Renault Scenic Conquest

New Renault Scenic not-really-a-4x4-model

This is the new Renault Scenic Conquest, and while you might be forgiven for thinking that it's a replacement for the odd but likeable RX4 version of the old Scenic, you'd be wrong. In spite of the plastic cladding and 20mm increase in ride height, the Conquest lacks the RX4's four-wheel-drive, sending its power through the front wheels, like every other Scenic.

Renault reckons that this makes the Conquest ideal for tackling the pot-holed, speed-bump riven urban landscape, or for equally pot-holed country roads, without the hefty, fuel-economy-penalising 4x4 hardware that many 4x4s needlessly carry around. Or in other words, here's a new version of the Scenic that looks like a 4x4 but doesn't actually compete with Renault's 'proper' SUV, which debuts later this year with actual four-wheel-drive and is based on the Koleos concept car.

The Scenic Conquest is available with 1.6 and 2.0-litre petrol engines, or 1.5 and 2.0-litre diesels. Inside , you get Conquest badged mud-resistant rubber mats and bright orange seatbelts, as well as uniqiue instrument graphics. No Irish prices have been announced yet.