Renault Captur SUV gets more power

Renault Australia has confirmed a razzy new engine will power a range-topping special edition Renault Captur Intens S-Edition, arriving in showrooms now for $32,990 drive-away.

The beefed-up 1.3-litre turbo four-cylinder engine pumps out 110kW/250Nm, and the new powerplant is hooked up to a six-speed automatic dual-clutch transmission and is touted as the 'sportiest version' to date.

Although it's not the mooted Captur Coupe and doesn't bear RS badges like the go-fast Clio and Megane RS models, only 162 units of the special edition Renault Captur will be imported into Australia. That makes it an exclusive variant, not to mention the most expensive model in the range, at $33K.

The new engine is presently available in just the special edition model, which develops considerably more poke than the 1.2-litre (88kW/190Nm) and 0.9-litre (66kW/135Nm) engines. The bigger, newer engine delivers fuel economy of 5.4L/100km, which is better than the 1.2 and almost on par with the tiny 898cc three-cylinder engine.

It's not clear when Renault will roll out the new 1.3-litre engine in active duty as a full model in the Captur range in this country.

Elena Woods, Renault Australia's corporate communications manager, told carsales.com.au that it's a case of "wait and see".

"We will see what the feedback is to this model. There's flexibility in the foreseeable future and we're still looking at that strategy but it's not defined yet."

Further reading: Renault Captur Review

The limited edition Renault compact SUV comes with loads of fruit, including unique 17-inch 'Filante' diamond-cut alloy wheels, S-Edition badges, gun metal grey skid plates front and rear and matching door protection pinstripes, adding a slightly more adventurous look.

The Renault Captur S-Edition interior is also tizzied up with Alcantara and leather upholstery, covering the steering wheel, park brake and arm rest.

Standard equipment on the limited edition Captur includes the R-LINK 2 infotainment touch-screen system, parking assist, reversing camera, blind spot warning system, a premium Bose audio system and front, side and rear parking sensors.

The more powerful Renault Captur special edition SUV is offered in four different two-tone colour schemes: Iron Blue with a Diamond black roof, which is unique to the S-Edition, along with regulars Pearl White, Mercury Grey and Oyster Grey all with contrasting black roof colours.

The Renault Captur is yet to capture the imagination of Aussie buyers and is well off the sales pace of models like the Mazda CX-3 with 13,923 units shifted thus far in 2018. However sales of the compact Renault SUV have increased by 26 per cent from 304 units in 2017 to 383 this year.

How much is the Renault Captur?

Renault Captur Zen 0.9L – $21,990 (manual)
Renault Captur Zen 1.2L – $24,990 (auto)
Renault Captur Intens 1.2L – $28,990 (auto)
Renault Captur Intens S-Edition 1.3L – $32,990 (auto)

*Prices exclude on-road costs (except for the  S-Edition, which is drive-away pricing)