Renault Arkana 2021 Review

The Renault Arkana was first launched in Europe in 2020 and the small French coupe-style SUV feels like a genuinely modern and indeed upmarket SUV, at least in mid-range Intens form as tested here, priced at $37,490 plus on-road costs.

See our full product news story for details, but the equipment list extends to leather seat trim, a heated leather steering wheel, LED headlights, adaptive cruise control and traffic sign recognition as standard on all models.

Of the three model grades, the Intens is probably the pick of the litter, adding a tasty set of 18-inch alloy wheels that better set off its athletic body, along with a pair of form-fitting, heated, ventilated and power adjustable front seats. The seat cushions are supportive if a little firm and the perforated leather and suede upholstery is above average.

Throw in a larger 9.3-inch portrait-style central touch-screen and a premium-look gear shift lever, and first impressions in the cabin are favourable.

Adjustable ambient LED interior lighting adds a bit of razzle-dazzle at night, while the temperature controls and centre stack have a classy look and feel. This model has a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster too.

If you want a wireless phone charger you’ll have to splash out $40,990 plus ORCs for the top-shelf RS Line, which arrives in January, but features like dual-zone climate control and a head-up display are not available, period. You can get a full-size 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster as an option on Intens and RS Line models.

There are two USB-A ports up front and two in the back, but some of the cabin materials feel a bit low-rent. Our test car also came with a contrasting black roof and black mirrors ($600), Flame Red metallic paint ($750) and a sunroof ($1500), which take the total price to $40,340 plus ORCs.

Renault says rivals for the Arkana include the Volkswagen T-Roc and Mazda CX-30, which seems about right, but it also claims it’s a cut-price rival for the likes of the BMW X2 and Audi Q3 Sportback.

While it can match some of the premium features of the Germans, the Arkana is unlikely to be cross-shopped with Audi and BMW models, even if its interior proportions are impressive with loads of front, rear and boot space.

In terms of price and equipment, the Arkana does a solid but not class-leading job. Asian brands like Haval, Hyundai and Kia are offering some really premium finishes with plenty of equipment for reasonable cash outlays, which will make the Renault Arkana’s job more challenging.

The Arkana comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, with five years of free roadside assistance and a five-year capped-price service program pegged at $399 per year or every 30,000km, whichever comes first.

Ownership costs don’t look too bad at a glance and the fact the Arkana is built in Korea actually adds appeal for me, but retained values are below average for most Renault models, which could hurt when it’s time to sell.

In terms of both size and price, the Arkana ($33,990-$40,990 plus ORCs) is intended to replace the Kadjar and slot between the Captur light SUV ($28,190-$35,790 plus ORCs) and the Koleos medium SUV ($32,990-$45,790), even if its base price is higher than the latter’s.

But with an overall length of 4568mm, it’s longer than Australia’s second most popular mid-size SUV, the Mazda CX-5 (4550mm), so it’s more of a medium SUV than a small SUV and in that context its value equation gets very appealing.

There’s no fancy hybrid powertrain option or gesture control system for the 2021 Renault Arkana, but the 9.3-inch central touch-screen is easily the tech highlight inside, delivering crisp visuals and plenty of customisability. Apple CarPlay looks really cool in the portrait layout and loses none of its functionality either.

The big screen also allows you to toggle many of the safety functions too, which include lane departure warning and lane keeping assist, which does a decent job of steering the vehicle back into its lane.

Traffic sign recognition works well, updating the speed limit in real time on the 7.0-inch digital driver’s display, and the adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality is smooth in operation.

You get six airbags, autonomous emergency braking with vehicle, cyclist and pedestrian detection and, while there’s a reversing camera paired with front, side and rear parking sensors and an effective automatic parking assistant, the lack of a 360-degree parking camera is a shame.

Nevertheless, the Arkana has a five-star ANCAP safety rating, even if it was attained under a less stringent regime in 2019.

Powered by a light and tangy 1.3-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine, the 2021 Renault Arkana is no road rocket. But what it lacks in power it makes up for in enthusiasm. And torque.

The 1333cc engine musters up a meagre 115kW at 5500rpm, which isn’t amazing and leads to a lacklustre 9.1sec 0-100km/h sprint time. Yep, it’s pretty lethargic off the line and there's a bit of lag from the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic from standstill too, but the transmission is pretty good at speed, doing a top job of whipping between gears hastily.

But 262Nm of torque at 2250rpm gives it plenty of mid-range muscle, which makes it a good cruiser on country roads and highways, where it’s able to turn up the wick when rapid overtaking is required.

That it also accepts regular 91 RON unleaded petrol is a bonus and, while we got nowhere near the official fuel consumption figure of 6.0L/100km, our final result of 8.3L/100km wasn’t too bad given the full-throttle flogging we subjected it to on the open road.

Driven with more care and less aggression, we think it would comfortably achieve below 7.0L/100km.

One minor criticism of the powertrain is the idle-stop system, which seems to take an eternity to fire the engine back up when required from standstill.

The 2021 Renault Arkana is more than just a sporty looking vehicle, with a crisp chassis tune that delivers engaging driving dynamics.

There’s a hint of warm hatch goodness about the way the Arkana drives and while the steering is light and a bit numb, the suspension does a great job of replicating its athletic visuals.

While the stiff springs can make things a little firm at times and rough roads can cause the car to bounce and bump around a little, the sporty set-up allows you to really pounce on corners with gusto

Damping is well sorted and ride comfort isn’t too bad, but certain road imperfections can become quite jarring – mostly smaller, shorter, sharper cracks and bumps in the road. By contrast it’s quite settled over big, chunky speed bumps and it generally performs well in the urban jungle.

The brakes are up to the task of slowing the car rapidly from higher speeds and, overall, the Arkana delivers on its promise of delivering a fun-to-drive experience.

Overall refinement and cabin quietness is good and in terms of interior space and comfort, the Arkana is very neat and tidy.

Front and rear seat room is surprisingly generous and the boot is seriously deep, with a 353-litre cavity opening to 485 thanks to a split-level floor. Fold the rear seats and you get even more room – 1268 litres in total.

The 2021 Renault Arkana doesn’t have the quality or polish to make it a cut-price Audi Q3 Sportback, but you do get a fair bit of SUV for your money here.

This uniquely styled small to medium SUV offers sporty performance, loads of real estate that’s neatly finished and solid aftersales support.

Playing in one of the toughest and most populated market segments in SUV-loving Australia is a tough gig and straddling the bottom end of the luxury segment and the top end of the mainstream segment won’t make things any easier.

And if history is anything to go by, Aussies just don’t really care for French SUVs. Will this be the car to change that? We doubt it, which will mean Renault Australia’s best-selling vehicle is likely to remain a commercial van.

That’s a shame because if you don’t care about depreciation and just want a hot-looking, fun-to-drive small/medium SUV that won’t blend in, you could a lot worse than the Renault Arkana.

How much does the 2021 Renault Arkana Intens cost?
Price: $37,490 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.3-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 115kW/262Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 6.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 137g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2019)