There's nothing new about four-wheel steering. Honda used it on its Prelude in the 80s and various other manufacturers have experimented with similar technology, including Mitsubishi, which used it on its Galant.

Soon after that four-wheel steering kind of died a death - it went out of fashion, but Renault has revived it, and is using it in the new Laguna GT.

So why now? Previous systems were, let's face it, rubbish, but aligned to Renault's Active Drive Chassis and 21st Century computer wizardry, this system is, as they say, good to go. So good, in fact, that Renault claims the first GT customer was... BMW. Doubtless the Munich-based manufacturer will be pulling the system apart to get some ideas. Renault has patented the best bits, so BMW will have to be clever with any kind of similar technology.

The GT is without doubt a more agile machine compared with the standard two-wheel steering models. Renault says the proof of the pudding is in the eating: on the double-lane-change test, or 'elk' test, as it is commonly known, the GT was able to approach it 10mph faster than rivals in the class because of the extra agility the four-wheel steering is able to provide.

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