Renault finally joins 4x4 brigade
25/01/09 11:30 Filed in: Road
tests
It has taken the French motor giants
some time to take the plunge into the 4x4 market. Peugeot Citroen
made the move with the help of Mitsubishi, using the Outlander as
the basis for the Citroen
C-Crosser and the Peugeot 4007. Now, finally Renault has taken
the plunge.
The Renault Koleos, like the Citroen and Peugeot, is the result of collaboration with manufacturers in the Far East. Renault has shareholdings in Nissan and Korean firm Samsung and it has drawn on both alliances to create the Koleos. Based on a Nissan 4x4 platform, the Koleos is produced in Korea by Samsung.
It’s a neat if unexciting design which looks sufficiently Renault to fit in with the rest of their range. The story continues with the interior which is reasonably functional, but a tad uninspiring with a considerable dominance of black plastic. Two ergonomic flaws are the cruise control switch which is tucked away behind and to the left of the gearlever (more acceptable for left-hand than right-hand-drive) and the controller for the navigation system, which is difficult to get at and complex to use.
I liked the removable bin between the front seats and, rear seat passengers also have comforts like picnic trays and even window blinds to protect them from the sun (or pretend that they are famous). Any celebrity of reasonable stature might feel a bit short-changed compared with their accustomed stretch limo. Space in the back is not that generous.
Round the back the tailgate has a touch of the Range Rover about it, inasmuch as the bottom part of the tailgate drops down providing a platform to change boots or sit for an impromptu picnic. However, as with all cars that use this type of split tailgate, it does mean you have to stretch over the lower hatch to reach into the load area.
My first half-mile in the Koleos was on an unsurfaced farm road. It was an excellent introduction. The Koleos does an almost uncanny job of gliding over potholes and ruts.
However, it does this because the suspension is quite soft and – while this is good on poor surfaces or for off-roading – it is not so goon on-road. Here, you might want a little more tautness and control where it floats a little over dips and crests and on surface imperfections. At least, however, it corners reasonably flat without the lurch that some softer-sprung off-roaders inflict on their passengers.
You can have the Koleos in a two-wheel-drive version. This will presumably appeal to those who want the off-roader looks and driving position, but without the extra cost of the 4x4 system.
My road test car was the four-wheel-drive version. It, too, has the option to work solely in two-wheel-drive, courtesy of a selector switch behind the gear lever. Alternatively you can put it in automatic mode, letting the car choose when it needs all-wheel-drive, or a ‘locked four-wheel-drive’ mode which locks the central differential for off-road use. Beside the four-wheel-drive button is the hill descent control, which takes the terror out of descending slippery slopes when the footbrake is out of bounds.
The two-litre Nissan diesel is refined and quiet, with no sign of harshness and very reasonable noise levels – at lest until you start to rev the engine, when it does become a little bit more vocal. It is also responsive, to the extent that you can forget it is diesel powered. Acceleration 0-62 mph is around 10 seconds. I was not so much in love with the gearbox, however, finding it sometimes obstructive and difficult – spoiling an otherwise pleasant B-road ability.
The Renault Koleos range starts at £17, 618 for the base two-wheel-drive version, with the first of the 4x4 versions coming at close to £1,000 more on £18,596. The top-of-the-range Koleos Privilege dCi 175 4x4 costs £24,175.
The Renault Koleos, like the Citroen and Peugeot, is the result of collaboration with manufacturers in the Far East. Renault has shareholdings in Nissan and Korean firm Samsung and it has drawn on both alliances to create the Koleos. Based on a Nissan 4x4 platform, the Koleos is produced in Korea by Samsung.
It’s a neat if unexciting design which looks sufficiently Renault to fit in with the rest of their range. The story continues with the interior which is reasonably functional, but a tad uninspiring with a considerable dominance of black plastic. Two ergonomic flaws are the cruise control switch which is tucked away behind and to the left of the gearlever (more acceptable for left-hand than right-hand-drive) and the controller for the navigation system, which is difficult to get at and complex to use.
I liked the removable bin between the front seats and, rear seat passengers also have comforts like picnic trays and even window blinds to protect them from the sun (or pretend that they are famous). Any celebrity of reasonable stature might feel a bit short-changed compared with their accustomed stretch limo. Space in the back is not that generous.
Round the back the tailgate has a touch of the Range Rover about it, inasmuch as the bottom part of the tailgate drops down providing a platform to change boots or sit for an impromptu picnic. However, as with all cars that use this type of split tailgate, it does mean you have to stretch over the lower hatch to reach into the load area.
My first half-mile in the Koleos was on an unsurfaced farm road. It was an excellent introduction. The Koleos does an almost uncanny job of gliding over potholes and ruts.
However, it does this because the suspension is quite soft and – while this is good on poor surfaces or for off-roading – it is not so goon on-road. Here, you might want a little more tautness and control where it floats a little over dips and crests and on surface imperfections. At least, however, it corners reasonably flat without the lurch that some softer-sprung off-roaders inflict on their passengers.
You can have the Koleos in a two-wheel-drive version. This will presumably appeal to those who want the off-roader looks and driving position, but without the extra cost of the 4x4 system.
My road test car was the four-wheel-drive version. It, too, has the option to work solely in two-wheel-drive, courtesy of a selector switch behind the gear lever. Alternatively you can put it in automatic mode, letting the car choose when it needs all-wheel-drive, or a ‘locked four-wheel-drive’ mode which locks the central differential for off-road use. Beside the four-wheel-drive button is the hill descent control, which takes the terror out of descending slippery slopes when the footbrake is out of bounds.
The two-litre Nissan diesel is refined and quiet, with no sign of harshness and very reasonable noise levels – at lest until you start to rev the engine, when it does become a little bit more vocal. It is also responsive, to the extent that you can forget it is diesel powered. Acceleration 0-62 mph is around 10 seconds. I was not so much in love with the gearbox, however, finding it sometimes obstructive and difficult – spoiling an otherwise pleasant B-road ability.
The Renault Koleos range starts at £17, 618 for the base two-wheel-drive version, with the first of the 4x4 versions coming at close to £1,000 more on £18,596. The top-of-the-range Koleos Privilege dCi 175 4x4 costs £24,175.