At the 2014 Auto Expo in Delhi, in the midst of supercars and F1 cars, the crowd, the media, the photographers, the general public, everyone had their eyes glued to the Renault stands. At the show, Renault had a grey, bright yellow and black SUV like concept on display. It was called the KWID concept. The doors opened upwards like a McLaren, the boot was like a drawer and the interior had two seating rows with the steering in the centre.
Renault said they will put it into production and of course we knew it wouldn’t look anything like the concept. But we had no idea what it was really meant for until earlier this year. In May 2015, Renault unveiled the final production version of the Kwid and said it will be the first SUV styled small car in the world. Renault also said that the Kwid will be priced around Rs. 3-4 lakh and that will put it right into the firing line of the Maruti Suzuki Alto 800/K10 and the Hyundai Eon.
With promises of such standards, we took the Kwid for a spin on Goan roads to get our first touch and feel and to give our first impressions of the car.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Engine
800cc 3-cylinder
Transmission
5-speed Manual
Power
53bhp
Torque
72Nm
Fuel
Petrol
Economy
25.17kmpl
Suspension
Front
McPherson Strut with lower transverse link
Rear
Twist Beam with coil springs
Disc
Drum
Tyres
155/80 R13
Kerb Weight
669kgs
Drive Type
Front Wheel Drive
The Renault engineers and designers have been able to style it brilliantly. The plastic cladding panels around the square wheel arches, the rear bumper and the front splitter along with the overall shape of the car give a very dynamic SUV look to it. The design department should get an A+. The Kwid could pass off as a very compact SUV.
The interiors seem really simple with a fixed steering wheel which can be a bit of a pickle for some users to get a comfortable driving position when you also take the driver’s seat not having height adjustability into consideration. But the seating position is rather comfortable for an average sized Indian. Renault has also packed the cabin with loads of features like a touch screen infotainment system with Bluetooth, USB and Satellite Navigation which works brilliantly. We didn’t find any problems trying to figure out the system and the touch screen worked fine. The interior is also lined with a piano black finish panel on the dash board around the touch screen. On the passenger side, you get 3 glove boxes, 1 above, one in the middle and a conventional one underneath in addition to the other storage compartments around the cabin like the doors and along the centre console which makes a total of 24 litres of storage space right there in the cabin. The seats offer relative comfort and in the rear there is ample headroom and reasonable leg room. But it will be a fight for anyone above 6 feet to be comfortable.
At the heart of the Kwid is an 800cc 3 cylinder lightweight petrol engine as a result of Renault’s Frugal engineering solutions. With use of many plastic parts in the engine bay, for example the oil pan, Renault has also reduced the weight by optimising the parts including the nuts bolts and screws and has saved around 7 kilos on that alone. The engine produces 53bhp and 72Nm of torque.
The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. To drive the Kwid is sufficiently smooth and has decent amount of power. Though the transmission is slightly chunky, but I guess the more you drive it, it will get used to it and feel natural and open up. The electric power steering is very light and feels good to drive with. But overtaking can be a bit tiring as you have to be extremely alert while driving due to the limited amount of power at disposal. As a city car, you can’t ask for more.
At the price of what Renualt plans to offer the Kwid, and with best in class features like 180mm ground clearance, 5 colour options, 4 trim levels with driver airbag in the top RXT variant with a 7 inch touch screen infotainment system as standard. Renault also offers around 60 customisable options from interior chrome, exterior chrome accents, with 25 decal options all available at launch. The Kwid is a great bargain. Though it is confirmed that the Kiwd will never see an EV or even a Diesel engine, if Renault decided to bolt in the 1.2L petrol from the cousin Datsun Go, the Kwid will be a steal. The new Kwid on the block is bound to excite Indian motorists.
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