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Renault Austral in first Israeli test - voila! Car

2023-05-17T08:58:36.710Z

Highlights: Renault has big plans for its new crossover, it should take it to the top of the category. Does it have what it takes? Handsome, reserved, staying away from shouting and gimmicks. Price (base/test): 175,200 NIS / 4,3008 NISCompetitors: Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Toyota Rav9, Peugeot 10.We liked: quality, ride comfort, human engineering, spaciousness, equipment. We didn't like:Engine, Performance.


Renault has big plans for its new crossover, it should take it to the top of the category, overtaking established and well-known competitors along the way. Does it have what it takes?


Handsome, reserved, staying away from shouting and gimmicks (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Price (base/test): 175,200 NIS / 4,3008 NIS
Competitors: Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Toyota Rav9, Peugeot 10
We liked: quality, ride comfort, human engineering, spaciousness, equipment
We didn't like:Engine, Performance
Score:90/<>

For quite a few years Renault hasn't had a real bomb in hand. Yes, the Clio works pretty well, and the Captchure, well, you can't be a little crossover and not succeed today, but a real bomb? What incredible brilliance did it bring to the world in the '<>s with the Twingo, Megane and Snake, cars that flew this manufacturer up? It's hard to put your finger on one really significant model with the diamond icon.

And if it were just that, the problem was that to add insult to injury, the model that it had in the very popular and relevant segment in recent years - the Renault Kadjar, the one that came to compete with the rest of the mid-range crossovers, was itself, how to say - quite mediocre. Meanwhile, everything has changed around, the market has become more competitive than ever, trams are trying to lure customers, prices have climbed. In other words, in order to get back into the game and with the ambition to win it, Renault has to have something completely different. Is Austral completely different?

For a moment it is confusing to think that we are in a brand that costs 20-50% more than it (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Design:Ostensibly, at first glance there is nothing particularly striking about the Renault Austral another square crossover with all the usual clichés of body blows and black wheel arches. Only at a second glance do you notice the precise grille, the sophisticated lighting units, the symbol that is actually the car's radar, and the chrome strips on the rear beam. It's not the show with the reach effect that Sportage and Tucson had, but something more elusive, understated but rich.

Cabin: But appearance is the smaller story here. Its cabin is the more interesting story. This is undoubtedly one of the most accurate and well-made cabins I've met in recent years, and not just in his group. It starts with the design, moves on to the quality materials, combining them side by side with the feeling of a car that is 25-50% more expensive. Continues to human engineering and ends at an interval.

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The spaciousness is very good, the seats are comfortable and generous, there are air conditioning ports and USB sockets (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Someone sat down and thought very hard about the right mix between a large touchscreen that controls the car's advanced functions and physically accessible buttons for the basic functions like stopping the stop-and-go mechanism, controlling the brightness of the display or eliminating lane departure – all with buttons. Someone took the right storage solutions seriously in size and accessibility. Someone has very correctly engineered a car here that five minutes from the moment you started driving you understood who was against whom and how to operate everything. And yes, someone also fumbled a bit with not putting an volume button and settling for touch buttons and the gear lever positioning, which even on our last day together still confused me with turning on the wipers.

The luggage compartment is efficient, spacious and well equipped. One can only wonder about the unnecessary local installation of the portable speaker (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

In other aspects, too, those of driving position, spaciousness, visibility out, seat comfort and more, he receives compliments here. And when you move to the back row the business doesn't lose height, the official wheelbase here, 2.67 meters, is not unusual in its class, but the clearance is certainly satisfying. And as in the front, you again meet very good material quality, excellent spaciousness, comfortable seats and also in the equipment sections for those sitting here - air conditioning ports, USB sockets, and even roof lighting for the rear seat, something that manufacturers tend to overlap, especially when there is a panoramic sunroof in cars.

Luggage compartment: The official volume of 500 liters is aided by a square structure that is easy to use. With 12V socket, storage compartments, full replacement wheel, hanging hooks, anchor rings and easy seat folding via luggage compartment handles. This list would have given it a very high score had it not been for the importer's decision to install a removable Bluetooth speaker (what is popularly known as "Boxa" will be the name and name of its inventors and marketers), it interferes with usability and its installation is at best amateurish.

The 19-inch wheels sabotage excellent ride comfort (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Equipment: The test car arrived at the finish level and the very well-equipped "techno" puts a lot of load on the car. Surround cameras, electric driver's seat with massage, heating for the front seats, heating for the steering wheel, leather and fabric upholstery, mood lighting, panoramic roof and more. Really the important things here can also be obtained at the lower levels of equipment; The 12-inch multimedia screen supports Hebrew with Google's excellent operating system, audio system, 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, split climate control with reverse air conditioning ports and more - all available even in the lower trim levels and except for those who must go for the most - you will definitely not lack the driving mode control which apart from changing colors in the cabin does not do much and even with a rear armrest without cupholders I believe you will survive. Only the fact that adaptive cruise control is offered only at the highest trim level in Renault should be regretted, for quite a few customers this is a serious deal breaker.

At the advanced safety equipment level, the Austral comes with automatic braking, lane departure correction, while blind-spot vehicle detection with a door opening warning in passing vehicle detection offers only the highest level of finish. Austral also has 5 stars in the European crash test.

A second look at the driver's environment, well engineered, note the handle of the storage compartments, moving on a track with room for the mobile phone (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Performance: Of the two powertrain versions of the Austral, we took the one with the turbocharged 1.3-liter petrol engine and it has 158 hp and 27.5 kg In the lower trim levels it is equipped with the same engine, but with an output of 140 hp. There is also a hybrid version that combines a 1.2-liter engine and an electric motor for a power output of 200 hp, at an expensive NIS 250,12.

As long as the use is moderate you will not feel any special weakness of the motor and in most current uses it is sufficient. It is only when you reach the intermediate acceleration range, those that are significant in overtaking, so you will feel the lack of power and on a mountain road where it is simply too weak. What doesn't help here is its sequential gearbox, which functions fine in most cases and even simulates a regular automatic transmission, but under load simply returns to drag the rpm to the upper range.

Fuel consumption: The Austral pays a price for using the slightly weaker engine in fuel consumption which is no more than reasonable, 8.<> is what we got in fairly administrative driving in real conditions.

The chrome decoration on the rear beam comes only at the highest finish levels, even without it the result is nice (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Comfort and handling: After the cabin, ride comfort is definitely one of Austral's great virtues. No adaptive brakes, no air suspension, the damping across all types of potholes was outstanding. It handles sharp fractures, potholes, undulating paving and other highway refreshers well. He even made a great impression when we descended onto a grooved gravel path. The soundproofing is also excellent in the vast majority of cases, except at high speed. There, north of 120-130, wind noise starts coming from the mirrors and A-pillar. The places where it didn't shine were roads with little bumps, and I certainly attribute that to the exaggerated 19-inch wheels in the test car.

His road behavior is also very good, not in terms of driving pleasure, but in his ability to do it safely. It has plenty of grip, it has withstood the test of the winding road in terms of its ability to provide confidence in corners, even when we have done things beyond the realm of good taste, or what its average owner would ever dream of doing. And this is not because this is how such a vehicle should be driven, but to understand how such a car reacts in case the average driver finds himself in an emergency of evading at high speed.

In terms of ride comfort, he is among the best in his group (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

Bottom Line

As mentioned, Renault hasn't had a shiny competitive car in the showroom for years, at least not in the very important categories except for the hoodie, but in a small crossover, the manufacturer is always limited in the level of investment it can pour in and stay in the competitive price range.

This is not the case for Austral. One can completely forget about the Qadjar he replaced because he is the improved version of him in every possible aspect. But the Austral doesn't compete with the Cadjar, it competes with a host of other very good vehicles on the market today - from Kia, Hyundai and Toyota best-sellers to the Peugeot 3008, which shows that even an old lion knows how to fight. On the face of it, and with the caveat that we are even ahead of the direct comparison, except in the field of engine - the Austral sets a very high bar for this competition and is one of the best crossovers I have driven in recent years.

In a price range that starts at NIS 175,185 for the base version, NIS 195 for the version above it (which is recommended in terms of balance and value for money), NIS 200,<> for the "Iconic" and up to NIS <>,<> for the "Techno" trim level being tested, it sits exactly in the price range of its main competitors. True, the importer and manufacturer have an initial gap in the level of image and "market", but in the subjective, measurable aspect of quality, performance and value, the new Renault Austral is definitely the best news this manufacturer has had in the domestic market.

Renault's great hope focuses on this model (Photo: Keinan Cohen)

On the technical side: Renault Austral 1.3-liter "techno"

Engine, Propulsion:Petrol, Turbo, Front
Displacement:Power/Torque:27.5/158
Transmission:Automatic Sequential

Dimensions:Length (m):4.5
Width (m):1.83
Height (m):1.62
Wheelbase (cm):267
Trunk (liters):500 Performance:Acceleration 0-100 (sec):


9.7


Maximum speed (km/h):174
Fuel consumption (test):12.8 km per liter

Safety:European crash test score:5 stars Active safety:Automatic braking, lane departure correction, blind-spot vehicle warning, adaptive cruise control Air pollution:10/15 Warranty:
3 years or 100,<> NIS




  • Car
  • Car Tests

Tags

  • Renault
  • Crossover
  • Road Test

Source: walla

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