Renault Kadjar revealed

The Renault Kadjar SUV has been revealed ahead of its public debut at the Geneva motor show next month. The Kadjar shares many components with the Nissan Qashqai SUV, thanks to the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

The 1.5- and 1.6-litre diesel engines from the Qashqai are likely to do duty in the Kadjar. Renault's head of design Laurens van den Acker said, “We have the benefit of the very good engines, with low emission values. I think when you look at this as a package, in terms of emissions, engines, quality, design and flexibility and functionality of the interior, you have a very strong package.”

The Kadjar will come with a choice of two- or four-wheel drive. The two-wheel-drive models will come with an Extended Grip system which is claimed to enhance grip on low-traction surfaces. The all-wheel-drive system has three modes: Auto, Lock and 2WD. It gets a 19cm-high ground clearance, and approach and departure angles of 18 and 25 degrees respectively. It also comes with front and rear skid plates and a stainless steel boot-sill guard for added protection.

Renault says the Kadjar will be offered with a reversing camera, a hands-free parking system, engine stop-start, emergency brake assist, lane departure warning and road-sign recognition with speed limit alerts. It will also come with the latest version of Renault's R-Link 2 infotainment system, which will be able to offer voice control, navigation, Bluetooth and radio.

The Kadjar will make its public debut at the Geneva motor show in March before it goes on sale in international markets later this year. Renault is not revealing much details until Geneva, but the company's vice president for exterior design, Anthony Lo, said that there are a lot of shared parts between the Kadjar and Qashqai. “The agreement is that everything you see is different, but we had a lot of freedom to create our own stuff,” said Lo. “We tried to carry over everything you don't see.”

Comments

2018 Lamborghini Urus India review, test drive

On first introduction, it’s a recipe for intimidation. It’s claimed to be the fastest SUV in the world (0-100kph in 3.6sec and a top speed of 305kph puts it nearly in supercar territory), and it’s made by Lamborghini – creator of some of the most savage vehicles on the market. Things – as with any Lamborghini, for that matter – would be a lot less daunting if we were driving on a smooth European country road, a wide motorway, or even a race track. But today we’re driving the Urus on a narrow ghat road, as well as through some heavy Pune traffic. Perhaps the intention was to demonstrate that this is the first Lamborghini ever to go on sale in India that truly works in our conditions – but still, I doubt they accounted for rush hour. It’s requisitely mad to look at, employing as many ‘sporty’ design tropes to an SUV body style as possible – the only thing missing is a massive wing on the back; and somehow, it works. It’s ...

Skoda Vision RS concept previews new hatchback

Skoda has set the stage for its forthcoming Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus rival with the Vision RS, a concept car that features a performance plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain. Under the sporty details and concept flourishes, the Vision RS bears a close resemblance to the Rapid hatchback that will be introduced next year. The fact that it has been previewed in vRS form, complete with 245hp PHEV powertrain, shows how much further upmarket the new Rapid will go compared with the current value-led model. Skoda product marketing chief Björn Kroll said: “The current Rapid is too low-market. For this one, we have tried to balance it out.” Skoda will drop the slow-selling liftback version and concentrate on the Spaceback hatch for the new Rapid. At 4,356mm, the concept is just over 50mm longer than the current Rapid, and it has a 440-litre boot that's up by 25 litres. The concept retains some of the current Rapid’s des...

What to avoid during a car service

When it comes to getting their cars serviced at authorised outlets, owners usually go the whole hog. They want their cars coming out of service centres looking brand new, and are willing to pay for it. But do service centres take undue advantage of this? Yes, they do. Servicing may involve changing certain parts and oils after a set interval, but service centres will almost always try to plug in a few extras using technical jargon that a layman may not really understand. Certain processes are completely unnecessary, and customers end up paying extra as they are not aware of what's important and what's not. Also, most of the times, the service associate will throw you a hard sales pitch, and it's not always done with your best interests in mind. So what exactly are the things you don’t really need and should avoid? Engine flushing Flushing an engine simply means cleaning the impure oil and gunk that ...

Automobilestillnow

Search This Blog