Renault Laguna Active (2007) Drive CAR review

What’s all this then?

A Laguna with the agility of a Porsche Boxster. Through a slalom, it will turn in instantly, change direction with comparable speed – but not hint at the dreaded pendulum. Your hands will have steered just one, crisp input, and been met with firm, accurate response. How do we know? Renault laid on the comparison for us. The most bizarre press launch test – but, intriguingly valid. Welcome to Active Drive. Or, to cut marketing hype, the four-wheel-steer Laguna. The Japanese loved such technology in the ‘80s but primitivity and expense killed it off. Renault’s unexpectedly revived it, given it a modern twist, and will sell it to you next year for about a grand. The system will also appear on the forthcoming Laguna Coupe.

But is it as good as, let’s say, a 3-series?

Well, would you believe, Renault brought that along, too. Over a twisting hill route, the Laguna was comparably responsive. Of course, the BMW was ultimately more satisfying, but the Laguna seemed as alert, as keyed in; input directly transmitted action. What’s more, it had better mid-corner steering response and was less severe and more linear on turn-in. Interestingly, it also banishes the electric power-assisted steering's soggy indecision – while the BMW’s hefty rack had more feel, the Renault was more sensitive to fingertip inputs. Naturally, it’s very agile in town, cutting wheel-twirling, but you probably guessed that, just as you’d imagine it shows up the standard Laguna; no comparisons with the BMW valid there.