“With manufacturers falling over themselves to get you into their compact SUV/Crossover, buyers have never had more choice, and in that regard the very capable and pretty Renault Captur should definitely be on your watchlist.”

If you hadn’t noticed, Renault is staging somewhat of a comeback recently, with stunning design, solid mechanicals and in some cases backed up by class leading warranties. As competition to the establishment, this can only mean good things for you the willing punters out there.

Renault’s three-fold strategy has allowed them to plug the bottom end of the market, with the Sandero, Sandero Stepway and Duster combined with a new product offensive to tackle the middle to higher end. Of course, the Renault Sport division caters perfectly to those seeking ultimate hot-hatch thrills.

The new Renault Clio was the first new model in French manufacturer’s product offensive, now joined by the Captur and (hopefully) be bolstered by the larger and very good-looking Kadjar, a Qashqai-sized competitor and (hopefully) replacement for the ill-fated Koleos. With confirmation of a Duster-based compact double-cab bakkie on the way, the future looks bright for Renault. Very bright.

Okay, back to the Captur. What is it?

Renault says the Captur will compete in the small SUV segment, a segment dominated by Ford’s EcoSport. The Captur is billed as a Crossover which, to be honest, is a more accurate description than SUV, as it blurs the lines between hatchback and miniature SUV more than ever.

In truth, it is a slightly beefed up Clio riding on bigger wheels (16 or 17-inch depending on spec) and rubber on an elevated ride height (170mm). A few bits of plastic cladding on the front and rear bumpers and plastic wheel arches trim adds to the dual nature of the Captur, although I think roof rails would’ve been a nice visual addition.

In comparison to the exceptionally popular EcoSport, the Captur is a bit of design revolution, but then it is French and we all know the French tendencies towards the dramatic. The prominent chromed diamond logo clearly announces its arrival in rear-view mirrors as do the LED daytime running lights and blinged-out foglight surrounds.

Available on the high-spec Dynamique models, the option of a two-tone colour scheme adds further design flair over the somewhat staid EcoSport. My test unit (88kW Turbo Dynamique Auto) sported Sunset Orange bodywork offset by a white roof. Nice! Dynamique models are further distinguished from the entry level 66kW Turbo Expression model by 17-inch alloy wheels, cornering fog lights, and body coloured door handles and side mirrors.

Tell me about the interior

If you’ve sampled the superb new Clio recently, then the Captur will feel immediately familiar, with gloss black surfaces on the doors, steering wheel and centre dashboard accentuated by smatterings of chrome finishes on the speaker surrounds and gear lever for example.

Overall the Captur’s interior feels very upmarket, with all models featuring a 7-inch touchscreen with satellite navigation as standard, as well as Bluetooth hands-free connectivity, music streaming, USB port and steering column mounted fingertip controls.

Thanks to the increased roof height, the interior is actually far more spacious than what you might presume. It’s practical too with MPV-like flexibility, the rear bench seat can, for example, be moved forward or backwards by up to 160mm. The boot is split level allowing you to store more valuable items completely out of sight and features a reversible floor, smooth on one and anti-slip on the other.

The boot is a decent size (377-litres) and with the rear seats slid to their forwardmost position that increases to 455-litres, fold them down completely and you have an impressive 1 235-litres of flat loading space.

Standard spec is impressive, and, to be honest, is impressive across the Renault range with hands-free key card, electric side mirrors and electric windows, auto climate control all fitted as standard. Dynamique models also get rear parking sensors, automatic headlights and rain sensitive front wipers as well as a tyre pressure sensor.

Leather pews are an option and were present on my higher spec test car, however, the quirky cloth seats which can be zipped off and cleaned are a neat feature and will surely appeal to parents off little (dirty) children. Again, only for the top-spec models.

How does it drive?

In short, like a hatchback. You’re never really aware of the Captur’s higher stance on the road unless you’re completely over ambitious with corner entry speed. Besides with generous height adjustment on the drivers seat, you can sit as low as you would on most hatchbacks.

Powering the top-spec Dynamique Auto model is a 1.2-litre 4-cylinder turbocharged engine (a new addition to Renault South Africa) good for 88kW and 190Nm of torque mated to a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.

Lesser models have to make do with 66kW 3-cylinder turbo-triple as seen in the Clio, and while it might just cut the mustard in that trim, I suspect in the Captur it will leave owners wanting more.

The 88kW 1.2-litre is a willing little performer with more than enough low-down torque to shove the Captur along effortlessly on longer distance trips. I found the dual-clutch ‘box a bit of a letdown though and feels more traditional torque converter in feel and operation.

At low speeds, it’s very slow to react, but, plant your right foot and it eventually registers some urgency kicking down a gear and then revving itself towards the red-line, and swopping gears fairly smoothly.

You can flick the gear lever to the left and take control of proceedings yourself, but the gear lever function is ropey at best with a very wishy-washy ‘backwards for up and forwards for down’ action. There are no steering wheel mounted paddles either so I would suggest just leaving the gearbox to do its thing, or save R40k and get the three-pedal version. (You’ll have to settle for the 66kW version though.)

Considering its small footprint on the road the Captur never feels unsettled, with very little road noise or pothole ‘crunch’ (55 profile rubber helps) being transferred into the cabin. After a week with the Captur, and having spent the previous week in the bone-crushing Megane RS Trophy, I grew to like the comfortable Captur very much.

On longer trips, the cruise control with speed limiter was particularly useful and is standard across the range too. So too the superb Tom-Tom based navigation system, which does a very good job of picking up all the stationary speed cameras as well as speed limits.

Okay, let’s wrap this up

With Crossover/Compact SUV numbers growing exponentially, for many becoming the default choice as a next purchase, the Renault Captur with a R219 900.00 starting price makes a good case for eschewing a hatchback altogether and trading up into this massively competitive market from the get go.

And with manufacturers falling over themselves to get you into their product, buyers have never had more choice, and in that regard the very capable and pretty Renault Captur should definitely be on your watchlist.

Pricing:
Renault Captur 66kW Expression – R219 900.00
Renault Captur 66kW Dynamique – R239 900.00
Renault Captur 88kW Dynamique Auto – R279 900.00 (Driven)

Also look at:
Ford EcoSport 1.0T Titanium – R270 900.00
Opel Mokka 1.4T Enjoy – R288 500.00