At the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, the new Renault Altica concept car will make its world debut. Looking more like a futuristic coupe than the "sporty estate" Renault calls it, it's difficult to see what the point of the show car is other than to attract visitors and media to the Renault stand in Geneva.

That's not to say that the Altica is uninteresting. From most angles the concept car looks distinctive and sporting. The frontal aspect seems to be shared with most of Renault's concept cars of recent years, so either the French designers have run out of ideas or this will be the face of Renault cars in the near future. The most appealing viewpoint is the rear three-quarters, where the rear wheelarches stand out prominently from the upright bodywork. We like the innovative use of glass in the C-pillar to aid rear visibility at the same time as giving the Altica a unique appearance. The rear hatch looks at odds with the rest of the car though, and load space could never be described as capacious.

Four occupants sit comfortably in a stylishly minimalist interior, utilising a huge windscreen and full-length glass roof to give an airy impression.

Under the bonnet seemingly lies Renault's latest 2-litre turbodiesel, its fuel consumption lessened further by the use of clever aerodynamics. Indeed, the Renault Altica features 'Synthetic Jet', which is based on a Renault-owned patent (did I hear someone mention Formula One?). In essence, air is either blown or sucked through 2mm wide slits near the rear of the roof to control the separation of air from the car's body. This system does consume a small amount of power, but Renault claims that the coefficient of drag is reduced by 15% at 80mph, which more than makes up for the losses. It will be interesting to see if such an idea ever makes it onto a production car.

Shane O' Donoghue - 8 Feb 2006