Renault Koleos Dynamique 2.5 CVT 4X2

R534,900

WHY IT’S HERE

To ascertain whether it is worth the while to overlook other players in the market and how it fares as a family commuter.

This month we welcome to the TGSA garage, the Renault Koleos, which is essentially the French marque’s local flagship model. Based on, and using similar running gear to the Nissan X-Trail, the Koleos cuts a rather stylish pose with a very modern, if not particularly ground-breaking design.

It has recently been to the surgeon’s rooms and has emerged with a few styling tweaks that include new LED headlights and fog lamps with updated bezels, while the rear has also been given the LED treatment. These also include the swooshing indicator lights, which are a nice touch indeed.

Cabin appointments are neat with decent build quality to boot, although the infotainment screen does seem a tad dated now as the system debuted with the Megane a few years back. That aside, the electronically-operated leather pews on our tester offer good comfort and that commanding sitting position that is adored in this segment.

There are two USB ports up front and two at the rear, which makes for an ideal family hauler so that rear passengers, particularly children, can charge their tablets or smartphones without disturbing the adults in the front. Boot space is quite commendable at 464 litres in standard guise, which can be expanded to an even more capacious 1 700 litres with the rear seats folded.

Motivation, meanwhile, comes in the form of the normally aspirated 2.5-litre, four-cylinder engine pushing out 126 kW and 233 Nm via a CVT gearbox. Perhaps a touch archaic setup in a realm of mostly turbocharged petrol and diesel engines, the Koleos nonetheless gets on with the task of transporting us with relative ease and there seems to be enough performance for cut-and-thrust urban traffic situations. Things do, however, become somewhat frustrating when overtaking slower-moving vehicles, with the CVT’s incessant droning becoming ever so vocal.

Other than that, we’re thoroughly enjoying our time with the Koleos and look forward to putting it through its paces in the next six months of our long-term review.

R534,900

WHY IT’S HERE

To see if Renault’s offering in a crowded segment makes sense

The Renault Koleos has been silently combating in the compact crossover SUV segment for many years and it persists to blossom peacefully and gracefully so.

Overshadowed on the sales front by other compact SUVs, the Renault Koleos has been the French marque’s first true foray into the respective stable and yet it toils to find true love amongst South Africans.

So, about two months ago, we welcomed the Renault Koleos in its range-topping Dynamique trim to the TopGear SA garage and it’s been a, mostly, delightful time at the helm.

While we touched base in our previous issues about its stylish posture, the well-built interior and impressive tech all around, we are persistently ticking the odometer over with year-end functions, getting families around and just getting TGSA tasks done.

It also arrived in my driveway just in time for a matric farewell: we chauffeured a matriculant to the event and this is where the Koleos flexed its poise with so much elegance. It flourished and maintained its substantial classy presence amid flashy offerings thanks to its chrome detailing and heightened Messiene blue shade it wears.

Apart from that, we embarked on a longish drive to Potchefstroom where our focus was comfortability and fuel economy and to say we were impressed is an understatement.

Besides its sufficiently big size, the Renault’s comfort ambition certainly isn’t lacking. It’s carried by 18″ two-tone alloy wheels you’d think would give it a ride quality on the firm side. Luckily, this is offset by the softer suspension so no complaints from us.

It also proves to be quite efficient for something this size with the 60-litre fuel tank giving well over 700 km worth of range thanks to average figures sitting around the 8.8l/100 km mark…not too shabby! However, if you really set your mind to near-religious economic driving and follow the instructions from the onboard Eco coach, you are rewarded.

Power comes from a naturally-aspirated four-cylinder 2.5-litre engine with 126 kW and 233 Nm of torque which may seem uninspiring. Yet, the powertrain delivers adequate shove even when laden with five passengers.

Our only issue on the propulsion front is the CVT transmission that drives only the front wheels. Accelerative prowess is short-lived off the line as it quickly runs out of inspiring shove once in-gear acceleration is on the list of demands. Plummet your foot with intent during an overtaking manoeuvre and it gets a tad bent out of shape.

Also on the list of ‘no great shakes’ is the touchscreen infotainment system that acts as a central control area for nearly everything ranging from climate to media that proved a chore to operate. Luckily, though, familiarity comes with time.

It’s all systems go for the holiday season now and the team will be spending some time behind the wheel exploring the beauty of what our country has to offer.

R534,900

WHY IT’S HERE

Can you go about the December business without subjecting yourself to Janu-worry?

It’d be a fair statement to say we’ve generously ticked the kilos over on our long-term Renault Koleos. It was a support vehicle at our inaugural Speed Week last year. It served as the commuter of choice for getting to meetings and, for the holidays, the wheels turned in the direction of Gqeberha (formerly known as Port Elizabeth).

That’s all good and well but there’s a problem. You see when usually we get test cars for the standard one-week tenure, we’re able to report on all the good, the not-so-great and the downright disappointing aspects in a completely objective fashion. A week isn’t enough time to form any kind of carmance (yes, that’s a term I just coined). You like a car, or you think there’s room for improvement. Easy. Straightforward.

Add to the equation a month with a car to replicate the ownership experience and, in theory, it’s supposed to be even more straightforward. You either love the car and already think of ways to negotiate a 50% off when your time is done or you quite simply hate every passing kilometre that, sadly, makes for quite the easy test report to write.

And herein is my problem: There are supposed to be two major flaws with the Renault Koleos that after a month-long test term should have made for some ‘easy writing’. It has a sizable naturally aspirated engine that’s coupled with a CVT gearbox. One or the other is, I daresay, fine. Combined, however, it’s supposed to be borderline sacrilegious. CVTs normally need mountainous torque to be marginally bearable and with only 233 Nm that’s produced from the 2.5-litre NA engine, things didn’t look too promising – especially considering the petrol price has, at the time, just ticked over the R20 per litre mark.

There I was, in a car I thought at the time would signal my financial ruin. The worst part? There are not even any boisterous multi-cylinder-bank sounds emanating from the engine bay or moments of seat-shoving involved. If my bank account is going into the red, I want to at least be smiling while doing so, YOLO after all… Is that still a thing?

I’m getting off track. The thing is, I might have judged the Renault Koleos too soon. Yes, it has a powertrain that by today’s standards are as vogue as a set of leather pants and the idea of driving 1,200 kilometres one way felt like quite the restricting metaphor. Yet, it worked.

I set off on my journey just as the curfew at the time lifted and with some careful and consistent driving, I was surprised to see that I averaged 6.9 litres per 100 km even before leaving Gauteng. I thought the computer might be faulty but pushed on. Sitting at gridlocked tollgates, the average consumption suffered, and eventually clearing the last of the mightily overpriced gates the Renault registered a surprising 7.7 l/100 km. Not bad, considering I was hoping for the low eights.

With the traffic cleared, for the most part, I was able to rope some economy back in and arrived at my destination with an eco-rating averaging 7.4. All this while travelling in relative luxury (the digitised aircon proved a bit difficult to fully grasp, but luckily the missus figured that out) and with a total cruise control time of less than a minute.

Full disclosure: If you’re driving with an eco-mindset, the cruise control system is about as useful to operate as a digital assistant that doesn’t recognise any accent other than American. It enthusiastically hunts through the series of simulated gears from the CVT with the same brand of enthusiasm as my Pug that’s spotted a filling station tree for the first time.

Other than that, the Koleos proved to be the perfect holiday companion with enough space in the boot for all my snorkelling gear as well as several bags worth of last-minute Christmas shopping, all the while comfortably navigating the bumpy backroads of the Eastern Cape.

Unfortunately, and against my better judgement, I formed a bit of a carmance with the Koleos and its parking space in my driveway seems to be emphatically empty as my month-long tenure with it has come to an end. It proved the perfect centrepiece for a perfect post-Covid-mayhem holiday.

My final fuel consumption after a few thousand kilometres? A surprising 7.3 litres/100 km while the CVT turned out to be the perfect inner-city weapon when operated with care.

R534,900

WHY IT’S HERE

We concluded that we love the Koleos, despite its quirks, but how good is Renault at servicing it?

It’s been six months and several thousand kilometres that we’ve now spent with our Renault Koleos long-term but, unfortunately, like most good things in life, it must come to an end as we had to bid our trusty steed farewell.

During our time with the Koleos, it served as an everyday commuter, taking us to and from meetings and launches without a hitch. It served as one of the official support vehicles for our Speed Week feature last year carting photographers, water, food and even a certain comedic personality around. It has undertaken the 1,200-kilometre stretch to Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) for some fun in the sun and recently also undertook a visit to the car doctors for its first service, more on that later though…

In essence, the Renault Koleos 2.5 Dynamique we had for six months had lived and we’re sure that if cars had any form of memorial recollections, this SUV could have written a book. We, though, can and while there were several things we loved, there were also moments where we thought something could have been better. The cruise control, for one… Coupled with the CVT gearbox it was about as useful as social distancing at the airport. The hard-to-navigate media infotainment system and air-con functions that are so far embedded, you’d need a forensic IT degree to get it just right.

In hindsight, though, we longingly look at that and just call it quirks or character since it hardly detracts from all the good things the Koleos have going for it… The space, fuel efficiency, it’s comfortable ride and we even loved the look of the thing – if we were to summarise our previous long-term reports. Also, lest we forget, it had configurable-colour ambient lighting and who doesn’t love that?

And its visit to the doctor’s office for its annual check-up? Well, actually, that went better than we had expected.

We booked the car in on Wednesday for that Friday morning at Renault The Glen in the South of Johannesburg, and the service lady over the phone was professional and courteous. Our arrival at the dealership was met with a swift booking of the car and a shuttle service was ready to drop us off at the office and take us back to the dealership again later.

The service itself – at 15,000 km – included an oil change, oil filter, and air filter – all of which were covered under the vehicle’s service plan.

As we bid farewell to the Koleos, it was also good to see that the after sales department at Renault The Glen was not only efficient, but affirming that the brand custodians are big on customer service experience, which bodes well for those considering buying into the brand.

Farewell, French friend.