Renault Kiger Turbo Manual First Drive Review

Start this engine and you have the typical three-cylinder thrum, which interestingly feels nicely muted within the cabin. We were in quite a surprise to have no unwanted vibrations felt on the gear lever, which are otherwise quite apparent in three-cylinder engines. Renault has done a commendable job in curtailing these, and even the NVH levels are quite low for a budget car. Another fascinating thing is, it gets three driving modes (Eco, Normal, and Sport) as standard. The Eco mode turns the driver display green, suggests you to shift early, and extracts the most fuel efficiency. It feels sufficient enough till you click on Normal and can immediately feel the difference in throttle inputs. Here, the instrument cluster changes to blue and only shows you the speed in analog and digital. It's only when you shift the dial to Sport mode that you get the analog rev counter in red along with the bhp and Nm counter while displaying the number of g's as well.

And in any mode, the engine revs freely and only gets audible post 3,000rpm. It does make steady progress at 1,500rpm, but you see the engine come alive post 2,000rpm. And even if you can rev it till its redline at 6,000rpm, the strong surge feels best till 5,000rpm. Its throttle is most responsive in Sport mode and helps the car make quick progress. You can quickly overtake and fit into a gap in traffic. It's a no brainer that I preferred to stay in the Sport mode most of the time. It never feels dead and the peppy engine ensures good performance within the city and smooth sailing on the highway as well. The gearshifts are not the smoothest in its segment though. The notchy feel is quite evident and it could have been more refined. Thankfully, the throws are short and managed to slot in without any glitch any time. Yes, the reverse gear as well.

Even the clutch for that matter doesn't have a long pedal travel and is light. Meaning it will ease things for you in traffic when you might have to do more gear shifts. Interestingly, the latter might not be needed constantly as the car easily ambles along in the second/third gear at slow speeds. Turbo petrol owners will benefit from its higher amount of torque. This is also where this variant will shine with better drivability as compared to its NA one. In fact, with a kerb weight of just about a ton, this one might be the fastest to sprint from 0-100kmph in its segment. Well, that we will ascertain through our V-Box tests another day when it comes to us for a longer duration.

Now, thanks to the compact footprint of the Kiger, it was quite easy to fit it into a tight parking space, or do a quick round about a narrow lane. Just a little more than three turns lock-to-lock for the steering means your hands have a little more work to do, but it’s quite light and the car boasts a short and tight turning radius. And though it's not very clearly evident, Renault has interestingly mapped the driving modes in such a way that it adds a bit of weight to the steering in the Sport mode. That said, it anyway weighs up nicely with increments in speed. It's quite car-like and fun to drive. And unless you are carrying high speed into a corner, it will not understeer and stick on to its line. It showed off its good agility even in switchbacks and confidently came to a stop with a firm tap on the brake pedal. And that's even when we had loaded the car with occupants and luggage. There's no nervousness as the brakes feel good with enough bite and are easy to get used to.

There's no cruise control and there’s not exactly ambient lighting with different colours as such, but white light that can light up the centre storage, foot-wells, and more with the touch of a button next to the driving mode knob. Then, apart from its in-built air-filter, customers can additionally have an air purifier, wireless phone charging, and more. The only in-demand thing these days that it lacks with regard to its competition is a sunroof. Otherwise, on the safety front, the fully-loaded Renault Kiger gets four airbags (front and side), front disc brakes, ABS as well as EBD, speed-sensing door locks, engine immobiliser, and a seatbelt reminder system.

Though the Kiger might not have top-notch quality of materials and a very robust feel, it's easy to live with. And then its practicality, lucrative features, capable drivetrains make it a potent package. To add to it, there's the easy-to-drive experience while having an SUV feel that too without having to spend too much. Furthermore, driving modes in an affordable car, so many features, and even with the added convenience from its two-pedal offerings, Renault has stepped up the game with so many options to choose from by bringing in an enticing product with the Kiger.

Pictures by Kapil Angane