![]() Thus armed, the Captur makes for a largely pleasant drive hallmarked by both a surprising reluctance to understeer and a startling reluctance to settle. What’s the Renault Captur like on the road? Mated to a five-speed manual it does exactly what it has always said on the tin, equating to 62mph in 12.6 seconds, just 106mph flat-out, a claimed 76.4mpg and 96g/km of CO2. Renault’s torquey, stalwart, 1.5-litre turbodiesel needs no introduction. With the UK sales-monstering three-pot unavailable, I sampled both four-cylinder engines. Three engines, all turbocharged, are available a 0.9-litre, three-cylinder, 89bhp and 1.2-litre, four-cylinder, 118bhp petrol units and a 1.5-litre, 89bhp turbodiesel. What are the Renault Captur’s engine options? The vast, 11-litre glovebox which slides open like a filing cabinet draw is, however, excellent … and not fitted to right-hand-drive cars. The rear bench seat slides to offer either ample legroom or additional loadspace the latter position, unfortunately, realising a hungry gap between the seat backs and a double-sided false floor boasting carpet or rubber finish and decent additional storage below.Ī range of plastic divots and undersized cupholders behind the gear lever smacks of afterthought, and the wide-spaced Art Deco sunburst of elastic straps on the front seatbacks will restrain little save a rampant clematis. ![]() Fast and intuitive at first fondle, the system will, however, require an ongoing subscription for some features.īeneath this melded chintz of concept car and occasional clunk lies a remarkably spacious proposition with occasional practicality issues. The R-Link Store already features some 50 apps, including, erm, a choice of virtual engine sounds to play through the speakers. Housed in A centre console aping the mouth of a surprised parlour maid in a saucy Victorian romp, Renault’s optional, £450 R-Link infotainment system features an integrated 7in touch-screen, backed up by voice control, which combines TomTom sat-nav with radio, telephone and Internet connectivity. A resounding raspberry, however, targets the shiny plastic on the lower half of the helm, which makes it uncomfortable to hold, marring an otherwise fine driving position some 10cm higher than the Clio’s. On board, credit must be given for the lively exterior colour-match detailing, and zip-off seat covers which, presumably, must all go in the washing machine together to avoid uneven fade rates. A range of largely mouth- or, depending on your perspective, eye-watering colour schemes incorporate that all-important alternative paint-pot roof, funk to funky graphics including the biological first, ‘insect spine’, and a heavy-handedness with chrome. So, undeniably extrovert in isolation albeit, in this company the Captur merely adds another dollop of Marmite to the mix.Īt 100mm taller and some 100kg heavier than the Clio on which it is based, the front-wheel-drive-only Captur is all about personalisation. Because –whilst Radio 2 keeps us company in the wait for the Ford EcoSport, Peugeot 2008 and (ulp) Fiat 500X – crossovers such as Dr Frankenstein’s first punt at a bulldog, the Nissan Juke, and the John Goodman of the Mini range (without the charm), the Countryman, currently dominate the segment. ![]() So Renault’s Captur ‘Ta-Daaah’s to centre stage as Timmy Mallett made metal a machine trying so hard to entertain that it’s something of a surprise to discover that the horn does not replicate an Unterseeboot ‘dive’ klaxon, the engine does not backfire with the passing of each telegraph pole and the bloody doors do not, in fact, ceremoniously blow off to mark the start of every journey…Īnd that’s a perfectly good idea. ![]() Clearly, the good burghers at Renault have taken a long, lingering (if somewhat late) look at the sales figures Citroën has extracted from its DS3 merely by dint of painting the roof a different colour, and decided to cop a copycat feel of the B-SUV market. ![]()
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