Renault Kiger – Is There More to the Story Than Just the Price Advantage?

The French car maker is gunning towards the hotly contested segment of sub-compact SUVs with the all-new Renault Kiger and has got a good price advantage over all of them to begin with.

Renault India might have not got a smooth start for its Indian innings with its Euro-spec and badge-engineered products from Nissan in its early heydays. However, success has come its way ever since it has started the streak of tailor-made products with Duster and continued it with Kwid and Triber. Now, Renault intends to continue this very streak of acceptance with the all-new Kiger. The Renault Kiger has entered in a segment which has already seen plethora of action in the last half a decade, with almost all major mass-market car manufacturers having its presence in it.

Price

This is one aspect where the Renault Kiger has got a big advantage over all of its rivals at the moment. With a starting price of Rs 5.45 lakh, the Renault Kiger not only undercuts all of its sub-four meter SUV rivals, but also some of the premium hatchbacks, thus making it a stupendous value-for-money offering.

The Renault Kiger has been made available as a petrol-only model, with a 1.0-liter three-cylinder petrol engine being the mainstay of the entire range. This petrol engine has been made available in both naturally aspirated as well as turbocharged forms, which divides the entire range of variants into two different halves. Each and every variant of the Renault Kiger is being offered with a dual tone paint scheme, which commands an additional Rs. 20,000 over its monotone counterpart variant.

Starting off with the range having the 1.0-liter naturally aspirated petrol engine, it has four different variants with the 5-speed manual gearbox (RXE, RXL, RXT and RXZ) and three different variants with a 5-speed AMT gearbox (RXL, RXT and RXZ). While the prices of the manual variants range between Rs. 5.45-7.89 lakh, those of the AMT-equipped variants are in between Rs. 6.82-8.39 lakh.

The other half of the lineup of the Renault Kiger is the one that comes with the same 1.0-liter petrol engine, though in a turbocharged form. This range includes three different variants (RXL, RXT and RXZ) with 5-speed manual gearbox and two variants (RXT and RXZ) with a CVT gearbox. Prices for the turbo variants range between Rs. 7.42-8.99 lakh for the manual lineup and Rs. 8.60-9.75 lakh for the CVT ones.

(All prices mentioned above are ex-showroom, pan India)

Engine and Performance

A new generation 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine from Renault, derived from previous models from the company like Kwid and Triber, is being offered in both naturally aspirated and turbocharged forms in the Renault Kiger. While the 1.0-liter naturally aspirated engine makes 72 PS of maximum power and 96 Nm of maximum torque, the same engine in its turbocharged form produces 100 PS of maximum power and 160 Nm of maximum torque.

A 5-speed manual gearbox is common to both the naturally aspirate and turbocharged engines. However, both the engines in the Renault Kiger come with different additional transmission options – while the naturally aspirated petrol engine can be had with a 5-speed AMT, the turbo-petrol engine can also be had with a more refined CVT gearbox. It is to be noted that the combination of turbo-petrol and CVT gearbox produces lesser torque at 152 Nm.

Exterior and Dimensions

The overall design of the Renault Kiger is inspired a bit from the smaller Kwid, and looks like a grown-up elder sibling of the latter, courtesy the raised stance from the front, and split headlamp design theme. The tri-projector headlamps mounted on the front bumper and LED daytime running light mounted up gives it a striking front fascia.

Moving towards the sides, the Renault Kiger manages to look butch, thanks to its high ground clearance of 205mm, prominent bulges over the squared wheel arches which come with body cladding and roof rails. The coupe-like roofline infuses a lot of sportiness in the overall design of the Kiger. At the back too, the Renault Kiger showcases its funky side with crystal cut C-shaped LED tail lamps and a rakish windscreen.

With a length of 3991mm, width of 1536mm, height of 1605mm and wheelbase of 2500mm, the Renault Kiger looks as big as other sub-four compact SUVs, if not the biggest in visual appeal. However, the aggressive styling of the Renault Kiger makes it look larger than what it actually is.

Color options

All the variants of the Renault Kiger come with five different monotone color options to choose from – Caspian Blue, Moonlight Silver, Planet Grey, Ice Cool White and Mahogany Brown. The RXE, RXL and RXT variants of the Renault Kiger can also be had with dual-tone options (with black roofs and rearview mirrors) with Caspian Blue and Moonlight Silver paint schemes.

The range-topping RXZ variant can be had with additional dual-tone color options in all the colors aforementioned above, in addition to an extra shade of Radiant Red (available only in dual-tone theme).

Interior and Features

The Renault Kiger carries forward the youthful essence of the exterior design on the inside as well, though with a toned-down funkiness. There are a number of design elements such as a full TFT instrument console with customizable display modes and a floating 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which makes it look quite cool.

The Renault Kiger comes with a number of new generation features like wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto, wireless smartphone charger, air purifier, drive modes (only for turbo-petrol variants), 3D sound system from Arkamys with four speakers and four tweeters, multi-functional steering wheel, push-button start with smart access card, cooled glove box and automatic climate control with rear AC vents. Sadly, an electric sunroof, which has become a trend in this category, has been given a miss.

Safety Features

The Renault Kiger is one of the most loaded SUV in its price band, when it comes to safety features. The compact SUV from Renault is packed with features like front and rear parking sensors, dual front and side airbags, ABS with EBD and reverse camera.

Mileage

The Renault Kiger surprisingly posts the same fuel efficiency of 20 kmpl with all the powertrain combinations it is being offered in – petrol-manual, petrol-AMT, turbo petrol-manual and turbo petrol-CVT.

Rivals

The overall pricing of the Renault Kiger makes it the most affordable sub-four meter compact SUV in India right now. It takes on the likes of Nissan Magnite, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza and Toyota Urban Cruiser. It also poses rivalry to the more affordable variants of premium players in the same segment, like Hyundai Venue, Kia Sonet, Tata Nexon, Ford Ecosport and Mahindra XUV300.

Verdict

The Renault Kiger has got a tremendous price to package ratio for what it offers, which is surely praiseworthy for a new player in the sub-compact SUV segment. It has got a number of strong factors in its favor to go with – extrovert and youthful looks, trendy features and a spacious cabin, which is surely going to attract young buyers more towards it. The 1.0-liter petrol engine might not be the healthiest one in terms of the performance it offers, but it surely proves to be a decent urban runabout.