2016 Renault Koleos first drive review

Driving Renault’s answer to the Mazda CX-5.

David McCowen

14:0101 September 2016

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2016 Renault Koleos first drive review

If hell is where the British are the chefs, the Germans are police and the mechanics are French, then the new Renault Koleos could be a car to park outside St Peter's pearly gates.

It's a tired joke, but it fits the circumstances nicely: French design flair, Japanese mechanicals and increasingly impressive South Korean construction provide an intriguing recipe for a family SUV with plenty of appeal.

While there's little familial resemblance at first glance, the new Koleos has close ties to its Japanese cousin in the Nissan X-Trail. It has the same engine, transmission and core underpinnings as the Nissan, though the Renault's slightly larger dimensions, suave styling and classier cabin give it an advantage over the X-Trail.

Renault offers the Koleos in three trim levels. The entry-level Koleos Life costs $29,990 plus on-road costs, which includes 17-inch wheels, a 7-inch touchscreen, rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, cloth trim, dual-zone climate control and a a CVT automatic transmission that drives the front wheels as standard kit.

The mid-range Koleos Zen adds faux leather trim, heated front seats with electric driver's seat adjustment, an electronic parking brake, smart keys, sat nav, 18-inch wheels and more for $33,990.

Renault also offers the Zen in all-wheel-drive form for a further $2500, while a sunroof costs an extra $1990 and a safety pack with autonomous emergency braking, blind spot warning and forward collision warning systems cost $1490 with either drive layout.

Available only in all-wheel-drive form, the top end Koleos Intens includes all of the above plus LED headlights, a self-parking system, powered tailgate, two-tone 18-inch alloys, leather trim with ventilated front seats and other tinsel such as exterior chrome trim for $43,490 plus on-road costs.

The big selling point for the Intens is its cabin, which echoes prestige SUVs such as the Volvo XC90 and Tesla Model X for a fraction of the cost. An oversized, portrait-orientated 8.7-inch touchscreen sits at the core of Renault's new flagship, which also includes a 12-speaker Bose surround sound system and USB points in the front and rear. That's sharp value for the money.

Renault's new R-Link 2 touchscreen offers impressive functionality - you swipe, pinch and tap through key functions just like a smartphone, and you can tailor its layout to suit personal preferences. Passengers can customise everything from the colour and strength of LED ambient lighting to the volume of its turn signals. The tablet also controls the car's heating, ventilation, navigation and infotainment controls, though it's disappointing to see that smartphone MirrorLink, AppleCarplay or Android Auto connections are not available in the Koleos.

That's particularly puzzling as this SUV is built in tech-obsessed South Korea, where the Koleos is sold as a Samsung product.

It also lacks the active cruise control, high-speed self-braking and Diesel engine options offered by top-end rivals including Volkswagen's upcoming Tiguan SUV.

In any case, the Koleos Intens is a comfortable place to be with impressive cabin presentation, solid practicality and more then enough room for large adults in the front and back seats, even if it doesn't offer the X-Trail's seven-seat option.

Our test example had a cabin rattle or two following a test route that included long stretches on unsealed roads, and we were surprised to find that the mid-range Zen has scratchy, coarse plastics where the Intens offers soft-touch trim - particularly on the rear doors.

Renault elected to run with Nissan's proven 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine for the Koleos, a proven if uninspiring motor that uses 8.1L/100km to produce 126kW at 6000rpm and 226Nm at 4400rpm.

It's a noisy unit that feels a little breathless on steep inclines, feeling strained in combination with the brand's mandatory CVT automatic transmission.

The duo is the weak point in the package, offering a somewhat doughy response when setting off or overtaking, particularly when compared with gruntier turbo rivals. But it should prove to be a reliable unit, and Renault's 30,000 kilometre capped price servicing intervals will make it cheap to run.

Renault says the two-wheel-drive Koleos needs 9.5 seconds to reach 100km/h, while the heavier all-wheel-drive version needs an extra 0.3s to make the same mark. The all-wheel-drive variant drives the front wheels for the most part, sending up to 50 per cent of drive to the rear when required. A locked four-wheel-drive setting allows for an even split of torque at low speeds on loose surfaces.

We tested the Koleos on winding roads surrounding Coffs Harbour in NSW, where the SUV acquitted itself well with nicely weighted, consistent steering and decent balance. BMW held the launch of its latest X1 on some of the same roads, and Renault's machine felt much more impressive than its prestige Germanic alternative.

It's not perfect - the rIde is a little edgy over minor imperfections, there's more road noise than we'd like to hear and the suspension has a fairly noisy action, even if it is up to the task of handling heavy hits.

But there's less roll than some of its rivals, the steering is impressively accurate and the body control remains composed in trying conditions. We'd also swap the Korean-spec Nexen tyres for better rubber, but that might be nitpicking.

The Koleos moves the game on two generations from its underwhelming predecessor while setting a class benchmark for interior design and presentation. It's an impressive blend of value, proven hardware and Euro design flair worthy of consideration in a closely fought category.