Renault Kwid

With over a billion inhabitants and not a lot of space, India is fast becoming a country obsessed with small cars. It’s a continuing growth market, and Renault has entered the fray with the tiny Kwid - a cheap but versatile city car that could eventually come to the UK as a Dacia.

Renault invested 420 million Euros in the Kwid, with a modern platform sharing elements from the new Kadjar and Talisman. To appeal to the tastes of Indian buyers, the Kwid was designed locally, and it shows.

It’s a smart-looking car that hides its budget pretentions, is just 3.68 metres long and even has 18cm of ground clearance to deal with the poor standard of roads in India. It lacks originality, but the rugged body cladding is protective, and gives it a more imposing stance.

The Kwid gets a 0.8-litre, 57bhp engine which is claimed to deliver as much as 70mpg. It’s not exactly fast, but in a car of this size and weight it’s perfectly adequate. It’s paired with a five-speed manual gearbox, and we’ll see an automatic option next year.

On the road, the chassis feels very rigid and the Kwid handles well – far better than current Indian market small cars such as the Maruti Suzuki Alto. The raised suspension is soft and handles bumps extremely well, although we would have to wait to drive it on comparatively smooth UK roads to see if it’s too soft for our tastes.

Despite the tiny frame, four adults can sit comfortably enough without too much of a squeeze. There’s even a 300-litre boot squeezed in there, which is larger than that found on a Ford Fiesta. Don’t expect to find any soft-touch plastics; the cabin surfaces are hard and coarse, but considering the £3,000 price it’s admirable.

Base models get the bare essentials, but you can specify air-conditioning and even Renault’s MediaNav touchscreen sat-nav and entertainment system. On the dash is a minimalist digital instrument bay, which sounds fancy but actually reduces the build cost. Indian market cars have no passenger airbag, so Renault has taken the opportunity to fit a handy three-in-one glovebox and storage bin. There’s even an opportunity to customise the Kwid, with chrome accessories and decals.

The only question that remains is how Renault can make money on a car like this by selling it for £3,000? If you factor in the cost of labour in India, which is 10 times lower than Europe, then you can assume the Dacia-badged Kwid in Europe will start at just over £5,000. But that’s still serious value, and makes the VW up! look pricey.

Renaultsport RS.01

We take to the track in the latest boundary-pushing race car from the Renaultsport stable, the crazy RS.01.

 

At the moment the RS.01 is just an in-house folly for Renaultsport, a one-make racing car that just so happens to be utterly sensational to drive. But in time it may yet redefine what’s possible from a GT3 racing car. And whatever its future, the RS.01 looks, and indeed is, one of the most exciting cars we’ve driven all year.

As you may or may not know, Renaultsport has a rich history of producing wild and rather wonderful one-make racing cars. From the GTA Turbos of the 1980s to the Sport Spiders and rear-engined Clio V6s that followed, Renaultsport’s racing cars have always tended to be, well, just a little bit unhinged.

And this new mid-engined, 550bhp, 190mph RS.01 is no exception. Indeed, it may even be the maddest car yet to emerge out of the eccentric Renaultsport stables.

At the same time, though, the RS.01 also happens to be a drop dead gorgeous machine to look at, and beneath its jaw-dropping carbon fibre bodywork it is, in fact, a very serious racing car indeed.

Like the bodywork that clothes it, the core of the car is made from carbon fibre and features a bespoke mono-cell tub with double unequal length wishbones at each corner, just like a proper Le Mans car.

The engine is a twin-turbo V6 with 550bhp that’s been lifted straight out of a Nissan GT-R road car, but then fitted with a dry sump to improve its lubrication and general efficiency when operating at high revs.

The seven-speed paddle shift, fully automated gearbox is also a bespoke item, built for the RS.01 by Sadev. A highly sophisticated transmission it is, too, featuring no manual clutch as such, which means you just flick the paddles up or down and the electronics take care of the rest, even when you come to a compete stop, at which point the anti-stall system takes over and the car selects neutral all by itself.

In total the RS.01 weighs a fraction over 1,100kg, but maybe its single most impressive technical feature is its aerodynamic package – because at its top speed of 190mph Renaultsport claims the RS.01 develops a cheek-rippling 1,200kg of downforce. A LaFerrari road car, by contrast, develops around 300kg of downforce at the same speed. So you could say the RS.01 has a reasonable amount of grip at high speed. Or could also state that it sticks to the road like chewing gum does to your hair.

We were lucky enough to drive the RS.01 at the Jerez circuit in Spain, where Michael Schumacher and Jaques Villeneuve had their altercation in 1997, and we came away more than a little bit gobsmacked by the car; not just by what it could do, but also the way it in which it did what it did.

The RS.01 has been designed for both the professional and amateur racer alike, its current role being to provide Pro-Am support races for the Renault World Series single-seater championship, a feeder formula into F1. But Renaultsport’s eventual aim is to race the RS.01 in GT3 championships globally as well, so it is intentionally both easy to drive but also crazed enough to keep the professionals fully engaged.

You expect a car that weighs not a lot more than a tonne and which has 550bhp allied to fairly short gearing to be very rapid in a straight line, and the RS.01 most certainly is that. There’s a very slight hint of lag at medium revs but, essentially, you put your foot down and it goes hard, very hard indeed. That’s until the Christmas tree lights appear on the top of the steering wheel to indicate that a higher gear is needed, and soon. And then, bang, you’re into the next gear and it happens all over again.

What you might not expect from a car such as this is for the steering to be so incredibly light (thanks to its variable power assistance) or for the gear change to be so very easy to operate, or for the brakes to be so immensely powerful.

Correction, you always expect the brakes to be powerful when there are four huge carbon composite rotors at each corner, but never this powerful or this easy to use. It’s thanks to the fact that they are equipped with a quite brilliant five stage anti-lock system.

As fast as it feels in a straight line, and however well it stops or changes gear, it’s the grip the RS.01 generates through the high speed corners at Jerez that first frays and then just shreds the outer edges of one’s imagination. It takes a fair bit of getting used to, mainly because the harder you push it, the faster it goes, and the more grip the RS.01 then generates. But once your confidence in it begins to build, the more glued the RS.01 becomes. Renaultsport claims it actually has more grip in high speed corners than the single-seater cars from the World Series, and on this evidence we don’t doubt them for a moment.

Quite what the RS.01 would do to a field of GT3 racing cars in its current state is hard to imagine, although there are ways and means to make it slower in order that it doesn’t just blitz the opposition from the word go, otherwise it won't be invited to compete in GT3 championships in the first place.

But in the meantime, be in no doubt; the magicians at Renaultsport have done it again. In fact they’ve surpassed themselves this time, and then some.

Key specs

• Model: Renaultsport RS.01
• Price: £210,000 (approx) for car + season
• Engine: 3.8-litre V6, twin turbo, petrol
• Transmission: 7-speed automated sequential, rear wheel-drive
• Power/torque: 550bhp/630Nm
• 0-60mph/top speed: 2.5s/190mph

Renault Kadjar 1.5 dCi

 

Mid-range 1.5 dCi model is the pick of the Renault Kadjar line-up in Dynamique S Nav trim.

 

This 1.5 dCi 110 Dynamique S Nav is 
the pick of the Renault Kadjar range. Despite its modest power output, it feels sufficiently sprightly, comfortable and refined, while also coming packed with equipment. If you can 
do without the LED headlamps, panoramic roof and Bose stereo 
of the Signature Nav, this mid-
spec version ticks all the boxes. 

We've already driven Renault’s new Kadjar crossover in flagship 1.6 dCi 130 Signature Nav trim. It impressed us with its top-quality interior, high-speed refinement and low running costs, while also proving decent fun to drive on the twisting roads of Northumberland.

But if you can’t find almost £25,000 to splash out on a brand new crossover, how does the mid-spec Dynamique S compare, with the smaller 1.5-litre dCi 110 diesel?

Well, it’s £2,400 cheaper for starters, yet it’s 20bhp and 60Nm down on the 1.6 and misses out on the Bose stereo, panoramic roof and LED headlamps. However, it still comes with an extensive list of kit.

Up front, you’ll find the same well crafted and solidly built dashboard as in the top-spec cars, along with VW-like dual-zone climate controls, automatic lights and wipers and keyless go. It surpasses the two-year-old Nissan Qashqai on which it’s based, feeling easily as upmarket as a Mazda CX-5. Space in the back is good, too - especially without the glass roof of Signature cars – while all Dynamique S Nav models get the same half-leather seats, seven-inch touchscreen and TomTom nav.

The engine feels just as refined and, unless you regularly tow a trailer or caravan, should prove quick enough for most buyers in the market for this kind of car. Granted, it’s not quite as quick in-gear, but it still pulls well on the motorway. It actually feels smoother and less jerky, too, due to the more relaxed and less frantic engine.

  
Like the 1.6, this 108bhp 1.5-litre also appears in the Qashqai – and it’s proven the biggest seller for Nissan. It’s easy to see why, as annual road tax costs just £20 and it returns more than 70mpg economy between fills. But the best part is that the Renault is £1,885 cheaper than the Qashqai, yet comes with the same kit. 

This, and the fact that the Kadjar is one of the most stylish crossovers on the market, with a nicely styled, high-quality interior, push it towards the top of the class. 

 

Key specs

• Price: £22,395
• Engine: 1.5-litre 4cyl diesel
• Power/torque: 108bhp/260Nm
• Transmission: Six-speed manual, 
front-wheel drive
• 0-62mph/Top speed: 11.9s/113mph
• Economy/CO2: 72.4mpg/103g/km

2015 Renault Kadjar 1.6 dCi 130 4WD

The Kadjar is based on the same platform as the Qashqai and is available with a 129bhp 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine or a choice of 109bhp 1.5-litre or 128bhp 1.6-litre diesels, the latter of which can be had with four-wheel drive.

It’s priced to undercut key competition, particularly given the generous spec that includes sat-nav and a colour touchscreen, so it’s primed to take on the big-selling family crossovers such as the Nissan, the Kia Sportage and Volkswagen Tiguan.

In fact, going by the list price you’ll pay more than £2000 less for a Kadjar with sat-nav than you will for a similarly equipped Nissan Qashqai.

It’s exactly what it needs to be: composed, predictable and easy to drive smoothly. It’s no fireball, of course, but the steering has a decent bite to it even around the dead-ahead, and it builds weight progressively so you don’t have the unpleasantly vague, woolly-feeling steering of some family-orientated Renaults.

The 1.6-litre diesel is a little laggy lower down the rev range but it does deliver a decent amount of torque, which builds from just above 1500rpm, and it keeps pulling strongly through the mid-range. The four-wheel drive system also stops any scrappy torque steer or wheelspin, making it easy to deploy what's on offer.

The Kadjar's drivetrain is an on-demand set-up that can send anything up to 50% of drive to the rear wheels when deemed necessary, and it can be locked into permanent 50/50 four-wheel-drive mode, or front-drive only, should you get bored of Auto mode doing all that for you.

Most of the time it’s in front-wheel drive, and even when power has been diverted to the back end you’ll still get a gentle wash of understeer if you take a corner aggressively, but generally it remains stoically on line even over some fast gravel roads we tried.

Mind you, for all the effectiveness of four-wheel drive, we had a dabble in a front-wheel-drive 1.2 petrol car (quiet, smooth, but needs revving) which is just as composed on road. Your local road or weather conditions will need to really warrant the extra £1500 expense of four-wheel drive, as it’s probably completely unnecessary for most buyers looking at this sort of vehicle. The front-wheel-drive 1.6-litre diesel even tows the same 1800kg max trailer weight as this 4WD model, too.

We have some reservations about the ride comfort, which on 19in alloys of our test car was pretty brittle at low speeds, but smaller wheels could make a big difference and the Kadjar is smooth and unflustered over awkward cambers and undulations.

The interior of the Kadjar is a real success. You get a colour touchscreen and sat-nav, and the dash looks neat and tidy, with nicely presented switches, good material textures and the best sense of solidity of any current Renault by a mile. If you’re willing to pay top whack then you can even make it feel quite classy, with a panoramic glass roof and part-leather interior on top-spec cars.

There’s loads of room in the front and back so even four tall adults will be comfy - it feels like a particularly wide cabin – and the boot is a really good size. It’s a shame you don’t get the adjustable boot floor in the lower trim, and the load lip is unusually high, but it’ll still hold as much paraphernalia as most families are likely to throw at it.

If you’re looking for a family SUV-type car for hatchback cash – and it seems that most buyers are – the Kadjar 1.6 dCi is a fine choice.

Pricing is great given the equipment, company car tax will be among the lowest in the class and resale values are predicted to be good.

It’s not really a car that appeals to the heart, but none of the cars in this class are. The Renault ticks all the boxes but is it the best in class? That depends on how it performs in the UK, for ride comfort in particular, but at the moment it looks like a really strong contender.

On sale September; Price £24,295; Engine 4 cyls, 1598cc, turbodiesel; Power 129bhp at 4000rpm; Torque 236lb ft at 1750rpm; Gearbox 6-spd manual; Kerb weight 1536kg; Top speed 118mph; 0-62mph 10.5sec; Economy 58.8mpg (combined); CO2 rating & BIK tax band 126g/km, 23% .

Renaultsport Clio 220 Trophy

There’s no denying the Renaultsport Clio 220 Trophy is a more focused and absorbing hot hatch, but the transformation isn’t as profound here as we’ve seen in Renault’s other models. With such a rich pool of rivals even the Trophy still lags behind, but you can’t help but feel Renault got the basics wrong from the very beginning.

When Renaultsport puts its name to something the result rarely disappoints. However, the all-new Renaulsport Clio 200 broke the mould when it arrived back in 2013. Gone was the rev-hungry engine and snappy six-speed manual of its predecessor, in its place a downsized turbo and an automatic gearbox. Against the much sharper Ford Fiesta ST it didn’t stand a chance.

But now Renault has responded and created this, the Renaultsport Clio 220 Trophy. The in-house revamp will set you back £2,650 over the standard 200 model but you can see where that money has been spent. The 1.6-litre turbo now develops an additional 20bhp – 217bhp in total – the exhaust system has been overhauled to reduce backpressure and the springs have been stiffened by 40 per cent. But that’s not all. There’s also 20Nm more torque, gearchanges are claimed to be 50 per cent, plus the engine now revs out to 6,800rpm – a 300rpm increase over the RS Clio 200. Sounds promising.

In practice, the Trophy doesn’t feel any more urgent than the standard model – only 0.1 seconds have been trimmed from the 0-62mph time at 6.6 seconds – despite the added grunt, but the Clio was always quick enough to ensure the Fiesta and Peugeot 208 GTi remained in your rearview mirror.

The bigger issue has always surrounded the gearbox. Keep your right foot buried and the Clio rips though the gears with a fraction more severity, accompanied by a snort from the exhaust. Yet to most, the faster shifts would only be tangible if you’d jumped from the standard model directly into the Trophy. Pulling the paddles yourself also takes less time as the travel has been reduced by 30 per cent, but what should be a satisfying thud of selecting the next cog remains rather mushy.

Renault has also quickened the steering, but there’s still an initial degree of vagueness before the front end bites into the tarmac. Beyond that the Trophy is seemingly unwilling to loosen its grip regardless of how ham-fisted your inputs become. It also rides with far greater compliancy that a 217bhp hot hatch has any right to – despite the being 20mm lower at the front and 10mm lower at the rear. It flows with the road in a way the Fiesta ST could only dream of, smothering imperfections and absorbing bumps – you can thank the motorsport-derived hydraulic bump stops for that.

What remains missing, though, is that sense of involvement and level of connectivity you feel in the Fiesta ST. Where the Ford feels sharp and alert, the Clio can feel limp and bit lifeless unless you're at maximum attack – and there’s still no getting away from the ever-present sense of detachment due to the lack of a gear stick and a third pedal.

Another niggle is with the optional (£1,600) Trophy sports seats, which provide huge amounts of support, locking you in place, but the side bolsters protrude to an extend which can restrict the amount of lock you can apply. We suggest you stick with the standard seats and pocket the cash. Other unique add ons include a smattering of exterior Trophy badges, chrome air vent inserts and an embossed steering wheel and gearstick.

Being a Clio it’s also more practical than its closest rivals, with a five-door body and spacious 300-litre boot. Yet, that sort of stuff is unlikely to be of highest priority on a car such as this.

Key specs

• Price: £21,780
• Engine: 1.6-litre four-cyl turbo
• Transmission: Six-speed auto, front-wheel drive
• Power/torque: 217bhp/280Nm
• 0-62mph: 6.6 seconds
• Top speed: 146mph
• Economy/CO2: 47.9mpg/135g/km
• On sale: Now

Renault Captur

The Renault Captur is a compact crossover, combining 4x4 looks with supermini dimensions and running costs.

 

The Renault Captur is a high-riding crossover model that’s designed to rival the Nissan Juke, Peugeot 2008 and Ford EcoSport.

It uses the same underpinnings as the Renault Clio supermini, and the Captur is a compact machine that aims to deliver tough SUV styling cues with low running costs. It’s also available with a wide range of customisation options for both the exterior and interior, enabling owners to personalise their cars.

There are five trim levels available – Expression, Expression+, Dynamique Media Nav, Dynamique S Media Nav and upmarket Signature. All versions get alloy wheels, cruise control and electric windows. Expression models add desirable extras such as climate control, while Dynamique versions are fitted with a TomTom touchscreen sat-nav system and Signature cars get luxuries such as leather, a parking camera and a high-end multimedia system.

Even in entry-level guise the Renault Captur looks distinctive, with its combination of high ride height and sloping roofline turning heads. Yet it’s possible to make your Captur even more eye-catching courtesy of a range of personalisation options, including contrasting roof colours, bold bodywork decals and larger alloy wheels.

It’s a similar story inside, where bright colours and distinctive seat trim help create a cheery atmosphere. As with the exterior, there’s plenty of scope to give the Captur’s cabin a personal touch. For instance, the seat covers can be unzipped, allowing you to change them for a different design, or wash off any dirty marks or stains.

The rest of the interior will be familiar to Clio owners, as you benefit from the same digital speedometer and gloss black centre console that houses the infotainment system. At a glance it looks classy and upmarket, but there are plenty of cheap-feeling plastics used lower down in the cabin.

There are two petrol engines – a 0.9-litre three-cylinder and 1.2-litre four-cylinder – and a 1.5-litre dCi diesel. All the units are mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, apart from the larger petrol unit, which gets a six-speed twin-clutch automatic transmission.

With its high-riding suspension set-up, the Captur is geared towards cruising comfort rather than delivering driver thrills. Even so, with its compact external dimensions, light controls and high-set driving position, the Renault is extremely easy to drive and place on the road. Signature models add an advanced traction control system and Mud & Snow tyres in lieu of a full four-wheel-drive system.

Our choice: Captur Dynamique Nav 1.5 dCi

The Renault Captur is certainly a distinctive compact SUV, with its rounded shape displaying a number of striking styling cues. Up front, the Captur features a large Renault badge, the narrow Renault 'bow-tie' grille and a pair of smart headlights - these all come together to give the Captur the rakish look of a slightly taller and beefier Clio.

The SUV-inspired touches such as the chunky rubbing strips on the doors and bumpers also suit the Renault Captur well, but what really makes the Renault Captur stand out is its broad range of personalisation options.

Renault fits the Expression model with grey gloss interior trim, which is mounted on and around the centre console, speaker and air vents. The Expression+ gets the same, but it features a chrome exterior pack, which sees a chrome strip fitted to the front grille, fog light surrounds, side sill protectors and boot lid.

The Renault Captur Dynamique MediaNav builds on the features found on the Expression and Expression + models, but it has chrome trim and a seven-inch touchscreen. This features a clear display, but navigating through the various menus takes a little getting used to.

On the Dynamique S MediaNav models, Renault offers buyers the chance to choose their Captur's 17-inch alloy wheels with standard silver, black or orange inserts. Other bold styling moves include Renault painting the roof and door-mirrors in a contrasting colour to the body.

Gloss black trim is added to the centre console and steering wheel on the Renault Captur, but the trim on the wheel wraps around where you would position your hands, which makes the wheel feel slippery. Tinted rear windows are also fitted as standard across the range.

Step inside the Renault Captur Dynamique S MediaNav, and the trim surrounding the centre console, speakers and air vents can also be specced in orange, blue or green - However, much of the switchgear found in the Renault Captur (irrespective of trim-level) has been taken from the Renault Clio and this means that some of it is slightly cheap in feel.

While the Dynamique and Dymanique S come with the bolder colour features as standard equipment, the colour options are also available as options on the lower end models, and Renault groups them into three packs - Manhattan, Arizona and Miami.

One neat option on the Renault Captur range is the zip-fastened seat covers, which make it easy to clean spills on the upholstery or change the look of the interior with different coloured covers. Another neat touch is that the elastic straps on the backs of the front seats have been tunred into a design feature that add a bit of a lift to the dark interior.

The Renault Captur is a comfortable car with fairly soft and supple suspension, but there's quite a bit of body roll in corners and generally not a lot of steering feel. In town though, the steering’s lightness makes the car easy to drive and it's comfortable enough at motorway speeds.

Yet while it’s not a car that encourages you to have fun, the Captur always feels composed and secure. It also does a decent job of soaking up bumps and potholes, and only really poorly surfaced roads will send a shudder through the Renault’s cabin.

The 0.9-litre and 1.2-litre petrol engines offer better performance than the diesel – especially the new 1.2-litre unit, although all engines are pretty slow when compared to rivals. Unfortunately, that 1.2 is only available with the jerky EDC auto gearbox.

The 1.5-litre dCi diesel is the Captur’s best performer in terms of economy. And while it lacks the outright acceleration of the petrol cars, a 220Nm torque output means it's a bit better for overtaking.
Overall, visibility from the Renault Captur is decent, but the chunky A-pillars can be obstructive at junctions.

Renault used to have a poor reputation for reliability and durability, but in the past couple of years the brand has striven to revive its fortunes. The hard work has clearly paid off, because it finished our Driver Power 2015 satisfaction survey in a superb seventh place, ahead of upmarket brands like BMW, Mercedes and Audi.

The Captur came a respectable 44th place in the Top 200 cars in Driver Power 2015. And if you do have any problems, Renault’s four-year, 100,000-mile warranty gives extra peace of mind.

Safety is one area where the firm’s consistently performed well, and this is reflected in the Captur’s five-star Euro NCAP rating. All versions are fitted with six airbags, electronic stability control and a programmable speed limiter, while Dynamique models and above get headlamps with a cornering function.

However, there’s no option to add valuable kit such as autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise or lane-departure warning.

The Renault Captur has a 377-litre boot which gives it an advantage over rivals such as the Nissan Juke and Ford EcoSport. Also included is a neat a false floor that helps create a flat load bay when the rear seats are folded flat, or they can be removed entirely to increase the boot capacity to a generous 455-litres. However, this underfloor space is eaten into if you opt for the £95 space saver spare wheel in place of the standard repair kit.

Renault hasn't sacrificed rear passenger comfort for boot space in the Captur. Yet while headroom is fine, the Renault betrays its supermini roots with a lack of legroom for taller passengers.

There’s also lots of black plastic and dark fabric, which combine with the tinted rear windows to make you feel hemmed in.

Storage in the Renault Captur is reasonable, with a dash top cubby and small cup-holders dotted around the cabin. Yet like many French machines, the switch from left to right-hand drive has rendered the Renault’s glovebox almost useless, as space is taken up by the intrusive fusebox - you can't even keep the owner's manual and service wallet in there because it's so small.

None of the engines in the Renault Captur range should prove to be costly to run. The most economical engine in the range is the 1.5-litre diesel, which promises to return 76.4mpg and emits just 95g/km of CO2. This unit can also be specified with Renault’s EDC auto gearbox, which delivers smooth shifts but increases fuel consumption to 72.3mpg and CO2 emissions to 103g/km.

The petrol engines are either a three-cylinder 88bhp 0.9-litre or a four-cylinder 118bhp 1.2-litre unit. The smaller petrol engine manages 56.5mpg and emits 115g/km, thanks in no small part to the addition of efficiency boosting stop-start kit. The 1.2-litre petrol is only available with Renault’s EDC gearbox, but still manages respectable claimed figures of 52.3mpg and 125g/km of CO2.

As with Renault’s other models, the Captur should be relatively cost effective to service, thanks to the option of a pre-paid servicing pack. Sign up to one of the brand’s 4+ finance schemes and you can include the cost of maintenance into your monthly repayments.

The Captur should also represent a decent long-term investment, with our experts predicting the car will retain around 45 per cent of its new value after three years.