Road Test and Review: Renault Koleos
When Koleos was first launched in India in 2011, Renault was quite an unfamiliar brand to most Indian buyers. Later, the French company’s five-product plan for India secured it a place among the heavyweights, while the prodigious success of the Duster made Renault a household name. Now, as the carmaker’s Indian flagship gets a major makeover, a cheaper price tag and addition of three new variants give Koleos a more serious purpose.
On the flipside, the Koleos is a comfortable highway cruiser that takes great care of its passengers. Despite its size, the Koleos floats above the road, swallowing every bump and pebble it drives over.
Bottom-line
Design
The 2014 Koleos carries over the design language of the model it replaces. It looks more of a smooth crossover than a rugged SUV. The face now gets a wider grille that stretches from headlamp to headlamp. It also houses a bolder and larger Renault badge. While new alloy wheels and chrome side-protectors are new in profile, rear is left untouched.
Interiors aren’t a drastic upgrade over the outgoing model either. Although the dashboard design does justice to SUV standards, I am skeptical about its overall quality, especially in a car with a price north of Rs. 20 lakh.
However, the layout of the centre console is impressive and the many buttons and dials are easy on the eyes. You’d fall in love with the Bose music system, which certainly is a premium touch. Six-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, tilt and telescopic steering column, dual zone climate control, rain-sensing wipers and darkness-sensing headlamps are some of the boons for the driver. While there’s ample space in the front row, rear legroom may be a squeeze for taller passengers on a long trip. Absence of a third row means abundance of boot space and the split tailgate ensures effortless hauling of large objects.
Performance
I sampled the 4X4 trim along the winding ghats of Ooty and it comes with a new 173 PS 2.0 litre engine. It delivers 23PS more power than the outgoing model and the 4X2 in the current lineup. Maximum torque of 360Nm is available from a low 2000rpm but it suffers from awful turbo lag below that point. The six-speed automatic transmission is not the best in business and doesn’t downshift as quickly as you would expect, making overtaking maneuvers cumbersome.
There are very few SUVs that strike the best balance between ride and handling and Renault Koleos is undoubtedly one of them. There’s plenty of grip and body lean while cornering is pretty well controlled.
During the short stint with the Koleos, I managed to take it off the road and have some fun. It offers remarkable off-road capabilities, thanks to the differential lock and an automatic 4WD system that detects traction loss and switches from 2WD to 4WD. Ground clearance, approach and depart angles etc. are greatly in favour of off-roading, too.
What really went against the first generation Koleos was that it came in just one steeply priced variant. Renault has addressed this with the addition of two cheaper variants – a 4X4 manual and a 4X2 manual. Yet, the Koleos will face really tough competition from Audi Q3, BMW X1 and Toyota Fortuner, and Renault is going to have a tough time keeping the Koleos in customers’ radar.
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