Renault Koleos

The wraps have come off Renault’s first-ever compact SUV... and here are the official pictures.

Going on sale in July, the Koleos will battle it out in the growing small 4x4 sector, competing with established models such as Toyota’s RAV4, and new entrants including the Volks­wagen Tiguan and forthcoming Ford Kuga. The Koleos was previewed as a concept car at the Paris Motor Show in 2006. And the production version retains Renault’s bold diamond-shape badge and Clio-style headlights.

The estate-like profile is enhanced by pronounced wheel­arches, as well as a raised ride height and protective skid plates front and rear. These combine to give some off-road muscle.

Inside, the cabin gets a split centre console with an upper digital display, which will show satellite navigation information on top-spec models.

Standard equipment includes a keycard entry system and air-con. The Koleos is strictly a five-seater, and with all the chairs fixed in place, boot space is 450 litres. This expands to 1,380 litres when the rear seats are stowed. Practicality is enhanced by a folding front passenger chair and a split tailgate, the lower section of which can support up to 200kg.

The Koleos shares its platform and four-wheel-drive system with Renault partner Nissan’s X-Trail. In automatic mode it can send up to 50 per cent of power to the rear wheels. And the set-up can can be locked in 4x4 or front-wheel drive only.

There’s also hill descent control and a hill start assist function. Buyers will get a choice of two 2.0-litre dCi turbodiesels, with either 146bhp or 168bhp, while there will be a 167bhp 2.5-litre petrol powerplant.

All cars feature a six-speed manual gearbox as standard, and the 148bhp diesel and petrol models are available as front-wheel-drive variants.

Renault claims that the Koleos has been tuned to handle like a family hatchback, and with the same multi-link rear suspension set-up as the
X-Trail, it should offer a composed on-road driving experience.

Although prices have yet to be confirmed, the new range is likely to kick off at around £19,000.