It also has sliding rear doors, an MP3 hard drive for all your music, good looks and fine driving qualities.RENAULT GRAND SCENIC 1.9DCI, UP TO £19,270The most daring-looking of all the compact MPVs, and a pleasant place to be with a light, airy, high-tech cabin and lots of soft-touch surfaces. People used to say the Zafira was boring, so Vauxhall has clearly taken note.As well as being very rapid, this is a cleverly-designed family transport solution. I'm still not keen on the power-steering, but otherwise it does its job very well. And, model for model, it's no more expensive than the old one, despite the extra equipment and technology Complexity is getting cheaper, just like computers. These are joined in the autumn by a new 1.8 with 140bhp and variable valve timing, and a yet hotter version of the 2.0-litre turbo engine with a slightly crazy 240bhp. These run on less racy wheels, so they ride more smoothly, and the engines are crisper and more consistent.

The 150bhp version has less acceleration than the Turbo but more torque at low speed.There's also a 120bhp version of this Fiat-designed turbodiesel engine, which I tried with an excellent new six-speed auto box It's slower, of course, but not significantly so. The only snag is that in sport mode, it hangs on to lower gears longer than is necessary in a misguided attempt to engender a sportier feeling.Two other engines are available, both of them petrol-fuelled: a 105bhp 1.6and a 150bhp 2.2, the latter with direct injection to improve fuel efficiency. But the electric power-steering still feels anaesthetised, its weighting only an approximation of the forces acting on the wheels. The Turbo is quick for an MPV, though, hitting 140mph and passing 60mph in under nine seconds.Strange, then, that I prefer the 1.9-litre turbodiesel versions. Press it and the and the suspension gets firmer, the steering weightier and the accelerator more sensitive Sounds good.For the most part it is. With it engaged, steering movements are translated directly into directional change instead of being absorbed in suspension compression.

So bring on, we hope, a sporty, interactive, driver-pleasing yet passenger-friendly drive.The most driver-pleasing of all should be the Turbo version: a Zafira with, yes, a 200bhp, 2.0-litre turbocharged engine. It's hot and has a hatchback, so it's a kind of mutant not seen anywhere else (although there was a Turbo GSi version of the old Zafira).It comes with SRi trim including 17in wheels and various pieces of visual and functional sportification, including aluminium pedals and seats with deeper bolsters, and that adaptive suspension package which includes a "sport" button. Pity - it gives a warm ambience and is surely preferable to fake wood. A keyless entry and start system is optional, as are headlights able to point round corners.The current Astra has lots of cleverness in its suspension design (specifically adaptive dampers that are unique at this price level), and the Zafira can be similarly equipped. The spine houses the upper parts of five drop-down storage compartments integrated into the ceiling, some of which can optionally contain DVD screens. They're flanked by UV-resistant glass panels with electric roller-blinds.The seat-folding system, still dubbed Flex7, is carried over almost unchanged. There's just about enough room for compact adults in the rearmost row, but not much boot space when that row is deployed, even though the boot is bigger.Otherwise the new Zafira's interior is considerably different and a whole lot more pleasing to be in.