Renault Kiger Review: A Good Small Budget SUV?

In the realm of expensive sub-4m SUVs, the Kiger holds its own as an attractive budget offering with a focus on space, practicality and comfort

The Renault Kiger is a sub-4m SUV that’s priced between Rs 5.99 lakh and Rs 11.22 lakh (ex-showroom). Its attractive price helps it position itself as a budget offering against the likes of the Mahindra XUV 3XO, Maruti Brezza, Kia Sonet, and Hyundai Venue, while also sitting in the same ballpark as the Nissan Magnite, Tata Punch and Hyundai Exter. 

Now, it’s been a while since the Kiger got any proper update. So in this review, we take a look at whether it can still keep up with the updated competition, and whether there are any hidden compromises because of it being tied to a budget.

Key

Kiger’s first point of contact, its key, is rather unique. It doesn’t look like your regular key – it’s thin and the rectangular shape makes it look very similar to a key card. The good thing is that it fits in your pocket easily, but in terms of design, it is a little bland. The styling is a decade old and the plastic quality could’ve been a lot better as well.

Apart from the key, the Kiger also gets a proximity sensor, so you don’t have to take the key out of your pocket, which is especially useful when you have your hands full.

Design

Despite the lack of updates, the Kiger doesn’t look outdated or out of place when compared to its peers. And while its size might not be the definition of a big SUV, its design elements don’t fall short in giving it that rugged SUV vibe. 

The front has a body builder aura going on with its chunky headlights and creases on the bonnet. The sleek LED DRLs flank the chrome embellished grille, and while the triple LED headlights look premium, their intensity could’ve been better on empty roads. Feels a little inadequate currently.

Coming back to the design, the side profile too follows the rugged theme with its roof rails, wheel arch and side cladding. I personally like its 16-inch dual tone alloy wheels, and what makes it even better is the red insert on the center cap, followed by red coloured calipers. 

Transitioning to the rear, you’ll notice its crossover-like silhouette, courtesy of its sloping rear windscreen. The shape adds a sporty touch to the design that’s also aided by the roof mounted spoiler and shark fin antenna.This shape does help the Kiger stand out from its rivals. The beefy treatment continues at the rear with a contrasted skid plate and big C-shaped LED tail lights. 

Overall, the Kiger is definitely a handsome-looking sub-4m SUV with plenty of rugged cues and the right dosage of sporty elements. With its multiple dual tone shades and crossover-like styling, most people should like the Kiger’s design.

Boot Space

The Kiger offers 405-litres of boot space on paper, which can eat up your entire family’s worth of weekend luggage, including a full suitcase set (1x large, 1x medium, 1x small) and a duffle bag. Even after that, you’ll have space to store a couple of laptop bags or loose items.

You get a 60:40 split for the rear seats, which open up a flat floor for storing additional items or luggage. Only grouse is that the boot lip is a little high, which results in additional effort while loading the luggage.

Interior

The cabin of the Kiger is basic and focuses on functionality. But as a result, it isn’t able to carry forward the impression painted by its exterior styling to a similar extent. There’s nothing wrong with it, but the theme feels dull with a dark grey hue covering the majority of the cabin. Yes, there are some contrasting elements on the dashboard, and the seats get an orange-ish treatment to add some colour to the cabin. You’ll see the same colour in the stitching as well, but that colour is going to be a hit or miss, depending on your taste.

Things aren’t impressive in the quality department too, but it is acceptable for the price. Hard plastics make up the entire dashboard, but they aren’t scratchy. Renault offers some leatherette materials on the central armrest and the steering wheel, while the seats are semi-leatherette. The quality of the buttons too aren’t pushing any boundaries, but I do like what Renault has done with the AC controls and the small displays within the dials; looks premium. 

Coming to the seats, they offer good comfort, despite being a little on the stiffer side. They don’t feel under-cushioned in the city and don’t tire you on those long road trips as well. The side bolsters aren’t intrusive and can accommodate people of all sizes and frames. The seat gets manual height adjustment, while the steering offers tilt adjustment only, so finding a comfortable driving position is relatively easy.

What isn’t easy though is something that you wouldn't ever expect, and that’s finding the seat belt buckle. Its position is awkward, which makes it hard to find and slot the seat belt in. Only if the buckle was positioned a little above, then you wouldn’t have to struggle every time you try to put the seatbelt on.

There is another niggle, and this time it is with the visibility out the cabin. The front view is unobstructed, but the A-pillars are a little too chunky. Given that there isn’t any gap between them and the ORVMs, it creates a blind spot whenever you’re taking a 90-degree turn and this is something that you will have to be aware of. 

 

But these are two small irks in what is otherwise a very sorted cabin. Sure, it is sober in terms of design, but it is comfortable, and gets plenty of practical storage spaces as well.

Practicality

You get the usual door pockets on all four doors, a glovebox, and two open storage spaces beneath the AC controls. You can keep your phone on the tray on the central console, which also houses a huge space underneath it. But it has a weird shape, which makes storing stuff a little difficult. Renault does offer an optional extra organiser with it, which also gets the option of cup holders, but even accessing that isn’t the most ideal thing.

Beyond the regular storage spaces, you also get an additional glovebox in the dashboard itself, while the other glovebox gets an organiser to store your stuff away neatly. Oh, and it’s cooled as well.

Rear passengers get pockets behind the front seats and two cup holders along with a phone storage in the central armrest. For charging, there is a 12V socket (front and rear) and a USB port as well. No type-C port though!

Features

The Kiger’s features list covers all of the basic functional amenities. The list includes an 8-inch infotainment system with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a 7-inch digital driver’s display, wireless phone charging, auto IRVM, keyless entry, auto AC and auto ORVMs. 

The infotainment isn’t the biggest in its segment, but it gets the job done. The resolution isn’t as crisp as what you get in the rivals, but the screen works reliably. There’s no real lag in its operation and connecting your phone is an easy process.

The driver’s display, however, has crisp graphics with drive-mode specific themes. The information on display also changes in accordance with the drive mode. For example, it displays fuel efficiency in the Eco mode, while you get a G force bar and output (horsepower and torque) bars in the Sport mode.

The 6-speaker sound system gets the job done for regular usage. It’s missing that premium audio quality that some of its rivals offer, but it’s something that you’ll only complain about if you're a hardcore music lover.

So overall, the Kiger doesn’t miss out on any feature that would be a compromise in your ownership experience. But when we square in the rivals in the picture, it doesn’t get some feel-good features like sunroof, ventilated seats, auto headlights and heads-up display. That being said, these features are feel-good and discretionary, and the cars that offer these features are much more expensive than the Kiger. So for its price, the Kiger’s features list is appropriate. 

Safety

The Kiger gets dual airbags, hill start assist, rear parking camera with sensor, tyre pressure warning system, traction control and electronic stability control as standard equipment. Two additional airbags are added from the mid-spec RXT variant, but it doesn't get 6 airbags even in its top-spec trim.

Despite that miss, Kiger had received an impressive four-star safety rating from Global NCAP back in 2022. If there’s any complaint, it’s from its reversing camera, the quality of which could’ve been and should’ve been better. 

Rear seats

Cars in this segment usually have a compromised rear seat experience, but the Kiger impresses in this respect. If you were looking to seat your family or elderly parents here, you’ll be happy to know that it’ll be a spacious and comfortable space for them.

The former is enough in every aspect, be it head, knee or foot room, and that’s applicable even for 6’ft tall occupants. The cabin has enough width to seat three normal sized adults as well, and the middle passenger will be comfortable on short city runabouts, thanks to a flat floor. But on longer journeys, the absence of a middle headrest will be a point of complaint.

Another small complaint is from its small windows, which along with the dark cabin theme, gives off the impression of a tight space even though there’s no dearth of actual space here.

Drive experience

Renault offers the Kiger with the choice of two engines: 1-litre NA petrol and 1-litre turbo-petrol engine. Our test car had the turbo-petrol and CVT combination, but before we get to the driving part, we need to talk about the refinement of this engine.

Now, it is a 3-cylinder unit, so it isn’t the most refined unit to begin with. The vibrations are minimal, and that’s acceptable, but the engine noise that comes inside the cabin can get a little daunting, especially when you’re driving enthusiastically. You won’t have an issue with it on a day-to-day basis, but the overall refinement could’ve been significantly better if Renault had put in a little more work in the insulation. And they should’ve, because this parameter is the only real let down of the Kiger’s driving experience.

In terms of performance, this engine might not be the definition of exciting, but it has enough power for both city and highway usage. The CVT transmission, which is an unusual pairing with a turbo-petrol engine, actually works quite well here. It mimics gear shifts like a regular transmission, but unlike AMTs (automatic manual), it is smooth and jerk-free in its operation. 

It doesn’t take a lot of time to react when you ask for a quick overtake, and as a result, you don’t have to map out your overtakes in advance. The engine cruises at 80-100kmph effortlessly, but if you have to make a quick overtakes beyond that speed, it’s best to put the car in Sports mode. 

The throttle response becomes a lot more instant and the gearbox also holds onto the gear at higher RPMs, so you don’t have to build engine speed to extract the maximum performance out of it. Sports mode also makes the steering a little heavier, which we found to be unnecessary, considering that it already has a good amount of heft even in its normal setting.

The Normal mode is good enough for regular driving , and if you want to extract the maximum efficiency, then you can slot it into Eco mode. The throttle response really dulls down in this mode, and it’s only appropriate for driving in a very relaxed manner only.

We took the Kiger for our fuel efficiency run, where it returned 13kmpl in the city and 17.02kmpl on the highway. These numbers aren’t extraordinary, but they are acceptable for a small three-cylinder turbo petrol engine.

Consider the NA petrol engine only if you're on a very tight budget and want the Kiger for city and occasional highway use. Otherwise, this turbo-petrol engine will offer you a more effortless experience, both in the city and on the highway. 

Ride comfort

Ride quality and comfort might just be Kiger’s strongest point in its entire drive experience. The suspension absorbs all the city’s speed breakers, broken roads, and potholes really well. There’s a sense of cushioning in its ride quality, which keeps you comfortable on bad roads, and keeps the movement inside the cabin controlled. 

With 205mm of ground clearance, you don’t have to worry about the abnormal speed breakers and can take those rough roads at a higher speed than usual as well. Your highway drives will be comfortable too, as not only does it feel planted at higher speeds, but the suspension also absorbs the undulations and gaps between the expansion joints really well. 

It’ll be rare for you to actually feel a jerk inside the cabin, and there’s only one real problem here – the insulation. It haunts the Kiger yet again, because despite the suspension working well, it isn’t silent. You can hear it almost constantly over bad roads or speed breakers, which along with the tyre and road noise becomes a little frustrating. One simple solution to that is just bump up the tunes and you won’t have any insulation issues anymore.

Verdict

At its price point, the Renault Kiger is significantly more affordable than its similarly sized rivals, and that’s its forte. Its value for money proposition is hard to ignore, because despite the smaller price tag, you get rugged SUV looks, a spacious and practical cabin with all the right features, a good safety package and a plush ride quality. It might not be a typical fun to drive car, but the turbo petrol engine has enough performance for most, along with the convenience of a smooth automatic. 

Yes, it does feel like it’s on a budget because Renault has cut corners in a couple of places. The cabin quality and NVH levels should’ve been better, and it misses out on a few feel-good features as well, but the latter isn’t a true compromise as it gets all the basics right. 

If you can stretch your budget beyond the Rs 13 lakh mark, its rivals will surely give you a better overall experience. But at this price, there’s no real deal breaker in the Kiger, especially if all you want is a stylish-looking, practical and comfortable little SUV for your family.