Renault Kiger: 5 Things We Learned From The Review

Renault’s Kiger makes quite the first impression. It’s affordable, but doesn’t look cheap. Would your opinion change if you spent a lot of time with it? Here are a few pointers that lingered on after we drove Renault’s latest SUV!

It’s hard to stand out in the sub-compact SUV space. But, Renault might just pull it off with the Kiger promising space, style and affordability to a country that’s SUV obsessed. Here are five things we learnt about the Kiger after we spent quite a lot of time with it during our First Drive review. 

It’s A Fantastic Family Car 

If you’ve got a family that loves travelling together and doesn’t quite grasp the idea of ‘travelling light’ — the Kiger will be quite accommodating. We love how Renault has eked out every inch of space the Kiger’s compact platform has to offer. It’s among the few ‘small’ cars that can seat five occupants if need be. There’s ample knee, foot and headroom too. There’s a lot of space for your knick-knacks too between the twin gloveboxes, a large central cubby and multiple bottle holders. 

The Big Boot Isn’t Actually All That Big

With a claimed luggage capacity of 405-litres, the Kiger betters every other compact SUV out there. In comparison, its platform mate, the Nissan Magnite offers a 336-litre boot. When we compared the two together, we were in for a bit of a surprise. Both boots accommodate a duffle bag, one overnighter, medium-sized and a large trolley bag each. Despite a 69-litre advantage on paper, the Kiger doesn’t have any extra space to spare. The only logical conclusion is that Renault measures the bootspace differently. 

To see how the Kiger stacks up against its rivals, the Nissan Magnite and the Vitara Brezza, click here. (Space and practicality)

A Kiger For Everyone? 

The Kiger’s CMF-A platform effectively rules out even the possibility of a diesel engine. To make up for this, Renault is offering a turbocharged petrol engine as an option. This engine is available with a smooth CVT. If you need an all-rounder, we recommend you stretch for the Turbo-CVT. What’s impressive is that Renault has thought about the commuters too. You can choose a 5-speed AMT with the 1.0-litre (non-turbo) petrol engine if you want a city runabout on a budget. 

We appreciate the choice Renault offers. However, we do wish Renault worked harder on improving the noise, vibration and harshness levels. 

To know more about its ride quality, mileage and performance check out the expert review here. ( First Drive)

The Top Two Variants Make The Most Sense

The way the variants are priced, it’s almost as if Renault is forcing you to buy the top two variants. All the value is packed right there. 

In contrast to the Magnite, the base variant (RXE) of the Kiger seems bare bones. For the price, you’d consider upgrading to the next variant which is the RXL. Here’s where the dilemma kicks in. For an additional Rs 50,000 you get to pick the RXT variant that adds styled wheels, 8-inch touchscreen, side airbags, reverse camera among a lot more features. From here on, an extra Rs 90,000 gets you the range-topping Kiger that gets the swanky dual-tone alloy wheels and triple LED headlamps, climate control and a 7” LCD instrument cluster. 

To know more about the Kiger’s variants don’t forget to check out our Variants Explained video. 

Duster Genes 

Renault has been acing the ride quality game for quite some time now. We’ve spent plenty of time with the Lodgy and Triber (check out long term reports here and here) to set the bar sufficiently high for the Kiger. Unsurprisingly, the baby SUV delivers. It feels like a baby Duster in the way it goes about gobbling up bad roads. 

We weren’t particularly kind to it on our first drive in Goa: driving it over broken and non-existent roads, and even flying over unmarked speedbreakers. Not only is the Kiger unfazed by this, the suspension is quite silent too. On smooth roads, the ride is comfortable and relaxing.

Read More on : Kiger AMT