At first, one tends to be skeptical about D-segment cars, specially outside Europe. And to tell the truth, it’s easy to understand that. The price increase implied by the continuous evolutions they have been suffering is now persuading you to give up on Audi A3 Sedan or Mercedes-Benz CLA to spend the same amount on vehicles whose brand logo is shared with Opel Karl or Škoda Citigo. However, if that’s what you think, D-owners from many countries would beg you: give these models a closer look. Renault’s latest release helps to prove that if there’s a “sweet spot” of the automotive world, it certainly lies very close to this segment.
If the previous sentence made you think “nah, it can’t be that good”, we’ll start with its downside: this car replaces Laguna, which was certainly one of the most interesting cars in Europe during the 1990s. If you want something else about which to complain, you’ll need to go to a country where it won’t be sold. While most automakers apply most innovations to high-end cars at first, Renault went the other way: its current design language was debuted with Clio, perfectioned with Captur and Twingo, and only then “trickled up” to bigger models. After reinventing Espace and creating Kadjar, and therefore making it even more successful, the French maker employed it in the task of making its D-segment representatives competitive once again. The result, as the pictures anticipate, is not exactly shabby.
When it comes to design, if even Volkswagen came to understand that applying the exact same elements to all its vehicles is not good, it’s not surprising that Talisman resembles Renault’s smaller models and, at the same time, doesn’t. The signature front grille was widened and received chrome strips, while the headlights became sleeker and added those very distinctive boomerang-shaped LED strips. The tail lights feature the same levels of shape sleekness, style boldness and LED usage, so it’s actually relieving that both bumpers look good in a rather discreet way. The sides, in turn, rely on muscular creases but convey elegance, instead of sportiness: this is a conservative sedan, after all, so there are third windows, and the trunk was properly separated into a volume of its own.
Opening the doors will give you very similar feelings. The overall design is quite traditional, featuring soft-touch materials and multiple schemes of colors and textures designed to make the room warm and welcoming. However, paying attention to details will remind you this isn’t a Chevrolet Caprice: Renault’s interpretation of a modern-day “executive saloon”, as it’s officially called, keeps chrome inserts to a minimum, wraps elements in uncomplicated shapes and contours, and adds the omnipresent digital screen: depending on the trim level, it can use 4.2” or 7” units, or the same 8.7” vertical display which was first released with Espace. With 4.85 meters of length, 1.46 of height, 1.87 of width and 2.81 of wheelbase, Talisman is also claimed to be more spacious than any of its direct competitors.
But Renault used much more than upscale trim and touchscreens to fill such ample room. The R-Link 2 infotainment system comes with the two biggest screens, and can include functions such as tablet-like interface, 3D navigation, Bluetooth, voice commands, several Internet-based applications, a rotary knob for those who don’t want to touch the screen, a huge range of customizing options, and Bose’s Surround Sound system, which is offered optionally. Everything paired, of course, to a list of electronic safety systems, along with some other equipments to improve its dynamic behavior: 4Control technology for the chassis, active steering, electronic damping control, variable transmission of the engine sound, and a mode selector that tunes those and other parameters according to how you want to drive your Talisman.
Most of these features came thanks to Renault’s brand new CMF platform, whose modular conception will be used in many other vehicles from Nissan and itself over from now on. Just like all the others who are investing in similar structures, both companies intend to reduce the cost and time required for developing new models. Besides, Renault claims to have spent a lot of time improving the quality Talisman will offer not only when new, but also over time. According to its press release, it “also pushed the cosmetic and on-road durability of the Talisman through their paces in a range of other checks. These uncompromising round-the-clock tests reproduced the most stringent treatment to which the car might be exposed in the course of its working life and are equivalent to several years of heavy duty use”.
Finally, no carmaker would be serious when talking about significantly evolved cars if their powertrain remained outdated. To honor an impressive aerodynamic coefficient of 0.27, there will be five engines, two using gasoline and the others using diesel. All of them comply with Euro6 and feature direct injection, Stop&Start technology, braking energy recovery, one or two turbochargers, and the Energy label, which symbolizes Renault’s current family of downsized engines. The first two are TCe 150 and TCe 200 and only use the dual-clutch, seven-speed EDC semi-automatic transmission. Among the others, the upscale dCi 160 uses the same gearbox and features twin turbos. Parallel to that, both the dCi 110 and dCi 130 feature a six-speed manual as standard, leaving the other one as an optional.