shake and then multiply the price by a factor of 200.
Premium for excellence
You could argue that Renault employs a similar pricing strategy for the Espace, considering that our car is for sale at more than £30 000 (R364 000) including all the fancy bits.
But, as with their fizzy plonk, the French know full well that the rest of the world will always pay a premium for excellence. - The Independent, London