The weekend was here and I was going to be driving a car I had always admired through the showroom window yet never seen on the road, the Renault Laguna Coupe. After shaking a few hands and signing a few papers, I had the keys to a dark brown Laguna Coupe that was fitted with a nice set of 18 inch wheels. The large braces grin upfront along with the Aston-esque rear end, together combine to make a rather attractive coupe.

Drive

The 3.5 litre V6 engine produces 240 horsepower and 330 Nm of torque. Although the Laguna packs in 36 horses less than the Accord Coupe, it is still a fun car to drive. When you put your right foot down, there is a very nice growl from the exhaust but acceleration is slightly disappointing with a 0 – 100 km/h run clocking in at 7.2 seconds. I was impressed to find the Laguna was equipped with not only cruise control but a speed limiter as well – very good for avoiding those radars I say. The best part about driving the Laguna though has got to be the handling. The steering is very responsive and it requires serious effort before the Laguna loses grip of the road.

On the other hand, the Laguna is very thirsty and is nowhere as fuel efficient as the Accord Coupe. Another issue with the Laguna is that the traction control cannot be switched on/off when in motion and more importantly there isn’t any icon that illuminates to inform the driver if it’s currently on or off. Lastly, it was a shame to find the Laguna up-shifts cogs for you when pushed hard even if you have set it into manual mode.

Interior

Our test car was fitted with an all black leather interior that was dark yet comfortable to seat up to 4 adults. It won’t take long for you notice that the quality of the interior is far superior to its competitor the Honda Accord Coupe. Even though there are hard plastics present, majority are covered with soft leather padding which isn’t the case with the Accord Coupe. The 8 speaker Bose sound system sounds great and can play your tunes through a USB, CD and AUX port.

On the downside, the Laguna Coupe isn’t kitted out as well as the Accord Coupe. For instance it doesn’t come equipped with a sunroof, navigation system or a reverse camera. It was also disappointing to find that the Laguna came equipped with only seat heaters, something we’d never need in this part of the world. However, the most shocking part for me was to discover the Laguna didn’t offer any boot space. Since the spare tire is placed over the boot floor, there is virtually no space to put anything more than a ladies handbag before it gets full.

Verdict

All in all then, if we think about it rationally, the Accord Coupe is clearly the better car. It offered more features, more space and more power. However, at AED 20,000 less the Laguna Coupe did prove more fun to drive.

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