Captur your inner driver with Renault’s sporty compact SUV

It was a classic case of better late than never when Renault South Africa last week finally rolled out the all-new Captur.

The compact crossover SUV sibling of the Clio made its global debut quite some time ago, but the ill-timing of the Covid pandemic and a string of follow-on effects all played their part in delaying its local arrival.

In fact, South Africa is getting it so late that an updated version is already expected to arrive locally by next year.

Renault South Africa has kept it very simple in reducing the Captur range from three engine options and two choices of transmission to a single powertrain combination.

A 1.3-litre turbo-petrol mill producing 113 kW of power and 270 Nm of torque sent to the front wheels via seven-speed automatic double-clutch gearbox serves on both the Zen and top-spec Intens derivatives.

Renault South Africa is working on the feasibility of a hybrid version which forms part of the global Captur portfolio, but isn’t likely to offer one until 2024 at the soonest.

French flair

There is a lot of French flair evident in the new Captur’s styling, which translates in a good amount of attitude. It sports a ribbed bonnet, raised waist and more muscular stance along with protective mouldings on the lower body and the wheel arches plus front and rear protection skid plates.

Distinctive C-shaped LED headlight and taillights which extends into the tailgate stand out, while 17-inch aluminium wheels and bi-colour paintwork with a floating black gives the Intens additional zest.

The cabin of the Captur is stylish and feels well-built. The top-of-the-range materials, soft coverings for the dashboard, meticulously finished fittings and new seat architecture all contribute to the feeling of luxury onboard.

The combination of soft-touch materials, a classy leather steering wheels, satin chrome trimmings, decent plastics and very elegant black and grey seat design immediately tells you that the Captur is anything but another run-of-the-mill compact SUV.

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Renault Smart Cockpit

Inside Itens derivatives, a floating console which houses the e-shifter forms part of what Renault terms a Smart Cockpit.

The floating design frees up space below for wireless smartphone charging and e-shifter only requires the palm of your hand without having to press any buttons to change the gear selector.

A 9.3-inch touchscreen vertical infotainment screen (seven-inch in the Zen), which is curved and slightly angled towards the driver, takes centre stage on the dashboard.

It features Renault’s Easy Link multimedia system includes voice recognition, smartphone connectivity and navigation.

Additional features on the Intens include a digital instrument cluster and heated steering wheel.

Practical storage space is another area in which the Captur excels. By sliding the rear seats forward by up to 16cm, the already healthy boot space of 404-litres can be increased to all of 536-litres. With the rear backrests folded forward, loading space increases to 1 275-litres.

Standard safety features across the range include six airbags, electronic stability control, front and rear parking sensors and reverse camera, with blind sport warning, traffic sign recognition, lane departure warning and blind spot monitoring reserved for the Intens.

Advantage Captur

According to Renault, the Captur’s direct rivals include the Kia Seltos, Haval Jolion and VW T-Cross. While some of them, especially the Jolion, is better specced, the Captur has a definite advantage when it come to the engine.

The Citizen Motoring didn’t get to spend too much time behind the steering wheel during its local launch, but a few hilly stretches around Hillcrest outside Durban did give us a good indication of the urge on offer.

There is minimal initial turbo lag, while the EDC box is a smooth operator with the added benefit of reverted to manual shifting through the paddles behind the steering wheel.

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Selecting the Sport driving mode, available alongside Normal and Eco, will give result in an even more spirited drive.

When you go about thing more ambitiously, you also get to appreciated how nice the Captur handles. And especially in this segment, a proper handling car is often overlooked for the sake of price.

Renault claims the Captur will sip 6.6 litres of petrol for every 100 km.

The Renault Captur offers an enticing alternative in what has become much more crowded than when it made its local debut in 2015. But its funky styling and spirited drive should make it stand out from the crowd.

Renault Captur pricing

• Captur Zen – R454 999

• Captur Intens – R499 999

The Renault Captur is sold standard with a five-year/150 000 km warranty and three-year/45 000 km service plan.