The Kadjar more than hype

BUILT TOUGH: RENAULT’S COMPACT SPECIAL EDITION SUV PUNCHES WAY ABOVE ITS WEIGHT

Most outdoor enthusiasts will love this car’s towing and off-road ability.

There is seldom any need to test drive many of the special edition vehicles manufacturers produce. The additions are usually cosmetic and often make little or no difference to the actual driving experience.

But when I noticed that the new Renault Kadjar XP Limited Edition was fitted with a swan neck tow bar kit, my interest was piqued.

Vehicles with small engines often behave very differently under load than they do when unencumbered.

The Kadjar XP Limited Edition is powered by a 96kW, 205Nm, 1.2 litre turbo petrol engine, with a six-speed manual transmission. This drives only the front wheels.

As it happened, I needed to tow my motorcycle trailer to my farm.

Not to miss the opportunity, I piled about 600kg of bits and bobs that needed to go out on the trailer, for good measure. I was expecting the 260km journey to be tedious in a small, heavily laden car, towing said trailer.

As I crept out of town, I thought I was to be proved right. The engine needs to spin a bit to produce the requisite torque, and under load, this took a bit of getting used to as I had been driving consecutive double cab diesels for two weeks.

Once on the open road, I gently approached 100km/h, a speed my wife said I was not to exceed.

The rig remained stable on cruise and under braking. I edged up to 120 km/h all the while maintaining sixth gear.

Dare I engage the cruise control? I expected I would be using the gearbox a fair bit, but gave it a go anyway. To my amazement, the Kadjar did not flinch. It probably used a bit more fuel, but there is a gear change indicator to help with economical driving, and it remained mostly unlit. On occasion, it suggested a downshift. But I usually declined, to see what would happen. As I remember, I downshifted only twice the entire journey. The last 2.5km to the farmhouse is a dirt road and, to everyone’s delight, it had been raining persistently for days. Even the tarred N4 has been damaged by flooding. So, the dirt road was a muddy mess. I have obviously driven the route many times before under similar conditions and have occasionally abandoned my vehicle and walked home to fetch the tractor. I do, however, try my very best to make it first. I hate walking in the mud, so every metre closer to home, the better.

Secure in the knowledge that my tractor stood fuelled and ready we set off. We slipped and slithered up the road with the trailer snaking and bouncing over the compromised surface. But I was not willingly surrendering any momentum.

The Kadjar has 200mm of ground clearance, so I could be fairly cavalier about the unevenness, it was traction that was my concern. But every time I wondered if I would be able to convince my wife to crawl through the mud to fetch the tractor, the Kadjar would give a little wiggle in the front and scrabble on.

Eventually, and impressively, we made it to the house and my wife offered heaps of praise as to my driving skills.

Leaving her with that illusion, I quietly downloaded the Kadjar’s technical features to find out what had been happening.

The Kadjar has ESC, and the ASR, which I think stands for automatic spin regulator.

All the while these features had been providing assistance by behaving like a sort of light duty electronic diff lock. The other special edition enhancements are of little significance to me.

But for people like me, who like being outdoors, but not without doors, the Renault Kadjar XP Limited Edition is worth a look at R364 900.

This includes a five-year/ 150 000 km mechanical warranty and a six-year anti-corrosion warranty.

Also standard is a five-year/ 90 000 km service plan.