Road Test: Renault Captur 1.2 Dynamique

Renault Captur 1.2 Dynamique reviewed in SA 2015

It’s a familiar design transformation; take a popular small city car and raise its suspension, rejig the seating position and package the interior in such a way that the boot swells in size and so does its stature. Clip additional body cladding to its flanks to make it adventure proof and market it as an entirely new product.  One doesn’t need to look deep under the skin to notice that the Renault Captur shares many traits with the Renault Clio, which from a visual perspective continues to be a flamboyant foundation to expand on.

Don’t be confused, unlike the Renault Duster which sells for a similar sum, the Renault Captur is front-wheel drive and has no ambition to be anything other than a city car. The low 170mm ride emphatically snuffs out that idea. This is positioned as a natural upgrade once you’ve outgrown the Clio and require a vehicle that mirrors your new responsibilities.

Packed chock-full of luggage for a weekend out the city, we were relieved to have the more powerful 1.2-litre Dynamique Renault Captur in our possession. With 88kW and 190Nm it never struggled to stay with the highway flow, shifting down a gear only when the road steepened severely. The lean kerb weight being vital to the recipe, although the Citroen c4 Cactus makes it seem bloated by comparison. Road and wind noise are nicely contained considering that there isn’t an abundance of sound deadening material.

Long distance driving with a moderate speed programmed into cruise control didn’t give us much time to assess the gearbox’s talents but any scepticism towards it would most likely to the smaller engine. Renault claims the setup is good for 5.4l/100km but even in perfect conditions with the rpm never exceeding 3000rpm for hours on end, were we unable to get below 6.7l/100km. In town that could swing towards 8.5l/100km. Not a great advertisement for small turbo capacity and curiously thirstier and with a higher carbon output than the similar sized unit fitted to the Citroen C4 Cactus.

Sadly that wasn’t the only negative from our 600km trip. The coup de grace comes from thinly covered door cards let loose the odd squeak and groan and the buttons for ventilation have a worrying amount of excessive movement.  Renault has tried hard to divert one’s attention away from these foibles with gloss black panels and a textured dashboard, but the Renault Captur never conveys a message of well-built and solid design. It may come with attractive levels of specification like navigation as standard, but none of it is satisfying to use.

The Renault Captur is the lowest and widest of its nearest rivals from Ford, and Nissan and longer too, minus the Citroen Cactus. Interior space is deceivingly good and although the boot’s loading lip is high, at 377 litres it will swallow a number of bags. Seats flat and you’ll be able to shut the boot on anything from luggage to furniture.

With just the smallest improvements to quality the Renault Captur could become the segment leader because it has the most space, specification and looks that unlike the Juke, gel with most opinions. Heavy fuel consumption and no apparent rise in quality from the cheaper Clio spoil a car with much greater potential.

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