Renault is pretty new to the Indian scene compared to its rivals who have had a lot more time to figure out the 'do's and dont's' of the Indian automobile market... But in recent times their sales have gone up considerably since the introduction of the Kwid and a revamp of the Duster... Although they have been somewhat of a success, these cars lack the premium feel that is offered by their immediate rivals, until now.. Renault's latest challenger, the Captur has caught the eyes of many since its launch in November 2017 because of its premium appeal...
The Captur is based on the Duster platform but has a completely different european flavor to it, the French manufacturer has completely thrown out the boxy, SUV like design of the Duster and made it a lot more sleek and pleasing to look at and manage to somehow still keep the SUV appeal... The party piece of the Captur is definitely the LED headlight cluster with swiping indicators which Renault calls 'floating indicators'... Other noticeable design elements in the front are the fog-lamps that come with cornering function and the new sleek grill... When you look at the Captur from the side, the first thing you notice are the massive 17 inch wheel with diamond cut allows being complemented by the flared wheel arches and the shoulder line keeps on rising the further back you go... The rear is somewhat inspired by the manufacturers entry level hatchback, the Kwid but it gets LED tail-lamps and a faux skid-plate(rear as well as front)...The Captur also is the longest and the widest in its segment with a ground clearance of 210mm which again tops the charts compared to rivals...
On stepping inside the cabin, you'll find that Renault have indeed given the Captur a more premium feel from the inside when compared to its more rugged sibling, the Duster... The same 7 inch infotainment system has been carried over from the Duster with no new update and surprisingly still no Apple Car-Play and Android Auto and a stylish new digital speedometer... There are a fair amount of features that the Captur comes with, LED ambient lighting, cruise control, Key-less entry, push button start and steering counted audio controls... Automatic climate control is also available in the top trim along with an ARKAMYS tuned audio system and a rear parking camera with sensors... The boot space of the Captur is similar to that of the Duster but it misses out on the 60-40 split seats, however, the rear seat does go down completely in order to increase boot space...
It comes with two engine options, a petrol and a diesel... The 1.5 16V H4K petrol engine produces 105BHP of power and 140Nm of torque at 4000RPM and it comes mated with a 5-speed manual gearbox... While the 1.5 16V K9K diesel engine produces 110 BHP and 240Nm of torque at 1750RPM with a 6-speed manual transmission... The Captur does miss out on the smaller 90BHP engine that is offered in the Duster, as well as an automatic transmission which Renault may offer in a future date...
The Renault Captur comes with ABS, EBD, front airbags, ISOFIX child seat mounts for the rear seats as standard and the top end variant gets two extra airbags, Hill start assist and electronic stability control... All this comes at a price ranging from 10-14 Lakhs ex-showroom Delhi...
All in all, the Captur's european flavor is going to grab attention of customers and its gonna be a relative success... Renault have made massive steps in the right direction when it comes to making it feel premium, the styling and the interior are much improved but they have to do a bit more to get onto the level of the competitors... They are on the correct path though... But for now, the Hyundai Creta is still the segment leader...
Indeed a comprehensive analysis…… looking forward to the next review ….Cheers!!
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