COOL FOR CARS
Don’t sweat it.. the clever new Renault Koleos is a ray of sunshine on the road
“No more sweaty backs then,” said my colleague as we tried out the ventilated seats on the new Renault Koleos.
We were in the top Signature Nav trim which, l ike the Dynamique S Nav trim, offers heated front seats but also, in this case, ventilation – cooling air through the little perforations in the leather of the seat backs.
On a warm summer’s day in southern England, the light blast of cool air was very acceptable and quite unexpected. This is just what you want when you begin to feel your shirt sticking to your back as the sun beats down or if your other half has the heating up high.
The Koleos is full of little cues like this designed to make the drive more relaxing and comfortable, renewing the pleasure of sitting behind the wheel.
The cup holders, for example, are heated and ventilated too and the back seats are also heated.
The Koleos is a big beast but handsome with it. It is high with a long wheelbase, a short overhang, alloy roof bars and, in the Signature Nav trim, it stands on 19in two-tone alloys.
The rear light signature is pretty and the electronic and automatic hatch has a neat spoiler at roof level. The SUV segment in which it sits is full of large vehicles, many of them with seven seats. The Koleos remains a f ive- seater, which gives you some idea of the extra space it offers.
Renault have been at great pains to point out where this has gone – into the legroom at the back seat where three large adults can stretch out quite comfortably.
While the Koleos boasts only two trims, both leave it very well endowed. Even the f irst, the Dynamique S Nav, offers an opening panoramic sunroof, a rear parking camera, blind spot warning, lane departure warning, hi l l start assist, traf f ic sign recognition, active emergency braking, heated and ventilated cup holders and an excellent multimedia system run by an iPadtype screen on the central console.
With Signature Nav you get leather upholstery, the above ventilated seats, a bigger touchscreen and the powered automatic tailgate. Renault believe the higher trim will be the most popular.
There are also two engines, both diesel, a 1.6-litre 130PS or a 2.0-litre 175P – the most powerful engine in the Renault range. Either engine can be specified with a six-speed manual transmission but, with the more powerful, you can also opt for the X-Tronic continuously variable transmission, which Renault say they have tweaked to work like a sequential gearbox by means of what they call a D-Step function. Having driven this car, I think they have pulled this off.
The 1.6-litre comes in two-wheel drive but the 2.0- litre is a fourwheel drive. This is the default mode and the car will automatically decide when to use it.
In normal circumstances, it will drive along quite merrily in twowheel drive but, if things turn nasty and it did with us when it began to rain quite heavily, an illustration in the dash will show you that the car is sending more power to the back wheels.
There is also a four-wheel lock switch which, when we took the Koleos off road, proved very effective in getting us up the steepest, muddiest, slippiest hill.
The R-LINK multimedia system is good and both trims get TomTom mapping , rad io, Bluetooth, streaming and sockets.
Not only is the Koleos big but it’s very well equipped to keep you comfortable and out of trouble. No sweat.