RENAULT’S ALL-NEW KOLEOS

Midsize SUVs are all the rage globally at the moment as fuel prices drop and buyers want to get into larger, more spacious vehicles. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Australia and ours is the first market in the world to get the new Renault Koleos. Obviously Renault’s head office is pleased with the way our local office is operating. The previous Koleos enjoyed more than 9000 sales downunder since its 2008 launch. The new model seems likely to improve the sales rate as it’s up about half a… Read more

RENAULT 40CV

1924 Renault 40CV

Also referred to as the model NN1, the Renault 40CV of 1924 was designed by Louis Renault and replaced the Renault types KJ and MT. It was powered by a large 9.1-litre straight-six engine mounted in the front of its extremely long chassis and it drove the rear wheels through a three-speed manual transmission. This engine developed 104 kW and drove the car to a top speed of 145 km/h. The NN1 was produced from 1924 through to 1928 as the successor to the Renault KJ and MT and it… Read more

TROPHY WINNER IN ‘HORSES FOR COURSES’ STAKES

Horses for courses: it’s a throwaway line to explain something that doesn’t quite fit. The Renault Clio RS 220 Trophy is a case in point. With its added ‘horses’ – power, that is – the special edition is not always at home on the street. Compared with the Clio RS 200 EDC five-door hot hatch, the new limited edition features a more powerful engine with 15 extra kilowatts, up to 40 Newton metres more torque, a sportier chassis and an enhanced EDC (Efficient Dual Clutch) automatic transmission. The Clio RS… Read more

RENAULT ALPINE

1975 Renault Alpine

Renault has had a long association with the specialised Alpine workshops at Dieppe, France. Back in the mid-1950s former racing driver Jean Redele used Renault 750 parts to build a rallying coupe which was named Alpine. From that time the name became strongly associated with Renault’s racing and rallying efforts. By 1970 Alpine became officially responsible for Renault’s entire competition program. Probably their greatest achievement was the team’s very strong win in the 1978 Le Mans 24-hour race. Although Renault used the Alpine name on several of its road cars… Read more

2015 RENAULT CAPTUR TCE120 REVIEW

Renault Captur is a stylish city car that’s virtually a Renault Clio with a taller five-door hatch body. It joins a sudden rash of small crossover SUVs that are taking Australia by storm. In fact these vehicles are a hit in global markets, particularly in Europe where parking in increasingly crowded cities is a huge problem. Note the word styling in our opening to this story, because that’s the number one reason people are giving us when we talk about their buying a Renault Captur. Interestingly, favourable responses are coming… Read more

TIME TO ASK ABOUT THE RENAULT ALASKAN?

Pickup trucks are big in Australia right now, and in quite a few other countries as well, particularly those in Asia. Indeed the great majority of pickups sold in Australia are built in Thailand. As well as workhorse pickups, double-cab bodies with sporty looks and accessories are all the rage at the moment, leading to the unlikely fact that they frequently appear in the top 10 sales list in Australia. So it’s no surprise that more makers are keen on getting part of the action. Renault Alaskan is one result…. Read more

RENAULT’S FUNKY MINI-SUV HAS THE LOOKS AND THE PRICE ADVANTAGE

The mini-SUV market has been hotting up over the past couple of years, culminating with the recent releases of the Mazda CX-3 and the French entry, the Renault Captur. The Captur finds itself under fire from all corners, with cars from Ford, Holden, Honda and Nissan also in the mix. The Captur is late to the party, with a long delay due to domestic demand. Renault Australia couldn’t get its hands on it quickly enough. Neither could we. VALUE The Captur range runs from the $22,990 Expression manual (with the… Read more

ALL-NEW RENAULT TRAFIC WORKS HARD, LOOKS GOOD

Renault’s relentless return to Australia is continuing apace, with the company selling over 10,000 vehicles in 2014. Becoming he first French marque to achieve this milestone. The redhot Clio and Megane models are grabbing all the publicity in the motoring pages, but the light commercials are doing their fair share in the background. These come in three sizes, the little Kangoo (love the name!), midsize Trafic and the big Master. All-new models are rare events in the LC class so the news of the upcoming Renault Trafic has had potential… Read more

RENAULT CAPTUR COMBINES FASHION AND FUNCTION

Fascinating changes are taking place in the Australian car market and the subject of this week’s road test, the all-new Renault Captur is in the vanguard of rapidly evolving buyer movements. People are moving away from cars to station wagons, except that wagons are often considered to boring, so they’re being disguised as SUVs. But most of them don’t have 4WD so probably shouldn’t be called SUVs. Interestingly, the new station wagons are appealing to two apparently contradictory buying groups; the youngsters and the oldies. Particularly in their styling. The… Read more

RENAULT CLIO: MADE-TO-MEASURE ‘LOVE’ MACHINE

Many car owners like nothing better than to stand out in a crowd and automobile makers are only too happy to lend a hand . . . at a price. The European brands are very accommodating and offer customers a major shopping list of options. Take Renault, for example. I recently was in possession of one of the French manufacturer’s new Clios as a test car, which with add-ons was like no other vehicle I had come across. The Oyster Grey mid-spec Clio TCe120 Dynamique, a six-speed automatic comes onto… Read more