gear kereta

FOR most Malaysians out shopping for foreign makes, Renault isn’t exactly a name that springs immediately to mind.

“Oh, isn’t that the maker of the odd-looking, tallish car? What’s the name again – Kandour, Kangroo…..ahh yes, Kangoo!” a friend exclaimed as she was asked what she knew of the French marque.

That was the extent of her limited exposure, and she couldn’t rattle off the Scenic, Clio, Megane and Laguna that formed part of the Renault stable.

Truth is Renault is a brand that has yet to gain the same visibility and instant recognition as a Honda or Hyundai in this neck of the woods. But its local distributor, TC Euro Cars is working hard to overcome the handicap and is set to have local assembly of a model, after the Kangoo, in the near future.

Poke your head into a TC Euro Cars outlet these days and you will find, wonder of wonders, an SUV doing showroom duty on the floor.

It’s called the Koleos by the way.

Unlike the Kangoo’s quirky shape, the Koleos looks like a regular SUV, but Renault prefers to call it a crossover, thank you.

The Koleos has the honour of being Renault’s first crossover.

Like the Honda CR-V, it bills itself as a vehicle that drives and feels like a car yet have the competency of a softroader.

It has 4WD, Hill Descent Control and Hill Start Assist with fairly decent ground clearance in its claim to offroading ability.

Still, it’s no secret that the petrol Koleos, like all SUVs, will serve mostly street duty in its lifetime, marking SUV owners predictable in that sense. Its calling is predominantly tarmac driving with little of that offroad acrobatics you would expect far battle-hardened offroaders to handle with gusto.

Its styling suggests robustness and it looks attractive without being ostentatious.

Starting from the front, the Renault logo is flanked by air intakes and modern elliptical headlamps.

Seen from a higher vantage point, the “arrow” that flows from the rear lights along the car’s flanks to the front gives the Koleos somewhat an assertive air.

The distinctive lines of its hatch form a movement that spills from the bottom of the rear window to converge on the logo.

The rakish rear screen, moreover, suggests forward movement.

The interior design is based on a series of flowing curves. The bottom of the dashboard forms a wave-like line which gives the impression that the cowling is actually floating on the dashboard.

It comes with a charcoal-colour theme interior with fabric seats, complemented by a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear knob.

Being French, Renault insists on doing things its own way. Like the location of the speed limiter/cruise control switch next to the engine start/stop button and the fact the stereo controls are installed behind the steering wheel.

The test car was an earlier unit that did not have satnav but the ones Malaysians get will have one integrated into the centre of the dashboard instead of having a plain LCD display.

Renault’s experience in producing MPVs came in handy as the way the cabin is structured evokes a feeling of spaciousness.

At 946mm, the driver and front passenger enjoys record headroom in the SUV/4x4/crossover category, while rear passengers benefit from a balance between vertical and lateral space. Given the 4.5m overall length, a little bigger than the Nissan X-Trail, access to front and rear seats is simple, with ample room for legs and hips.

Speaking of storage spaces, there’s plenty from the Koleos – door pockets all round, underseat stowage, and deep glovebox and centre console compartment.

The split tailgate also makes loading of bulky items easier and seats can be folded forward for extra space if required.

This crossover is truly a product of international teamwork.

Under the so-called Renault-Nissan-Samsung Alliance, Renault came out with the design and the engine, while the Japanese handled the technological and engineering works – particularly the 4WD drivetrain. The Renault-Samsung’s factory in South Korea is responsible for building it.

As milestones go, the Koleos, which started production in 2008, was the first Renault to be produced by the Renault-Samsung partnership.

The all-wheel drive system in the Koleos features automatic torque split between the front and the rear.

In normal driving conditions, torque is delivered to the front wheels. However when required, up to 50% of torque is transferred to the rear wheels via an electronic coupler, controlled by a Nissan-developed intelligent system.

The Koleos, matched to a seamless constantly variable transmission, coped well with some mud tracks on hilly construction sites in Rawang, Selangor.

It felt agile on the road, and the direct steering provides good feel, making it car-like in that respect. Bodyroll is bound to happen in a tall car especially through bends, but it’s well-controlled without nasty surprises.

The Koleos has earned a five-star Euro NCAP rating for safety, so you know much effort has been put into the vehicle to ensure you stay alive in a crash.

The Koleos is coming late into the SUV game but on hindsight, it’s not such a bad thing.

It gives Renault time to learn from those before it. And it has. Its crossover outing is a respectable effort.