![]() I mentioned earlier that there were things in common with Nissan’s Juke, and one of them is the 1.2 engine. Meant to protect you against men in smart blue uniforms coming and taking away your driving rights, it only serves to annoy. If there are a lot of speed and redlight cameras around your place, you might want to investigate how to turn off the bings and bongs. Clever calibrations allow the system to simulate a decent bit of feel, but still manage to transmit fairly accurately what the car, road, and mechanicals, are doing. As annoying as it is, it isn’t a deal breaker. Low speed maneuvering in to car parks takes a little practice. You get used to it quickly, but it requires a bit of extra concentration. Having said that, the handling, steering, and ride, are superb.Īt low speeds, the DCT can be a bit “grabby” as the clutches grab and release, then grab and release again. It is a sports activity vehicle, not a sports car. This isn’t the kind of car where that really matters anyway. The gear lever can be moved to the left if manual gear selection is more your style. I was surprised to see lots and lots of absolutely no gear paddles on the steering wheel, but they won’t be missed. Mel Cross, Renault’s PR guru and chief spokesperson, says it I all about adding value without increasing the purchase price. The LED cabin lighting creates a discrete and calming ambience at night, and feels incredibly expensive and luxurious. There is a neat digital speedo centre stage, flanked by other driver info either side. The sound was fabulous, and I had to keep reminding myself that I was in a car costing a sensation over $33,000 driveaway.ĭriver instruments and readouts are clear and easy to use. Our car had an audio upgrade with Bose speakers. Koleos was upgraded last year to R-Link 2, so fingers crossed the same will happen with Captur. This is because R-Link 1 is not compatible with CarPlay, but models such as Megane and Koleos have R-Link 2 which will mirror both phone platforms. It is a dreadful oversight in my opinion given how many Apple users there are. Although it has many attributes including Android Auto, there is no Apple CarPlay, so Iphone users have no phone mirroring. The centre stack has a high quality LCD touch screen. It seems silly, unnecessary, and out of step with the rest of the industry. They’re obscured from view unless you’re going around a corner. Although they are easy to use if you know where they are, they are poorly placed if you don’t know which button does what. The audio/phone controls are on a flat stalk behind the steering wheel. That part of the design, while adding a touch of French flair, drives me nuts. The instruments are all within easy reach, but the Cruise control/speed limiter switch on the centre console, would be better placed on the steering wheel with the rest of their controls. It is surprisingly good at what it does, but most times I prefer doing it myself. It get’s you in to most parking spaces, and even gets you out of a parallel space. We’ve demonstrated the automated parking feature in the Megane GT here: Height and reach adjustable steering, and a height adjustable steering wheel create an ideal driving position. Once inside, you quickly get comfy in the leather seats. Gone are the days of sticking a key in a hole while standing in the pouring rain. Naturally you can use the key fob buttons if you prefer. There is a small rubber button on the door handle to unlock the doors, and can also be used to lock the car, if you don’t trust the walk-away feature. The two tone bodywork has the neat effect of slimming down the slightly chunky profile, and I like that. The cheeky (and somewhat polarising) exterior looks more like a high-set hatchback, as most of the baby SUVs do. The exterior styling chunkier than I’d like, but seems to look much better after you drive it. You simply close the door and walk away with a slightly supercilious grin on your pus. The key can remain secreted about your person for the duration. Once you learn to trust it, it is invaluable. It also comes with Walk-away locking, by far my favourite feature. It comes with oodles of features like LED auto headlights, auto wipers, blind spot monitoring and keyless entry/start. The latter was a bit grabby, but more about that later. The 88kw/190Nm 4 cylinder turbo petrol engine drives the front wheels via a 6 speed DCT (dual clutch transmission). Renault is a brand which sails under a lot of radars, but I think it deserves to have more buyer’s bums on seats, if only for a test drive.Ĭaptur is Renault’s baby SUV and is built on the same platform as the Clio (and the unlovable Nissan Juke).
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