Renault Reviews

John Carey road tests and reviews the Renault Megane GT with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its international launch.

Renault Captur is a stylish city car that’s virtually a Renault Clio with a taller five-door hatch body. It joins a sudden rash of small crossover SUVs that are taking Australia by storm. In fact these vehicles are also a hit in global markets, particularly in Europe where parking in increasingly crowded cities is a huge problem.Note the word styling in our opening to this story, because that’s the number one reason people are giving us when we talk about their buying a Renault Captur. Interestingly, favourable responses are coming to us not only from youngsters who appreciate French style, but also from the over 60s who appreciate the ease of entry and exit from taller cars.While relatively small on the outside, Renault Captur has space for four adults in comfort. Mum and dad in the front and three pre-teen kids in the back is likely to be the typical Australian setup and works well in this tall hatch.Versatility is excellent as the rear seat slides back and forwards to let you choose between passenger and luggage space. Headroom is plentiful for all but the tallest of basketball players.Captur is sold in the usual Renault models of Expression and Dynamique, the recommended retail price begins at a pretty reasonable $22,990.Renault Captur was shaped by legendary car stylist Laurens van den Acker. He is from the Netherlands and can be regarded as a modern day Dutch Master working in three dimensions, following up on of the famed Dutch Master artists of the 17th century.Van den Acker has been in the car industry for many years, moving around from Bugatti to Audi, Ford and Mazda and now appears happily settled with Renault. He has given the Captur quirky interesting lines and designs inside and out, led by a strong front shaped around the Renault diamond badge.The kick up in the window line at the rear works well in the way it joins the roof-mounted rear spoiler. Also appealing are the deeply sculpted lines of the lower part of the doors.The style lines of Captur’s body are further enhanced by being offered in a large palette of bright colours, many of them to provide a two-tone paint scheme.You can choose from different colours in the cabin as well, both on the major surfaces and the detailed trim on the dash and doors.Even better, the seat covers can be zipped off and replaced by new ones in different colours, or simply removed for easy cleaning.Captur has a multimedia system controlled through a 7-inch tablet-type screen accessing satnav, radio, phone and networking apps. Audio sounds good without being outstanding. USB, Bluetooth and Aux make connectivity easy.Renault Captur is powered by either a 0.9-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine producing 62kW, or a 1.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol with 88kW. The power number translates into 90 and 120 horsepower, hence the Captur models being labelled TCe 90 and TCe 120.The Captur TCe 90 comes only with a five-speed manual gearbox. All TCe 120 models drive through a six-speed double-clutch automatic.Our test car on this occasion was a Captur TCe 120. It came in a latte coloured lower body and deep black roof. The interior disappoints in being finished in various shades of grey, though the white stitching on the dark-grey seats does lift it a little, and there are some chromed highlights.Renault was the first car maker ever to achieve a five-star safety rating and Captur obviously continues this important tradition. It only requires six airbags to achieve this, avoiding the extra knee bags some makers are forced to include.Child safety utilises ISOFIX child seat anchorage at the two outboard rear seats.Seat comfort and support are good in the traditional French manner – those who live in that country certainly like to pamper themselves.The luggage area is tall and voluminous. The floor of the boot is reversible to give you either conventional carpet or a wash-down surface for carrying wet items. The boot floor can be set to give maximum height or can be raised by about 150mm to provide a hidden area underneath it.A particularly useful feature is that the boot floor can be set at a forty-five degree angle that gives support to grocery bags which insist on falling over and spreading their contents far and wide.Around town the Captur is quiet, comfortable and pleasant to ride in. On motorways it shifts along in a relaxed easygoing manner. However, it doesn’t like Australian country roads that are badly in need of repairs and moves about more on its suspension than we like.Handling is safe and competent, but nothing to get excited about; that’s the job of Captur’s little brother Clio which comes in both standard and exciting sports models.Engine performance from the four-cylinder turbo-petrol unit is good and generally gets the car moving promptly. The six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission is mostly in the right gear for the conditions and works well with the characteristics of the turbo engine. It’s not as slow to react off the line as some other dual-clutch units, but can be mildly irritating at times.Low fuel consumption is impressive and more than compensates for the moderate performance. We typically used fuel in the low to mid fives in easy paced country and motorway running. In suburban driving we seldom saw more than seven litres per hundred kilometres.

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Many car owners like nothing better than to stand out in a crowd and automobile makers are only too happy to lend a hand...at a price. The European brands are very accommodating and offer customers a major shopping list of options. Take Renault, for example.I recently was in possession of one of the French manufacturer's new Clios as a test car, which with add-ons was like no other vehicle I had come across.The Oyster Grey mid-spec Clio TCe120 Dynamique, a six-speed automatic comes onto the market at the manufacturer's recommended price of $23,790. However, with, I presume, the typical Renault buyer in mind, the car had been loaded up with special features.The car did look a treatFor example, the paint was metallic, costing an extra $550; there was red exterior trim for $250; matching red dashboard and seat covering, $500; 17-inch Diamond Red alloy wheels, $750; and R-Link multimedia, $990, making the price as tested $26,830, plus on-roads.I had to admit, the car did look a treat and I suspect the fan of exotic kit such as that from Renault would not blink at forking out the extra three grand-plus to get heads turning.As mentioned, the small hatchback was a Clio Dynamique, one of four models in the range, the others being Authentique, Expression and GT.Not only has Renault come up with a smooth, desirable design – inspired, it says by the DeZir concept car – a vehicle that symbolised love (how French) – the company offers the affordable personalisation program, mentioned above, that it claims is unprecedented in this section of the light car market.The new Clio has a coupe-like profile, made even more so by hidden rear door handlesAlso first seen on the DeZir is the way the large Renault logo sits prominently on a gloss black background on the front and is made more distinctive by the headlight units, which include chrome details and LED daytime running lights.Available only in five-door form, the new Clio has a coupe-like profile, made even more so by hidden rear door handles. A lower ride-height, which aids aerodynamics, plus pronounced shoulder lines, add to the visually distinctive appearance.The latest Clio introduces two new in-car entertainment platforms – Renault's Media Nav and R-Link, both using an 18cm touchscreen display and enabling satellite navigation, radio, Bluetooth connectivity for hands-free operation or music audio streaming, as well as USB and 3.5mm connectors.Ideal acoustics inside the car are topped off without high volume distortion (duff-duff devotees note) through the use of speakers in the front doors which feature Bass Reflex technology. We are assured this is a world first, in which an additional cone provides the equivalent volume and listening enjoyment of a 30-litre speaker.The new Renault Clio TCe 120 engine mated to a six-speed EDC (Efficient Dual Clutch) automatic gearbox is a four-cylinder 1.2-litre petrol unit.Direct fuel injection and turbocharging result in maximum power of 88kW at 4900 rpm and peak torque of 190Nm at 2000rpm. Official fuel consumption of 5.2L/100km on the combined cycle and carbon dioxide emissions of 120g/km are claimed.The new Clio is the first light segment car to employ active vents in front of the radiator helping to reduce fuel consumption by adjusting the flow of air through the radiator as a function of the engine's cooling needs. Under normal running conditions in fast-flowing traffic, closure of the vents permits fuel savings. The bad news is it's of the order of just 0.1L/100km at a 130 km/h - the motorway speed limit in most European countries.Weight saving includes a smaller fuel tank, reduced from 55 to 45 litres, which has no impact on fuel range, thanks to the economy gains.Passive safety is taken care of with a reinforced body structure, high-efficiency frontal airbags, lateral head and thorax airbags, a pressure sensor to detect impending impacts, seat belts with (front seat) pre-tensioners and load limiters, anti-whiplash head rests, a luggage partition and anti-submarining front and rear seats.Standard active safety systems include Electronic Stability Control, ABS anti-skid braking, Emergency Brake Assist and Hill Start Assist.From the start, the Dynamique was lethargic, in Eco mode even more so. However, like a late afternoon gin and tonic, a top-up of 98RON petrol was received with pleasure, and had Clio stepping out with renewed vigour.Fuel efficiency was on the money with a figure of 4.5L/100km recorded on a motorway run, 7-plus litres a regular recording in and around town.Let's talk about R-Link. Unique to this function is R-sound, in which the driver can alter the sound of the engine to imitate a range of present-day Renault vehicles and the supposed sound of a people mover of the future.It all sounds a tasty dish for the discerning buyerFor some reason a MotoGP bike makes up the list. With the best will in the world, even with the windows fully wound down, allowing the wind and noise in, it was hard to imagine what it was really like to live like Marc Márquez through Maggotts and Becketts at Silverstone.Gimmicks aside, R-Link also is connected to the car's own electronic systems giving access to an advanced eco-driving function (Driving eco2) which analyses the driver's behaviour and provides advice to help reduce fuel consumption.

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