If you are one of those people who love high tech gadgetry the new Renault Scenic is definitely the car for you.

You could sit in for hours tinkering around with everything from the sound and the response of the engine to the steering effort you prefer, not to mention the style of the dials in front of you and the colour of the ambient lighting.

You can even decide whether you want negative or positive skin tones - in case you were wondering it means a black or white background - on the 8.7-inch touch screen which sits in the centre of the dashboard.

The R-Link 2 screen is the control centre of the car and allows you to personalise your own Scenic in fine detail using a pinch and zoom action similar to that on a smartphone.

And when you've finished with all that you need to adjust the height and detail of the head-up display which pops up in front of you when you start the engine, before deciding whether you want the fatigue alert system on or even the lane assist control.

Certainly Renault has gone to town with the options on the Scenic but then every driver is different, so why not give them a wide variety of choice?

What's not in doubt in the new Scenic, however, is the stunning styling and the amount of space it offers passengers.

With its sharp front end and steeply rake panoramic windscreen it's a real eye catcher, particularly models which have contrasting roof/body colours.

Inside the Scenic is just as impressive. With typical French flair for design everything from the upholstery to the quality dashboard trim is appealing and uplifting.

Combine this with the practicality of 572 litres of boot space with the seats in position and a whopping 1,554 litres with the seatbacks down - not to mention a sliding centre console with an extra 13 litres and underfloor compartments - and you have an ideal family car.

And harking back to the Scenic's gadgetry you can not only lower the seatbacks from the boot area but also via a button on the R-Link 2 screen. Now that is smart.

The model tested here also came with a huge one-piece panoramic glass sunroof for a brighter interior.

And even though you would never detect from driving it - unless you checked your fuel consumption - it also came with what Renault calls Hybrid Assist.

This takes the form of a 10kW electric motor which works in conjunction with the 110bhp diesel engine to improve fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 10 per cent.

The result is a claimed 80.7 miles per gallon. And even though I never achieved that figure I constantly averaged around 62-63 mpg.

On the road the Scenic has good pulling power - particularly in Sport setting - and offers a supremely comfortable ride, sitting high on 20-inch wheels.

A colour reversing camera and the option of using a self-park system make life easy for the driver as does the automatic dipped/main beam headlight system.