Renault Kangoo

Nice gearchange on the Kangoo. Not a feature likely to be top of the average van-MPV buyer's checklist, but a fine six-speed it is: smooth, snicky and precise.

In fact, the all-new Renault Kangoo is decent to drive. Obviously you can't negate the brute physics of a giant, slab-sided van - plunge into a corner and it'll list like a flimsy sailboat in a storm - but the steering is surprisingly direct and the ride firm and composed. That's because the new Kangoo shares its underpinnings with the new Scenic, not the commercial van platform of its predecessor. So it drives like a car - a big, tall, heavy car, admittedly - and the range-topping 106bhp diesel is just quick enough to keep up with traffic. At least until you load it up with trombones, Borzois and enormous wheels of cheese.

Because, decent gearbox or not, the Kangoo is still all about storage, load-lugging, and it still does it better than just about anything else out there. It's absolutely cavernous - a full 18cm longer and 10cm wider than the old, definitely-not-small Kangoo - with nearly 3,000 litres of load space. It's packed with all the useful stuff so conspicuously lacking from the Citroen Nemo: fold-flat seats, underfloor storage bins and lots of cubbyholes, some large enough to fit small humans in. Not revolutionary stuff, but immaculately executed.

Nemo and Qubo, take note: this is how to do a van conversation. And a gearbox.

Sam Philip