THE Vel Satis arrives alongside Renault's other 'car with a difference', the Avantime (you might suppose that, being French, it's pronounced A-von-teem, but Renault still say Avan-Time, English style).

Simply, they've taken the Espace, built it lower, left it with only two doors (like a coupe) and made the top half almost entirely of glass, with a huge sunroof that turns it almost into a cabriolet.

Its 15ft 3in capsule bodywork does carry a hint of some visiting space craft, though space is not a major feature. You get the welcome sensation of open-ness from that vast area of window pillarless to underline the goldfish-bowl effect and certainly three adults will be comfortable in the rear seat. And the boot is vast.

A single 'open air' button slides the full-length sunroof and side windows out of the way and you are protected from the buffeting wind by that strange rear window.

There's not much to inspire you to drive with coupe-style flair, even with the 204bhp of the 3.0-litre V6 engine only this version (priced around £27,000) was available for sampling, though you'd think the 165bhp 2.0-litre turbo would be a bigger seller.

The bigger engine (top speed 137mph and 25mpg overall) may sound powerful, but it's a lazy, lethargic lump, and the six-speed gearchange is smooth and relaxed, all of which makes the journey smooth and very restful, but hardly exciting.

It whisks you silently along the roads, ignoring minor blemishes with French comfort-comes-first panache, though it's not so settled on rougher roads.

Inside, the car is short on leg-stretch space for both driver and passenger. This is even more true in the back, where you find you're prevented from getting your feet under the seat in front.

At eye level, there's more than enough breathing space. Front-seat travellers find there's a vast distance to the base of the windscreen. Below this, there's an endless panorama of fascia. Although it doesn't provide anywhere to keep smaller items, there's lots of useful hidden space for stowage, including a large drawer in the centre.

The large area of glass, uninterrupted by door pillars, makes visibility no problem though you don't get much help from the rear-view mirror it's limited by the top of the rear window.