Cutting size should not cut safety
Cute Kwid not as tough as it looks
WHEN Datsun launched its Go in SA we, along with many other media colleagues and road safety professionals, lambasted it for its lack of safety.
It was not simply because it had no airbags, but because in a crash test the structure folded like a Coke can crushed beneath your foot.
The Go sold in the thousands, though, as many South African buyers showed they couldn’t care less about safety and just wanted to buy a new car.
And, let’s be honest, the Go is probably still safer than being squashed up in a 20year-old Toyota HiAce. It still shouldn’t be on the market in this day and age, though.
Then Renault announced it was going to make the Kwid, a small hatch with SUV looks that would be built in India on the same platform as the RediGo, Datsun’s upcoming faux-by-four crossover looking thing.
But we are talking about Renault here, a company that prides itself on safety, with a string of five-star crash test ratings in its cabinet.
So we expected great things of the Kwid and, frankly, have been rather excited about its arrival in SA.
Before we get back to safety and sadly, we will, the Kwid appears to be a great package and should outsell the Go by miles on looks alone.
It also starts at just R119 900 for the Expression model, although the Dynamique at R129 900 is the better option when it comes to equipment. It also comes with a five-year/150 000km warranty and you get fully comprehensive insurance for the first year.
That pseudo SUV styling is great and it sits 180mm off the ground, almost as high as a Nissan Qashqai.
It has serious attitude in its frontal design and the SUV looks continue in the side profile with the black plastic protection and black wheel arches.
Those tiny wheels are rather odd, though, and when was the last time you saw just three bolts holding the wheels on – 1970-something? We will get back to the wheels issue later.
Climb into the Kwid and you are met by the best part of the car. The designers could have just created something basic that rivals other Indian or Chinese-built cars, but instead they clearly wanted to bring something more to the budget market, particularly in the Dynamique version.
The plastics are cheap, but they don’t look cheap. There is a big thick steering wheel in front of a modern, digital dash.
You get front electric windows, although you will have to get used to the fact that the window switches are in the centre console
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rather than the door armrests. And don’t even bother looking for wing mirror adjusters — there aren’t any, not even little plastic ones extending through the door.
What there is, though, is air-conditioning and a big touchscreen infotainment system, MediaNav in Renault speak. The Kwid is going to sell in droves just for this alone.
The system includes audio streaming, Bluetooth phone connectivity and satellite navigation. You get access to an app store and you can connect a USB packed with your favourite tunes. It is all very unbudget like.
There is also loads of space thanks to the larger platform, at least for those upfront. The driving position is good and while there is no expectation of multiple adjustment on the seats, things are surprisingly comfortable. The rear seats are lacking a little in legroom. You get a massive 300l boot, which will appeal to anyone who has ever tried to get anything more than one shopping bag into the back of a Honda Brio or Chevrolet Spark.
Under the bonnet sits an engine which on paper seems rather pathetic. It’s a normally aspirated three-cylinder 1.0l pushing out 50kW at 5 500r/min and just 91Nm at 4 250r/min. Renault is claiming an average consumption figure of 4.7l/100km and CO2 emissions of 112g/km. We are not even going to get into performance figures, suffice to say that you are not likely to win any traffic light drag races.
The engine is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox and neither is easy to fault at lower urban speeds. The engine has a nice three-cylinder thrum to it and you get that illusion of being in something that is quicker than it is, like being in a half-ton bakkie weighing next to nothing.
The launch took place in Durban, where that little engine did not lose any power and performed rather well around town. Things will be slightly different in Joburg though, where the altitude will sap the Kwid of some of that small power figure.
Everything’s good then? The Go can go home because the Kwid is the answer we have been looking for in the budget segment? Well, not quite. Let’s get back to that safety thing.
Initially the Kwid failed the GlobalNCAP crash test, with the body shell being rated as unstable. It had no airbag, which made it as disgraceful as the Go in this day and age. Engineers quickly went back to their bunkers and came out with an upgraded version, although the base model is still on sale in India. The improved model, which we get in SA, features a standard driver’s airbag, additional strengthening in the structure around the driver and pretensioning seat belts.
The Kwid was tested again and this time
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it scored one star. That version is still slightly lower spec to the one we get, as the South African version has a larger engine (yes, seriously) and retractable rear seat belts, but the structure is still the same.
Technically one star is a pass. We spoke to David Ward, secretary-general of GlobalNCAP, this week and he confirmed that SA requires any vehicle to meet the UN Regulation 94 for frontal offset crash tests.
With the inclusion of an airbag, the Kwid does indeed get a pass, although only just and only because the airbag is standard.
Then there is the issue of the steering. The Kwid has electric power steering, which works with a sensor on the steering rack.
It is all fine at urban speeds, although bizarrely I did find that the steering did not return to centre position after turning left.
Then I hit the highway and revved the little motor up to the 120km/h speed limit. Suddenly the front of the car felt like it was riding on jelly.
Renault SA says this was probably just an anomaly with the car we drove but others also experienced it.
The company suggests it might be a combination of the steering, the ride height and those puny little wheels.
Whatever the reasons, the Kwid should not be on sale until this matter is fixed. Assess the electric steering, change the wheels and enhance the stability.
There is a simple rule when it comes to buying a car, especially in a country where 43 people die on our roads every day: buy the safest car you can afford.
The rule can also be changed to: make the safest car you can afford. Renault can and it should.
Fortunately GlobalNCAP is working with Renault engineers to further improve the Kwid, but the business case prioritises customers in India where safety is not high on many vehicle owner’s priorities and calls from Renault SA for more safety are apparently sitting in an inbox.
I have to say though that apart from the jelly driving at national highway speeds, generally I did not feel that unsafe in the Kwid, although I would rather have been in a pre-owned Sandero for the same price. — BDLive
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