Renault Talisman Estate Review
The Renault Laguna is no longer available. There is a reason why. Renault has another car in the same class, so the Laguna was no longer needed. No, they renamed it. It is called Talisman now. Or, as the receptionist at Renault Netherlands told me, Talisman. |
| Renault Talisman Estate |
It is a French car after all. Talisman. When you enter the Renault showroom and you say you want a Renault Talisman, they will tell you they do not have one. You will have to go to a different dealer. But if you say Talisman, they know what you mean and you can order one. All joking aside, things have changed compared to the Laguna.
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| Renault Talisman Logo |
The Laguna was, especially in its last years, not the most popular car. That was because of... It is a cliche, but those are often based on something. The French looks of the car, not really reliable, a bit quirky... So yeah, they wanted something different at Renault. They had to market a new brand.
With this, they took a different approach. They tried to make a reliable car. More over, it is less quirky. This starts at the design.
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| Renault Talisman Front |
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| Renault Talisman Side View |
It is not very exciting; very clean. I think it is a pretty car, though. I hear more people say that, including those who would normally be critical about Renault. Maybe Renault hit the mark by
choosing this more relaxed approach. What happens? I put it in Comfort and the seat massages me.
I really am like. This is bizarre.
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| Renault Talisman Seat |
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| Renalult Talisman Steering Wheel |
The Talisman has been around for some time now. Not very long, but it has been around in the Netherlands for some time. However, that is the sedan. This is the estate. This will be the Talisman best seller, because we do not care about the sedan in the Netherlands. We want a lot of space.
A lot of space; the trunk is huge. When you fold down the rear seats, you will have over 1,700 liters of space. That is a lot.
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| Renault Talisman Trunk |
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| Renault Talisman Estate Navigation |
Six families will be able to sleep in there. It is unbelievable. The interior is more modern and business like than we are used to from Renault. I cannot get used to this huge R-LINK 2 screen in the center console, but it is tidy and clean. They put a lot of effort in omitting or hiding buttons, such as the volume control of your stereo.
You can do this using touchscreen, but it is cumbersome. There is a button for it, but you can not
see it when you are driving the car. It is the stalk behind the steering wheel, perfectly hidden behind this spoke. If you are not familiar with this, it can take a long time to find it.
It feels almost German, just like the Megane did. It is reliable and the materials used are good. There is no cheap plastic. Only this trim looks tacky, but okay. Those are details. In general it is a very neat car. The handling is fine as well. It is not super exciting, but good.
The suspension is nice, but this car has Multi-SENSE. This means there are different driving modes.
You can choose Sport, Eco, personal settings, and Comfort. The latter makes me feel the Talisman
is too much a German product. I get it. They looked at what sells in the segment and how to approach this. They did well with the reliability and good handling.
In France, at Renault, with Laurens van den Acker as head of design. Let's not forget that. Dutch pride.Somewhere it is a shame it lost its quirkiness and its crazy details. There is not something strange about the design that can only be thought of by the French. I think it is a shame. In the past...
I lived in France for a while and often went there on vacation.
I have a thing for French cars. I think the XM is very cool. The Laguna is a pretty car, different from all the other cars on the market. I feel less so with the Talisman. There is a solution to that. A normal Talisman costs 32,000 euros, which buys you the base model. You should save up and choose the Talisman Initiale edition.
That is the edition we are driving now. This buys you a 197 hp gasoline engine with automatic transmission. That is a fine combination for this car. More importantly, it gives you the French quirkiness. You will get the 4 Control system; four-wheel steering. Renault is leading with this, because the previous generation Laguna already had this system.
It is... The Germans only just introduced this, in the high segment only. That is funny. They already had this in France and they kept it. In addition, the color. It seems black, but when you look carefully you see it is a very dark purple. It is metallic paint, really cool. I think this is a fashion detail. The most French detail maybe the design of the rims.
When you look carefully you can see the Eiffel tower hidden in there. I had to look carefully, but what has once be seen... You cannot deny it. The rims have the Eiffel tower. How French can it get?
That is why you should say Talisman. In French. But you will need the cool edition for this. Made possible.
Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLUqSv3Kr9k
