Renault Koleos Dynamique 4x4 Turbodiesel 2009 Review

Price Guide (recommended price before statutory and delivery charges): $39,990 (auto)
Options fitted to test car (not included in above price): Panoramic sunroof $1890; Metallic paint $800
Crash rating: five star Euro NCAP
Fuel: Diesel
Claimed fuel economy (L/100km): 8.3 (auto)
CO2 emissions (g/km): 221
Also consider: Nissan X-TRAIL; Volkswagen Tiguan

About our ratings

Renault and Nissan are joined at the hip -- from the boardroom down. Brazil-born French-Lebanese business mogul Carlos Ghosn heads up both companies and the alliance they have formed. Ghosn became Nissan's CEO in 2001, turned the company around and became parent company Renault's chief in 2005.

One of the ways Ghosn rescued Nissan from near-hopeless debt was to cut jobs, shut plants, eliminate models -- and share components across not just models but across brands too.

Launched in Europe in June 2008 and locally in October of the same year, Renault's Koleos softroader is the first mass-market example of the strategy. Under the skin it's a very close cousin to Nissan's more hardcore X-TRAIL, but despite its Asian heart, the Koleos has a very French soul. And in keeping with French cosmopolitanism the Koleos is built, not in France, but in South Korea.

Although the two cars share many parts, there are significant mechanical detail differences. Koleos has a 60mm longer wheelbase and wider track, for example, but the French body is 110mm shorter, 70mm wider and 25mm taller than it's boxy X-TRAIL sibling; approach and departure angles are better too.

Renault's stylists have done a great job on differentiating the Koleos from the X-TRAIL too. They have given it an immediately recognisable family "face".

Of the various front and all-wheel drive Koleos models offered locally, the pick of the bunch is the 4x4 turbodiesel auto.

The engine is the modern four-cylinder 2.0-litre common-rail unit also offered in the Nissan. When hitched to the auto box, it delivers 110kW/320Nm, while a more powerful (127kW/360kW) version is available with a six-speed manual. Another significant difference is in braked towing capacity -- the manual is rated for 2000kg, the auto for only 1350. In addition, the diesel has significantly less ground clearance than the petrol version -- 188mm versus 206mm.

Like the X-TRAIL, the Koleos is essentially a front-wheel-drive vehicle, with push-button electronic selection of on-demand all-wheel-drive and 4x4 Lock. For good dry roads front-wheel is more than adequate, but when it starts raining or there are dirt roads on your route, the all-wheel drive option is most prudent -- the car's electronics sense any loss of traction and immediately direct power to other wheels which have more grip. As you'd expect, the system is seamless and instant and even a favourite steep, dry and dusty hill failed to faze the Koleos. Despite being almost a 1-in-1, 45-degree slope, the Koleos climbed up (and scrambled back down) with unruffled efficiency.

In this mode, the Koleos (and X-TRAIL) is no different to many other softroaders -- what gives it a slightly harder edge is the ability to lock in the drive to all four wheels all the time. Think sand, mud and snow and places where few softroaders will venture and that's where the Koleos has the edge.

Being a thoroughly modern vehicle, Koleos comes packed with a full hand of electronic driver aids and conveniences. For a start, the ignition 'key' is a card-shaped item and there's antilock brakes, switchable stability control, dual front, side and curtain SRS airbags, cruise control with speed limiter, auto wipers and headlamps that have a see-you-home function. In a crash, the Koleos apparently automatically unlocks its doors, switches off its fuel injection, cuts its ignition, and switches on its hazard warning lights. Happily, we didn't put these latter features to the test.

There's an electrically-engaged parking brake that automatically disengages if the vehicle's driven forward or backwards. Manual transmission-equipped versions come with a useful hill-holder that prevents backsliding when starting on a slope. (Though doesn't impact on auto buyers, it's a good add-on for the manual buyer -- the electric parking brake is either on or off and doesn't offer the 'feel' of a conventional lever-and-cable parking brake). Both versions of the Koleos' all-wheel drive system includes Hill Descent Control (HDC).

Quirky aspects of the vehicle include the fact that the six-speed auto gearbox only cycles through five gears if left in auto mode. If the lever's nudged into the manual tip-shift mode, a sixth 'overdrive' gear sudden appears, as evidenced by a slight drop in revs.

Then there's the Mitsubishi Outlander-like two-part tailgate. Here the lower third of the rear clamshell drops down -- and forms a useful seat. With the upper section forming a useful roof it's great for spectating at kids' footy matches... Actually, the top section being shorter means that it can be opened more easily in confined spaces with less risk of grazing walls.

The Koleos' rear cargo area offers tie-down points, no shopping hooks, but two oddly-shaped storage bins.

The rear seat's a conventional 60/40 splitfold, and offers a load-through port for long items. Most people equate these ports with skis and therefore a sporty lifestyle, a perfect match for the all-wheel-drive capability of the Koleos, but in reality, who has ever carried skis in this fashion? After use, skis dribble melted snow for hours, are awkwardly shaped and slippery; are impossible to strap down and potentially become unwelcome front-seat visitors as soon as the brakes are used. No, skis belong on the optional roof-rack, and the load-through port is better employed during the trips home from the hardware store with the components of the next weekend-ruining DIY project.

Up front the reach-and-rake adjustable steering complements well-shaped and supportive cloth-covered seats to produce for a near-ideal driving stance. Indeed, despite French cars' reputation for quirkiness, the ergonomics of major and minor controls and instrumentation is pretty good.

The central binnacle holds a small screen, but it looks as if something's missing -- such as the non-existent screen for the not-fitted reversing camera or the optional extra satellite navigation. About the only negative point for the controls was an awkwardly small on-off button for the audio system.

The backs of the front seats include fold-down tray-tables of modest proportions, a nice touch for the rear seat passengers, as are the storage bins in the doors and floor. Three kids will fit in the rear seat easily enough, but it's a two-adult rear seat like most cars in this size segment. A welcome touch for family buyers is the wide-angle 'kiddie-checker' conversation mirror in the overhead console.

On our test Koleos the roof was punctuated by two large glass panels in the roof -- the front section of which opens. The 'panorama' style electrically-operated roof is a $1890 extra-cost option. The general consensus was that the fabric sunscreen was too thin and lets in too much light -- and heat.

The cabin's general ambiance is only let down a touch by an impractical 'dust-magnet' stippled dash treatment and tacky silver-painted plastic trim that will almost assuredly look worn before the lease expires.

Bucking the Euro-trend of supplying either a space-saver spare wheel (or no spare at all) the Koleos pleasingly comes with a full-sized 225/60 R17 spare plus a neat touch -- safety parking chocks.

The fuel tank holds a useful 65 litres and delivered arrange of over 755km. We returned 9.5L/100km during our test period -- some way off the claimed 8.3 but under the prevailing conditions acceptable. On the subject of capacities, the luggage compartment is a squeezey 450 litres with the rear seats up and a still compact 1380 litres with them folded down.

The standard specification of the Koleos is generous for the sub-$40,000 base price, and a choice of nine body colours embarrasses many of its rivals -- although eight of them are metallic and cost an extra $800. The 'solid' colour is a pleasing deep blue.

Other options are an $800 audio system upgrade, $3000 for leather furniture or the $650 Modularity pack (rear seats folding system, 12V socket in the boot, removable bin in centre console and clever storage solutions). But you can't have leather and modularity, it seems.

Does the Koleos hit the spot? Certainly it's quirky enough that it will never blend into the background and it's at least as mechanically competent as its kissing cousin, the X-TRAIL.

Dynamically, it's not the sharpest softroader out there but it's smooth, comfortable, quiet and economical.

Perhaps one of the key attraction is you'll likely go for days without seeing one despite being surrounded by flocks of less-capable softroaders such as Honda's CR-V and Toyota's RAV4.

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