WE spend years of our lives sitting in a car, and with fuel prices on the hike week by week we are paying an increasing amount of our hard-earned cash for the pleasure of doing so.

The high costs are making many motorists rethink their choice of transport and cars like Renault’s small and versatile Modus MPV are rising fairly rapidly in the popularity stakes.

This funky-looking supermini is a good quality vehicle and, because it looks different, it possesses enough street cred to turn heads, so that you feel a little special driving it.

It’s been on the market for a few years but has been carefully refreshed by the French manufacturers with a wider choice of models.

The Modus is well built inside and out and comes with a top safety record. In fact, it was the first small car to ever gain Euro NCAP’s five star crash test score and its small emissions, fuel-frugal engines and low insurance prices keep a tight rein on ownership costs.

While outgoings are small, the Modus is big in just about everything it does, not least in the ability to tackle most journeys in comfort with the family aboard.

Prices start at £9,670, and while it’s more expensive than a number of superminis, the costs do compare favourably with some of the main segment leaders.

Its development as a small MPV was a natural progression for Renault which had already reshaped the European market with the Scenic and Espace.

The Modus became the first Renault to be developed on the Renault-Nissan Alliance B platform which was subsequently used for the Clio and endows both models with excellent crash protection and on-road dynamics.

The Modus was also the first to benefit from Renault’s technically-sophisticated 1.2-litre TCE (turbo control efficiency) petrol engine.

This 100bhp motor, launched last year, is a gem of engineering and proves it can deliver the performance of a larger capacity unit while maintaining low fuel consumption and emissions. The turbo version has a torque of a 1.6-litre, the power of a 1.4 and the emissions of a 1.2 engine.

It has the extra urge and quietness over the lesser powered 1.2-litre and this is particularly noticeable on the motorway.

The Modus has other petrol engine options, the 1.2-litre with 75bhp and 1.6-litre with 111bhp. There is a very good 1.5-litre diesel with 68, 86 and 106bhp versions.

In all, there are 15 versions across two trim levels.

On the road, the Spanish-built Modus drives in a typical French manner. It is a tall vehicle with a fairly soft but comfortable ride yet it does remain composed so that the handling proves safe and secure for the press-on driver over twisty routes.

The Modus is quiet riding too, thanks to digital fine-tuning of vibration and acoustic performance so that the noise levels are much lower than stipulated by European regulations.

The little turbo’s top speed of 113mph and lively 0-62mph time of 11.2 seconds doesn’t seem to knock the fuel consumption figures which vary from 37.1mpg to 56.4mpg. Expect close to 50mpg during everyday driving.

Inside, the cabin is spacious and airy with the dash expertly designed and crafted from good quality materials. There are lots of innovative features, from the central digital dashboard display to the use of every free part of the cabin for storage.

The glove box is refrigerated in vehicles with air-conditioning.

The car belies its size by providing excellent space all round with six-foot adults having ample head and leg room. Boot space is also good and is better still with the versatile rear seats folded flat.