First Drive: Revised Renault Kadjar

A revised version of Renault's Kadjar SUV will be appearing in the brand's Irish dealerships over the next couple of weeks, writes Brian Byrne.

The car, which has been highly successful globally for Renault since its launch in 2015, now looks a little stronger, and has been tweaked inside to provide a bit more of a premium feel.

A pair of new petrol engines will give the Kadjar more traction in the growing shift away from diesel, while the diesel engine offering is now both more powerful and efficient.

With the revisit, the car takes on the trim names and specifications already rolled out in other Renault models in the Irish and British markets. There are four for the Kadjar — Play, Iconic, S-Edition, and GT-Line.

Kadjar continues to be available in both FWD and AWD formats, though in the Irish market the latter only represents around 2pc of the model's sales.

The new turbocharged petrol engine is the result of a joint venture with Daimler and comes at the moment in 140hp and 160hp forms, with substantial torque available from as low as 1500rpm in the smaller power version. The diesels are a 1.5 115hp, and a 1.7 150hp.

Transmissions are six-speed manual or Renault's EDC dual clutch automatic.

Prices for the revised car have not yet been revealed, but a starting price is expected in the region of €27,000 which lines with the opening prices of main competitors. This represents an increase on the outgoing Kadjar's base price of around €25,500.

Renault Ireland says new fuel economy levels under the WLTP regime are a significant factor in price rises, while a VRT increase on diesel cars also comes into effect from 1 January.

During a pretty substantial drive at the international launch event in Sardinia, the company showed its trust in the ability of the Kadjar by sending us on some quite difficult mountain trails in the south of the island. Even though the cars were only FWD, they were more than able for the conditions. From this driver's perspective, I felt absolutely confident in the car's ability in occasionally extreme conditions.

The updated Kadjar has a solid place in the brand's SUV offering, between the Captur and the new this year Koleos. Given that the SUV element of the C segment has quadrupled in size since 2007, the model looks well set to build strongly on the 450,000 units sold since it was first launched.





Komentar

Posting Komentar

Postingan populer dari blog ini

Review: Renault Megane RS

Gambar
This car offers pure performance for people who love to drive, writes Trish Whelan . Renault's Megane RS C-segment hot hatch lives up to its promise of offering exhillerating driving. It can be a right howl to drive, or a well-mannered everyday car.   But performance is the reason customers would want to buy a motor like this, and Renault have a long standing involvement in topflight motorsport and this third generation of the model is packed full of Renault Sport expertise and passion.   My press car dazzled in its Volcanic Orange exterior paintwork that attracted appreciative, and envious looks wherever I drove it. And naturally I loved to show it off. The stand out colour and special engine sound from a new version of the 1.8 direct injection turbo petrol engine delivering a sizzling 276bhp and 390Nm of torque, which blasts it from 0-100km/h in just 5.8 seconds, certainly turned heads during my time with this very special Megane variant from Renault S...
Baca selengkapnya

Windsor Airside Renault enjoyed good start to 2019

Gambar
Windsor Airside Renault and Dacia dealership in Swords was the number one Renault dealership in Dublin for January, writes Trish Whelan . The Renault Clio was the bestselling small car in Dublin in January. Renault and Dacia took nearly a 9pc share of the city’s new car market for the first month of the year. The dealership, launched late last year, is now the flagship for Renault and Dacia cars and vans in North Dublin and is the second location for Windsor Renault and Dacia, having also launched its Galway dealership last summer. Windsor Airside Renault caters for the large North Dublin market in a state of the art facility which houses all Renault and Dacia models and Renault Pro+ vans, as well as a key Service Area with highly skilled Renault technicians. The dealership is offering keen finance offers for February across the range, available through Renault Bank, on all orders taken and registered before 28 February 2019. Renault say these complete offers are...
Baca selengkapnya

New Peugeot 508 and Rifter launched here

Gambar
Peugeot Ireland has launched the latest version of the 508 mid-range car at a starting price of €32,400, writes Brian Byrne . The car comes with petrol engines in 180hp and 225hp versions and diesels with 130hp. 160hp and 180hp outputs. There are four grades available including a GT version flagship. Other than a manual 6-speed available with the 130hp diesel, all versions have an 8-speed automatic. The car is a liftback coupe format, and an estate version is due in the autumn. Its interior features the Peugeot i-cockpit design with the instruments visible over the top of the small steering wheel. In a deliberate policy, the 508 has no badges identifying which fuel type it uses, and only the exhaust tailpipe design indicates it. This will apply to all Peugeot models in the future, including Low Emission (LEV) versions. Colin Sheridan of Peugeot Ireland said the brand intends to continue its investment in improving diesel and petrol engines as well as adding LEV solut...
Baca selengkapnya