2024 Renault Captur Intens assessment

It’s a success in Europe, however the Renault Captur has by no means been a shining star on the Australian gross sales charts.

In 2023, Renault registered 939 items for 1.8 per cent share of the VFACTS mild SUV phase, the place the associated Nissan Juke managed 1256 registrations and a pair of.4 per cent market share.

Then there’s the ever-popular Mazda CX-3, which returned 15,776 registrations for the 2023 calendar 12 months and accounted for 29.9 per cent of the phase’s quantity – or almost each one in three mild SUV gross sales.

That’s to not say the Captur is a worse automotive than the Mazda and even the Nissan. If something, I’d argue in some ways it’s higher than each of them.

It’s well styled, has fairly an upmarket cabin and in addition gives probably the most highly effective engine at school.

The Captur is among the extra premium vehicles within the phase although, beginning over the $30,000 mark and nudging $40,000 on the high finish – we’ve got the flagship 2024 Renault Captur Intens on take a look at right here.

A facelifted one is coming early subsequent 12 months – seemingly with the choice of hybrid – so must you get one now or look forward to the replace?

How does the Renault Captur evaluate?

View an in depth breakdown of the Renault Captur in opposition to equally sized autos.

Renault

Captur

How a lot does the Renault Captur price?

The Captur has seen value rises for MY24, between $700 and $1200 relying on variant.

2024 Renault Captur pricing:

Costs exclude on-road prices

To see how the Renault Captur shapes up in opposition to the competitors, try our comparability software.

What’s the Renault Captur like on the within?

Contemplating its dimension and value positioning, the little Captur has fairly a complicated cabin.

In contrast to many rivals that revert to cheaper, hard-wearing plastics all through a lot of the inside and don’t really feel worthy of a price ticket nearing $40,000, the Renault presents as top-of-the-line cabins within the Mild SUV class and is greater than aggressive with rivals within the class above.

The supplies used for the contact factors and dashboard feel and appear upmarket, and the high-resolution shows for the motive force and infotainment add to the atmosphere. Sadly, current working adjustments noticed the beforehand squidgy door tops subbed out for more durable plastics.

Within the Intens spec, the Captur gives leather-accented upholstery with a powered driver’s seat, making it simple to discover a snug driving place. The chunky leather-based wheel with perforated sections feels upmarket, and the format of the switchgear means all the pieces ought to fall inside attain of your thumbs or fingertips.

I’ll additionally observe you sit up fairly excessive within the Captur’s cabin, which gives the look it’s larger than it truly is.

Renault’s quirky media stalk behind the right-hand facet of the steering column does take a second to get used to should you’re not used to French vehicles, but it surely turns into second nature over time.

The French model has additionally, fortunately, eliminated the two-stage cruise management activation for the usual adaptive cruise management, and centralised all related switchgear on the wheel, very similar to most rivals.

The 9.3-inch vertical touchscreen infotainment show is well-featured, a minimum of on paper. Renault has been doing these portrait-oriented shows for some time now, and it’s a pleasant level of distinction to most different manufacturers.

The show is angled to the motive force and well-placed within the cabin so that you don’t have to essentially look down or away from the highway whenever you look over to it, however in typical French vogue there are some… quirks.

Some menus are a bit convoluted and easy issues like altering the ambient mild color aren’t situated the place you would possibly assume they’re – spoiler alert, it’s within the drive mode configurator, not within the mild or show settings.

Load occasions are little laggy and a few features just like the surround-camera system are annoying – the Captur clearly makes use of the identical cameras because the associated Nissan Juke, as a result of decision is grainy and struggles in low mild.

The embedded satellite tv for pc navigation system is okay and it’s hooked as much as a nine-speaker audio system. It’s not fairly Bose or B&O good, but it surely does the job.

You possibly can choice a bigger 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster ($800) instead of the Intens’s 7.0-inch part-digital supervision show, although the usual unit continues to be fairly good and simple to make use of.

Under the show are cool toggle-style switches for features like door locks, parking sensors, and drive mode, and Renault as maintained bodily switchgear for the local weather controls. The rotary dials have Audi-esque LCD shows in them too, that are a pleasant contact.

In high-spec variations of the Captur there’s a shift-by-wire controller sitting atop a ‘floating’ centre console. A storage tray sits forward of it with entry to USB-C factors, and there’s a wi-fi charging pad within the part under.

There’s additionally a lidded centre storage bin with matching distinction stitching to the seats, although it’s fairly small. Forward of that may be a pair of cupholders and a slot to stow the Apple Mouse-like car key.

Renault has finished an excellent job at implementing good storage options and upmarket-feeling presentation for the value, and it’s an actual disgrace Australia doesn’t get the new-generation Clio which has an nearly an identical cabin.

Often the second row in these small city-focused crossovers are nearly only for present, however the Captur’s rear lodging is surprisingly versatile and well-appointed.

The rear bench slides on rails to supply extra legroom or extra boot area, which is fairly distinctive at this finish of the market, and there are additionally rear air vents which is a rarity within the mild segments.

Netted map pockets behind each entrance seats, USB-A cost ports and a 12V socket headline the rear facilities, and there’s even a fold-down rear centre armrest with cupholders – not unhealthy in any respect.

Boot area is quoted at 422L with the rear seats in place, or 536L together with under-floor storage and with the rear bench slid ahead. Fold the second row down and there’s 1275L to play with.

Our take a look at automotive wasn’t fitted with an adjustable boot ground, however in accordance with the MY24 spec sheet it’s nonetheless a regular merchandise. It helps to maintain the load bay flat whenever you’ve folded the second row.

I can attest it’s an impressively sensible baggage space for such a small automotive, having helped a buddy transfer home with one up to now. Beneath the boot ground there’s a space-saver spare wheel.

What’s underneath the bonnet?

Only one powertrain is offered throughout the Captur lineup in Australia.

There’s a 1.6-litre E-Tech Full Hybrid choice out there abroad, which has a system energy output of 105kW and gas use as little as 4.7L/100km. It by no means made it to Australia, although the upcoming facelift may change that.

Renault has additionally detailed a number of different powertrains for the facelifted mannequin in Europe; together with two turbo-petrol engines, two 12V mild-hybrid choices, in addition to a dual-fuel petrol-LPG choice. Australia retains it a lot easier.

To see how the Captur strains up in opposition to the competitors, try our comparability software.

How does the Renault Captur drive?

Whereas punchy, the Captur feels as if it’s been tuned extra for effectivity. In its regular drive mode generally is a little leisurely to answer driver inputs, significantly at low speeds.

Nevertheless, sink the boot in and the Captur is surprisingly athletic in a straight line, significantly as soon as rolling. It put a smile on my face on a freeway on-ramp, because it genuinely shocked me with its efficiency.

It should squirrel about underneath heavy throttle, given the entrance wheels (regardless of being fairly large with chunky tyres) need to deal with scorching hatch ranges of torque at full tilt with no sporty differential to get all of it to the tarmac.

The seven-speed dual-clutch computerized isn’t the very best I’ve sampled. Whereas many will lament the occasional low-speed hesitation and laziness of a Volkswagen DSG, the Captur’s unit is much less refined and may at occasions be much less predictable.

Even after every week of driving the Captur, I’d nonetheless sometimes get inconsistent response off the road and at low speeds, at occasions not getting sufficient acceleration after which getting an excessive amount of after urgent the accelerator a bit more durable – that’s regardless of Australian fashions not being fitted with idle cease/begin expertise.

On that final half, it’s a disgrace Australian-delivered Capturs lack fuel-saving tech provided elsewhere, even when it may be a polarising subject. Its absence means you may additionally see gas use enhance fairly sharply on the town – we’d see 5.0-6.0L/100km on the freeway after which 8.0-9.0L/100km in stop-start visitors.

One other quibble we skilled is the occasional delay switching from Reverse into Drive, or vice versa, when doing three-point turns. At occasions the Captur’s DCT would take so lengthy there’d be an ungainly roll again on an incline, which could frighten you the primary few occasions it occurs.

When you’re shifting, the Captur is a relaxed factor to drive for its dimension. The 18-inch alloys shod in 215/55 Continental tyres give the automotive a considerable footprint and a way of safety even when you’re cruising at freeway speeds in poor climate.

Higher but, the excessive seating place and broad stance make the little Renault really feel like a a lot bigger automotive – I used to be nearly eye stage with an Audi Q5 driver.

Street and wind noise is healthier suppressed than most rivals within the phase, although at this value you’re additionally competing with the likes of the Mazda CX-30 which is taken into account a frontrunner within the compact segments for refinement.

As soon as the highway will get twisty, the Captur’s correct controls and effectively managed physique make for a reasonably impartial dealing with steadiness. Its massive footprint and sure-footed character encourage confidence.

It principally rides effectively too, however these large alloys can get a bit busy over constant smaller imperfections within the suburbs or metropolis. Then once more, a lot of the class is similar. Pulling the paddles ends in pretty fast gear adjustments befitting of a dual-clutch transmission, however don’t anticipate this to really feel like a Clio R.S.

Renault has refined the Captur’s energetic assists over time, and the Intens I drove right here is an enchancment over the R.S. Line I examined a few years in the past.

The important thing right here is the lane centring assistant, which does a much better job than the outdated lane-keep help protecting you throughout the strains and taking the load on prolonged freeway stints. It combines properly with the adaptive cruise management with cease/go to present you nearly semi-autonomous freeway functionality.

Including to the roster are blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, that are nice to have given the chunky rear pillars and driving shoulder line into the rear. I additionally love the {surround} digital camera system and the entrance and rear parking sensors – all nice to have even on a smaller automotive so there’s no excuse for broken rims.

What do you get?

The Intens is as soon as once more the highest of the tree, because the R.S. Line has been axed for MY24.

Captur Life highlights:

• LED headlights
• LED tail lights
• Cruise management
• Pace limiter
• Paddle shifters
• Guide air con
• 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wi-fi Apple CarPlay, Android Auto
• 4.2-inch instrument cluster display screen
• 6-speaker sound system
• 17-inch alloy wheels

Captur Zen provides:

• Adaptive cruise management with cease/go
• Keyless entry and begin
• Heated leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Local weather management air con
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Wi-fi telephone charging
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert

Captur Intens provides:

• 18-inch two-tone alloy wheels
• Chrome exterior highlights
• 9.3-inch infotainment show
  • Apple CarPlay, Android Auto
  • Satellite tv for pc navigation
• Arkamys Auditorium 6-speaker sound system
• 7.0-inch color journey laptop
• Satin gray roof rails
• Encompass-view digital camera
• Energy driver’s seat
• Heated entrance seats
• Computerized brake maintain
• LED cabin lighting
• Storage nets on entrance seatbacks
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• Twin rear USB ports
• Black leather-based trim
• Privateness glass

Choices

There’s a small checklist of accessible price choices on the Captur Intens.

• Metallic paint: $650
• Two-tone metallic paint (Smokey Blue strong): $650
• Two-tone metallic paint: $1000
• 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster: $800

Is the Renault Captur protected?

The Captur wears a five-star ANCAP security ranking primarily based on Euro NCAP testing carried out in 2019.

It scored 96 per cent for grownup occupant safety, 83 per cent for little one occupant safety, 75 per cent for susceptible highway person safety, and 74 per cent for security help.

Customary security options embrace:

• AEB with Pedestrian, Bicycle owner detection
• Cruise management incl. velocity limiter
• Ahead collision warning
• Lane departure warning
• Lane preserve help
• Parking sensors entrance, rear
• Reversing digital camera
• Visitors signal recognition
• Tyre strain monitor

Captur Zen provides:

• Adaptive cruise management with cease, go
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Rear cross-traffic alert

Captur Intens provides:

• Lane centring
• Encompass cameras

How a lot does the Renault Captur price to run?

The Captur is backed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee and comes with 5 years of 24/7 roadside help.

Servicing is required each 12 months or 30,000km, whichever comes first, and the primary 5 are capped as follows:

CarExpert’s Tackle the Renault Captur

The Captur sprinkles some French aptitude in an in any other case fairly uninspiring car class – it deserves higher.

With punchy turbocharged efficiency, sensible European seems to be, and a properly introduced and packaged cabin for the phase, the Captur shapes as an incredible different to the likes of the ageing Mazda CX-3 and dour Toyota Yaris Cross.

European rivals are fairly skinny on the bottom right here. The Ford Puma is being discontinued in petrol-powered guise in Australia, and the Volkswagen T-Cross is about to get a much-needed inside revamp and tech improve.

Whereas the Ford is extra enjoyable and the VW is a classier drive, the Renault seems to be and feels more energizing and has the area of interest consider its design and branding. Plus, it’s probably the most highly effective car at school and in addition boasts one of many bigger boots.

I’d have an interest to see what Renault Australia has in retailer for the facelift. Along with the up to date tech and refreshed design, it will be good to see the French model begin its hybrid journey in Australia and supply a degree of distinction in a largely naturally aspirated and non-electrified phase.

In the intervening time although, I’d suggest giving it a glance should you’re buying within the mild SUV phase and need one thing a bit completely different – simply get a really feel for the DCT and the tech to verify it fits your tastes.

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