DRIVEN: The all-new Renault Kiger officially reaches the shores of Mzansi

The new Renault Kiger made its debut in South Africa on Wednesday, September 8. It is said that this compact SUV is destined to change the face of the local SUV market with its sporty and muscular style.

This model was indeed fun to drive and surprisingly nippy for a 1.0-litre. The Renault Kiger features a new turbocharged petrol engine with the perfect balance between performance and efficiency.

The new Kiger has six exterior colours on offer namely, Cool White, Planet Grey, Mahogany Brown, Caspian Blue and Radiant Red. The model has LED daytime running lights, a front grille featuring 3D graphic finishes and an aluminium finish skid plate.

This SUV may look small on the outside, but inside there is more than enough room for five occupants to all sit comfortably. Renault claims there is a 710mm space between the front seats and the rear.

Passengers are spoilt with 222mm and 1 413mm of leg and elbow room. The Renault Kiger boasts a boot space of 405 L which can be extended to 879 L when the second row of seats are folded down 60/40.

The cabin features storage totalling 29 L. This includes four 1.0-litre water bottle holders, a 7.5 L central armrest storage space while the glove compartment has a volume of 10.5 L, with the upper and lower glove box capacity totally to 14.9 L.

The higher centre console features an 8-inch floating touchscreen with wireless smartphone replication for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The system not only offers voice recognition through Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but also Bluetooth connectivity that can pair up to five devices, a USB socket for faster charging and a built-in MP4 video player.

The new Renault Kiger is fitted with 2 engine variants:

An aspirated 1.0 L engine with an output of 52kW and 96Nm of torque, and a three-cylinder turbocharged 1.0 L petrol engine with a power output of 74kW and 160 Nm of torque on the Manual.  This engine offers the latest technological innovations and delivers impressive combined fuel consumption from only 5 litres/100km.

The 1.0 L turbo energy engine is either mated with a five-speed manual gearbox or an X-Tronic CVT gearbox which provides smooth and responsive transitions for enhanced driving comfort. The turbo engine delivers an outstanding power-to-weight ratio and the best torque-to-weight ratio in the compact SUV segment.

The new Renault Kiger comes standard with a 5-year/150 000km mechanical warranty and a 6-year anticorrosion warranty, with service intervals at 15 000km.

Specificiations and pricing

• Kiger Life 1.0L: R199 900

• Kiger Zen 1.0L: R214 900

• Kiger Zen 1.0L AMT: R224 900

• Kiger Zen 1.0L Turbo: R249 900

• Kiger Intens 1.0L Turbo: R269 900

• Kiger Intens 1.0L Turbo CVT: R289 900

Picture: Leigh-Ann Londt