There’s nothing wrong with badge engineering. The problem is that the Americans have given it such a bad name with stuff like the Chrysler Crossfire, Pontiac Aztek, and pretty much everything Mercury or Saturn ever did.
But done right, badge engineering is the automotive world’s multi-ethnic, multi-cultural utopia. Imagine a Ford, completely done in America because patriotism is in, that’s actually entirely a Mazda MX-5 (Ford’s the Japanese carmaker’s biggest shareholder), but with Sync,‘kinetic’ styling, a choice of either the 1.6-litre 180bhp Ecoboost four-pot or the 200bhp 2.0-litre, mated to the new dual-clutch Powershift six-speed. Bam! A million sales in 20 years, guaranteed.
Someone in Dearborn should give me a job…
So, if badge engineering was a person, it would be someone like Nicole Scherzinger, Lewis Hamilton’s girlfriend. She’s Filipino-Russian-Hawaiian and it’s done wonders for her, so why can’t Korean-Japanese-French do wonders for the new Renault Safrane?
A touch of spice, and voilà
This fresh 2011 model is based on a Samsung, the Korean refrigerator manufacturer; with Nissan’s VQ35, the chameleon of engines; and a Renault badge, dealership and service centre network. And it’s really all the car you could need, but of course, there’s more to it than that.
With the original Renault Safrane in 1992 the carmaker called on its marketing department, where someone decided that naming an executive saloon after the world’s most expensive spice would automatically make the car prestigious. But I’m sorry, it’s just a spice. Not a precious stone. You still buy it for, like, Dh10, instead of paying Dh5 for oregano. I just don’t see the image benefits; it’s like calling a car Grozny, because that’s the greatest city in Chechnya. Yeah, but it’s still Chechnya, and saffron is still only a spice.
I don’t know. To me saffron tastes like chopped shoelace anyway. You get so much more value for money from salt. Salt is like the culinary Corolla.
But this 2011 Safrane… Yes, it’s pretty good. I just don’t understand why in anything other than a Nissan, the VQ35 is a lazy and downright arrogant (“No! I don’t want to accelerate, so there”) engine. Nissan is being way too overprotective of its cub here.
In the Maxima it makes 290 horses, but in the Safrane it’s been diluted to 236bhp. It still accelerates just fine (0-100kph in 8.5 seconds) and hits 234kph, but it’s the mid-range power that’s lacking.
The six-speed automatic gearbox is a much welcome change from the Renault-Nissan CVT, but its downshifts are jerky compared to the smooth upshift action. Kicking down the ’box also heaves you ahead abruptly, but not because of the sudden rush of speed, but rather the heavy interruption in motion. The engine’s revs will rise and wail, but the car will need a breather before putting down the power again. So, not a straight line star, this one. Especially because the aerodynamics need a rethink too. Put it in neutral going dead straight at around 140kph, and the speed plummets like you’re running on sand. I checked the tyre pressures so that wasn’t it, and the telltale wind noise inside the cabin concluded there’s some weird aero stuff going on.
The typical front MacPherson and rear multilink set-up though makes the Safrane quite eager in the bends, with only decent weight control but more impressive turn-in and corner-to-corner transition. Long sweepers aren’t its thing. It’s the short, tighter turns the Safrane seems to enjoy, managing stable cornering and minimal understeer. The ride suffers because of this with the suspension jarring through a lack of spring travel, but there’s always a downside to good road-holding.
Inside the Safrane there are some comfortable seats and a generally good layout, although the French have their own idea of ergonomics sometimes.
The cruise controls are divided into buttons on the steering wheel and a tunnel console switch, and you’ll give up on the stereo after about half an hour. So still room for improvement then, although it’s definitely not appliance-like in there with Bose sound quality and stylish dash design.
And anyway, Renault-Nissan didn’t get to second place in the US by selling Korean fridges. They know what they’re doing. In fact last year, together they beat the Volkswagen Group in sales numbers. So the Safrane will do just fine, regardless of whether a few car reviewers recommend it or not. But just for
the record, I can’t wholly recommend it.
Here’s why: the 2.0-litre costs between Dh65K and Dh71K which is actually good value, then there’s a Dh86K 2.5-litre V6, but you don’t want that because if the 3.5-litre V6 is lacking, can you imagine the smaller one? Dh99K buys you a top-shelf Safrane which is fine in every area, except that there are a lot of other cars that are just a smidgen more fine.
Not least the Koreans you’ve heard of, the ones outside of home appliance stores, like Kia and Hyundai. Their excellent Cadenza and Sonata cost less with more standard equipment. Ford’s another great one, and they’ll sell you a Mondeo, Fusion or even a Taurus for this money. Honda’s new 2011 Accord (with sat-nav now) is steep at Dh120K, but that’s got 290bhp, so…
Verdict
The Safrane will get better though, coming with sat-nav and a stylish command knob ahead of the centre armrest later in the year. For now, it has dynamics on its side, as well as a very pleasant odour due to a novel air freshening AC system, and that definitely counts for something. It’s a fine car, no doubt about that, but I believe that with only a couple of extra equipment additions and maybe a drivetrain tweak it would hold its own a lot better in this highly competitive segment.
Badge engineering works, sometimes. And it especially works well when there’s thought put into it. This 2011 Renault needs a slightly bigger dash of that, and a touch less saffron.
Specs & ratings
- Model Safrane
- Engine 3.5-litre V6
- Transmission Six-speed auto, FWD
- Max power 236bhp @ 6,000rpm
- Max torque 330Nm @ 4,200rpm
- Top speed 234kph
- 0-100kph 8.5sec
- Price Dh99,000
