WHAT SHE SAID: Renault Triber too weak to carry whole tribe

When they say that the Renault Triber is a seven-seater, you really can believe them. Many cars claim to be seven-seaters only for the leg and/or headroom available for third row of seats to be very limited. Even for kids.

But things are different in the Renault Triber. Not only can you fit three passengers in the second row, but there is also ample space for another two in the third row. With decent legroom, headroom, air conditioning vents … the works. Even for two adults!

In order to work this magic in the third row, the designers had to make two compromises. The first was to eat into the boot space. With the Renault Triber’s third-row seats upright, there is hardly space for four bags of groceries, let alone school bags or suitcases.

But you can’t have you bread buttered both sides in a vehicle measuring less than four metres in length. Your choices are 625-litres of boot space in five-seater mode with the third row folded flat, or only a tiny bit of boot space with the third row upright in seven-seater configuration. And with the second row offering a 60/40 backrest split and the third row 50/50, there are plenty of seating arrangements available to either fit your whole tribe without their luggage or only some of them with plenty.

The Triber’s seven-seat layout

The other compromise the Triber’s engineers had to make offers slightly less flexibility. In fact none at all. And this is a big one. The engine. As the engine compartment was made as small as it possibly could to have more space in the cabin, the designers could only fit a small little 1.0-litre three-cylinder powerplant.

The 52 kW of power and 96 Nm is sends to the front wheels via a five-speed manual transmission does not make for the nicest driving experience. It feels seriously underpowered and gear changes are not a pleasure. None of these help when you have seven souls on board.

There has been talk of a turbo version of this engine, but it is not available locally yet, which is a pity. The Renault Triber is really a little genius as far as space goes and it features fairly decent finishing and specifications for a car that starts at only R185 900.

A few additional horses under the bonnet can potentially make it the perfect most affordable mommy wagon.