Renault Latitude

Renault just renewed its executive saloon, the Latitude, which is incidentally the first Renault to be built in South Korea.

Made for people who prioritize ride comfort over everything else, the French (Korean) sedan proudly steps up and for a mere S$78,588 (before COE), and ensures your ride to be as smooth as it can be.

Looks-wise, the Latitude features sleek lines that makes its 4.9 meters in length seem shorter. The boot line is complemented by an aesthetically pleasing curved chrome panel that features the car's name, contributing to the curvy design and making the car, once again, less imposing. The front end is, in my opinion, too tamed down compared to the rest of the body design, making the Latitude look too "normal"; preventing it to stand out from the crowd of older
cars on the road. I believe that a slightly more aggressive or teasing face with, for example, finer headlights and a more carved front bumper would make the Renault much more attractive.

Inside the car, the occupants' well-being is the main concern, and the Latitude offers comfortable seats, spacious leg room for the rear passengers and the driver even has a treat in the form of a massage seat, which can be set for light or strong massage and alternates from higher back to lower back, helping you endure long drives or massive traffic jams by relieving the usual back stiffness that tags along with seating in a car for too long. The deep 511 litre boot has a trick up its sleeve to accommodate the most space-demanding cargo: the rear seats fold over in a 1/3-2/3 way to form an almost flat loading area, turning the executive saloon into a functional week end car for sporty getaways.

The dashboard is clear and simple, and I particularly liked the neatly integrated display between the two dials, which is there to give you the car's status information such as fuel consumption, average speed, gear you're in, etc.

Although being built in Korea, the Latitude is still a Renault, and the look and design feel of the interior cabin is quite similar to the new Renault range which is, in my opinion, a bit boring. The now-standard auxiliary line in and USB port are hidden in the centre storage area between the front seats and the Arkamys 8-speaker sound system does a good job at keeping your ears entertained. Unfortunately, the Latitude is equipped with the same, slow interface as the Mégane Coupé Cabriolet and iPod operation becomes a game of patience. Another feature shared between the two models is the intuitive TomTom GPS which has a better physical integration in the centre console on the Latitude.

The Latitude is equipped with Renault's standard card-key and the car has proximity sensors that detect the key, unlocking the car when your hand grabs the door handle, but also locking the car automatically when you walk away. This neat system really makes life easy as you never have to wonder if you have locked the car properly. The only downside of such a system is that if you change car you'll probably leave it opened half of the time.

Drive-wise, the Latitude's smooth suspension does a good job at eating up irregularities in the road, and Renault's usual precise steering feel is back, although not really used on this model as, by nature, it is not a car that you will want to hit the curvy B roads with. If you do end up pushing the car on small roads, though, get ready to encounter understeer, as expected from a car in this segment. 

One thing that must not be overlooked is the sheer size of the Latitude, which becomes a handful when reversing the car: the reverse sensors end up not being sufficient, giving little useful information and a rear-view camera or reverse radar display would definitely not be a luxury.

The two-litre four-cylinder naturally aspirated engine that rests under the Latitude's hood is the same as the Mégane Coupé Cabriolet and develops the same 141hp but now has to haul a car that is about 100 kilos heavier. If you have read my review of the Mégane Coupé Cabriolet, I believe you can forge your own idea of how it behaves. If not, don't expect amazing pickup nor high-speed performance. I found this engine and transmission combo lacking on the lighter Renault so imagine how this one feels. Surprisingly, maybe because of the relaxed-drive nature of the Latitude, the four banger doesn't feel all that bad, and I was astonished to experience a mixed fuel consumption of only 8L /100km over the duration of the test drive, which includes highway, city driving and traffic jams. Knowing how heavy my foot usually is (check out the mixed fuel consumption of my previous test drives and you'll understand), reaching a single-digit consumption is quite a feat.

All in all, the Latitude is a relatively affordable executive saloon with quite friendly fuel consumption which offers a smooth and relaxed drive. It is not, however, a sports car, and its size gets a bit tough to handle, especially when reversing, where a rear view camera would really be appreciated.