If I joined a slimming club and I needed an incentive to lose weight, then the best carrot on a stick would be if my weight were to be displayed in glorious full screen colour to the rest of the class, albeit, if I needed to lose weight.

Similarly, if the speedometer on my car was centre dash and able to be viewed by every passenger, it could well be an excellent incentive to encourage me to keep to the speed limits, albeit, if I broke the speed limits.

And on the new Renault Espace, the dashboard is visible for all passengers, and includes a clear display of driver information, instead of it being hidden behind the steering wheel. The speed is shown digitally in large numbers, so there is little chance of you saying ‘I really didn’t know what speed I was doing officer’.

For 2006, this seven seater MPV is on sale now, with new exterior and interior features. The exterior styling is softer, but not to my taste. The interior however, is very exciting and innovative. New trim favours dark charcoal tones for the upper part of the cabin and there is a fantastic panoramic glass roof, which can be either fixed or electric. It gives the impression of travelling in the open air and an electric sliding sunblind protects passengers in full sun.

Cars nowadays are full of new technology and the Espace is no different. There is a card for keyless entry and a stop start button, Formula One style. The Espace benefits from bi-xenon cornering lights, which allows the headlights to follow the line of the road ahead. This provides twice as much light, and in corners, it offers up to 90% additional lighting, giving an excellent view of the road.

The brake is electronic and automatically disengages when the driver accelerates. There is an impressive list of core features, such as rear parking sensor, which is useful because the Espace is very long. The luxury MPV is equipped with rain and light sensors, ‘See me Home’ lights, a tyre pressure monitoring system, and a range of braking safety systems which includes ESP.

The owner will need to be careful where items are placed within the Espace, because there are numerous storage spaces and I certainly would find it quite easy to forget where I had put everything.

The seats are very comfortable and supportive and sliding rear seats make it easy to access the third row of seats. When folded entirely forward, the seatbacks become a highly practical table and the flexible cabin has a flat floor.

The Espace benefits from a five star Euro NCAP crash test rating and comprises eight airbags and three point seatbelts complete with load limiters.

There is a choice of three petrol and four diesel powerplants, mated to a 5 or 6 speed manual or Proactive transmission. I drove the new torquey 2 litre engine, developed in a joint Renault/Nissan programme. The 175hp engine achieves a 0-62mph figure of 10 seconds, a best in class performance and has record fuel consumption figures of 38.2mpg. With less then 200g/km CO2 emissions, the Espace is a leader in its vehicle category in environmental terms and I found it so quiet, even on a bad road surface. In fact there is little to hear inside the cabin, so you would easily pick up the tut tutting of your passenger, if you go above the speed limit!

I found it very car like to drive and when I came across an unsuspected S bend, and cornered sharply, the Espace stayed on course.

And if you are looking for another incentive to buy the new Renault Espace, prices start from £19,700, rising to £35,580.

By Sue Cooke