In a word… no. It’s extremely good, the Coupé GT, but it is obviously a softer machine, and rightly so. I am guessing the Laguna Coupé buying demographic is a little bit more mature than yer average Clio Cup hoon, and I am glad that Renaultsport decided not to get involved with it (yet…), leaving its sporting brand untarnished. The V6 Laguna is impressively quick but it is sensibly geared up for comfort. As a result, dynamically it lacks the final few honed edges of perfection that would merit the Renaultsport appellation.

    The main thing I remember about the GT is body roll of an angle so hilarious I thought I had momentarily been transported to the deck of Dame Ellen MacArthur’s trimaran during a particularly severe South Atlantic squall. All right, I am overstating this perhaps (just a tiny bit), but there was plenty of lean as the body shifted hither and thither on the soft dampers and springs. And the brakes were adequate, no more or less, which meant a hefty stamp on the middle pedal was required on the approach to each corner to actually scrub off meaningful speed. The steering was too light and over-assisted, while the engine – beefy enough in the midrange – was no firecracker, even by turbodiesel and/or V6 standards.

   And yet… I was following Mr Charlesworth in the Clio 200 Cup, a car we rate very highly here at ‘Dep-O’. The auto gearbox is what all auto gearboxes are, smooth but inherently lazy and wont to do what it likes, even when you are vainly demanding a lower ratio of it, and it’s kind of hard to fully commit to balls-out cornering when you’re looking at the world at a 45-degree angle… but that 4WS and the meaty engine meant something quite incredible was happening. I was keeping up with the little green bullet ahead.

    OK, so there was Sweeney-esque tyre-squeal, my palms were sweaty with the anticipation of what motoring hacks like to term ‘a big moment’ (and what everyone else calls a ‘monumental crash’), and I don’t think that Laguna Coupe will ever work as hard again in its life. I also think that Simon, who is an extremely fast driver, and the Clio probably had something in reserve with which to deposit the huffing and puffing Coupe in the middle distance. But the fact remains – I wasn’t being left behind.

    And that’s an impressive performance for a diesel auto coupe weighing well over a tonne-and-a-half. In fact, I am beginning to wonder what Renaultsport could do with such a capable chassis and obviously impressive engine, if it were allowed free reign. I’d also like to try the petrol 3.5 model, an engine not far removed from that found in the Nissan 350Z. Imagine an RS Coupe GT, complete with 4WS, stiffer dampers, tougher springs, bigger brakes and a manual gearbox, toting about 280bhp. It could be done. It would be exceptional. Who’d be laughing about the performance Laguna then, eh?

Renault Laguna Coupé GT V6 dCi 235

The whole truth and nothing but the truth...

The Laguna Coupé isn't about to tear up the rule book and set it on fire. Nor will it change French car loathing minds about buying a big French car.

What it does do though, is pack a front-wheel drive chassis which challenges Ford's supermacy in the family car market. It is stylish and build quality is okay, and yes, one day it will probably prove a bargain second-hand buy.

This car is light years ahead of the terrible to drive Avantime, the last coupé Renault built.