Renault has finally climbed onto the family-sized crossover bandwagon after watching the Nissan Qashqai run away with sales for the past years. And the new Kadjar has a good starting point: it’s based on the same chassis as the dominant Nissan.
This is a car designed to build on the runaway success across Europe of the marque’s Captur compact crossover. Expect bold colour options and neutral, easy-going driving dynamics.
You’ll find the svelte Renault styling quite distinctive from the front but less so from the rear, where it simply mirrors the Clio’s styling and raises it up a bit. This is not a bad thing since the Clio has a truly fine derrière, but those hoping for a more mature look will have to deal with the Kadjar’s more youthful visage.
There’s plenty of room in the Kadjar’s cabin. While its isn’t especially wide – making it great for Malta’s relatively narrow roads – it makes good use of its interior space and rear passengers shouldn’t feel at all cramped for legroom unless the two seats are filled by some tall basketball players determined to stretch out.
The door pockets are generous and the storage bin between the front seats is huge. The glovebox is evenly shaped too. The boot has two panels that can be adjusted to form different layouts, two of which involve dividing the large bay into two smaller chunks – handy to stop things sliding around. The rear seats can be lowered remotely from inside the boot.
This is a car designed to build on the runaway success across Europe of the marque’s Captur compact crossover
The 130-horsepower diesel version on test muscled along with no particular worries. The engine is tuned for flexibility, sitting at a relatively busy 2,160rpm at 70mph. You’ll enjoy the composed and settled ride despite a slight dollop of body roll in corners, which is to be expected from such a type of car.
To add to the refinement, the Kadjar is a quiet beast and doesn’t get overly rowdy even when revved hard.
The top trim level feels particularly premium with swathes of hard plastic in the interior though even the mid-range models are pretty well put together. The navigation and media interface is marvellous; sharp and responsive with good graphics.
Who would buy a Kadjar? A lot comes down to the styling. There’s plenty of space for five, a good boot and what seem like easily-cleanable surfaces, so families are an obvious target. But this is a car that can, and undoubtedly will, appeal to a large segment of the population.
It can be summed up in a single word: Bold. If it were a twin, it would be the pretty one that wouldn’t need much more than its appearance to swing the people’s favour. Well done Renault!