Renault Captur review: A stylish upgrade with fuel-saving tech

It has been a good time for Renault recently what with a series of successful models having been launched, such as the Rafale, the yet-to-be-seen-here Symbioz and the new Scenic, both of which were segment winners in the Examiner Motoring Car of the Year awards revealed recently. The hugely anticipated new Renault 5 is on the way and so too is the back-from-the-dead R4.

From both a design and engineering viewpoint the past year has been hugely satisfactory time for both the company and its customers and, it would appear, there’s more to come from the Regie in a fairly short order.

This week, however, we cast our beady eye on a car which has sold over two million units since it was launched a little over a decade ago and is still one of the best-selling cars in the company line-up. It has just been given something of a major facelift and that’s why we’re writing about it.

The Renault Captur is a small SUV/Crossover and one which shares a platform with the Clio and the Dacia Duster, the Nissan Juke, as well as the Arkana and between that lot there is a lot of cars being sold. For its part the Captur has put its shoulder to the wheel and contributed a fair profit margin onto Renault’s bottom line.

This facelift focusses mainly on the look of the car as the mechanicals have not changed much, but the exterior design of its cars is one area where Renault has scored a lot of points in recent months with both the Rafale and Scenic being particularly successful in terms of their eyecatch-ability.

Work on this area has certainly boosted the appeal of the Captur too and it now enjoys the new Renault family face, what with a new sort of inverted clam shell bonnet, new and more aggressive LED headlights, arrow-shaped daytime running lights set into the front bumper and a new grille arrangement with the new company logo enjoying centre stage.

This results in a look which is a lot sexier than the last Captur and gives the car a more mature and handsome mien. The ‘Iron Blue’ overcoat is also really nice and countered nicely by the contrasting ‘Diamond Black’ colour scheme on the roof.

Work on the interior has targeted sustainability with recycled materials being used throughout and the tricolour of the French flag being used liberally across the seats and the dash – not to mention the stitching on the leather steering wheel – in the espirit Alpine spec seen on the tester.

Otherwise, the biggest single change is the giant upright 10.4” touchscreen which now incorporates Renault’s openR link multimedia system which is one of the most user-friendly in the business and, just showing that the car companies occasionally actually listen to the critics, there are real physical buttons for the air con. A 7” digital instrumentation screen is also on the money.

The wireless phone charger and compatibility with Android Auto and Apple Car Play bring things right up to date technologically.

For such a relatively small car the cabin is an airy place, although rear legroom is not for the leggier kind (even with a sliding rear bench) and the boot is on the compact side, and the décor, build quality and materials used all suggest something more expensive than the Captur actually is.

This upper-level specification also sees such as an electric driver’s seat, automatic wipers and lights, heated front seats, intelligent cruise control, 19” alloys, front and rear parking sensors, heated steering wheel and, wait for it, customisable ambient lighting.

The engine choices on offer are the same as those on the Clio – meaning there’s only one petrol and one hybrid. The tester was the E-Tech Full Hybrid 145 Auto, to give it its proper title and this means power comes from a 1.6 litre petrol engine, paired with twin electric motors, a 1.26 kWh battery and an advanced multi-mode automatic gearbox. This setup provides 143 bhp, a 0-100 km/h time of 10.6 seconds and top whack of 171 km/h.

As the figures suggest, this is not a speedster and it would appear the main focus for Renault here was the fuel consumption and they have excelled in this area with the Captur capable of a 4.7 l/100km (60 mpg) provided you’re not trying to break the land speed record.

Driving it, though, is somewhat of a curious experience as the hybrid setup does not seem to follow any logical path and more often than not seems to do what it wants to do rather than what you want it to do – and somewhat noisily, it has to be said, if you’re in a hurry.

It seems to hold onto cogs longer than you’d want and sometimes you have to get completely off the gas to get it to change up, but it’s something you have to get used to and, eventually, you will. The whole system will initially feel odd, but because it drinks so little petrol, you’d nearly forgive it anything.

Under the skin, Renault has uprated the suspension and firmed up the steering responses and that makes it a much more rewarding drive than the last one. The result is an excellent ride and handling which is a lot less wishy-washy than what went previously.

Although front wheel drive, it offers plenty of grip and little understeer and the means that you can push it more than many rivals with some degree of confidence. Given the character of the car, the multitude of driving mode options are probably close to redundant. The ‘comfort’ setting is the only one you’ll really need.

Don’t kid yourself, however, this is no street racer, but a family car which rewards patience and yet will deliver a driving experience which is close to the top of the class.

It is worth mentioning too that Renault offers a ‘My Safety’ button in the car settings which means you can turn off stuff like the (now mandatory) excess speed warning and the lane change warning with one touch – even if you have to do it every time you start it up.

The Captur’s hybrid system might not be as good as what Toyota – the hybrid kings – have to offer, but the cons are far outweighed by the pros throughout this car and place it very close to a best-in-class scenario.

The espirit Alpine specced car is not cheap – over ten thousand quid more than the entry level model – but it is sophisticated and classy and thus gets a solid thumbs up from this quarter.