The Kiger facelift comes just a month after the updated Triber, and gets feature enhancements. How does it all stack up?
After the Triber, Renault has now facelifted the Kiger. The compact SUV shares its CMF-A + platform with the Triber and its updates are centred around the front and interiors; it remains mechanically unchanged.
Renault Kiger design and engineering: 7/10
Lots of flair with a sporty crossover look, rather than upright SUV.
The bonnet top is carried over and that power bulge still looks nice and sporty. Unlike the previous car, which had an indent to accommodate the large Renault diamond logo, the facelift’s fascia is flat. Speaking of which, the Kiger now carries Renault’s new logo, which is a lot smaller and looks nice and neat nestled in the slim grille. The grille, which used to droop down earlier, also gets the straight-line treatment. The facelift also brings LED fog lights, while the LED DRLs and headlights are carried over. The lower bumper area has a large trapezoidal area that gets a brushed silver finish.
Things remain the same in profile, save for the newly styled 16-inch alloy wheels and the fender garnish with ‘Turbo’ lettering; the ‘R’ being done in red is a nice touch. Also painted in red are the front brake calipers, which nicely contrasted the newly introduced yellow colour on our test car. Roof rails complete the design, and unlike some of its competitors, it’s functional and can take a load of up to 50kg.
New 16-inch alloys and red-painted calipers.
At the rear, it sports the new Renault logo along with a new ‘Kiger’ lettering, the tail-lights are now LED units, and the bumper’s lower edge is reprofiled. The rest is carried over, so you have the cool-looking split spoiler and shark fin antenna at the top.
On the whole, it’s a nicely done update, and while the front end does look more upright, it is still more of a sporty cross than an upright SUV.
Renault Kiger interior space and comfort: 8/10
Interiors look premium and from a segment above; space is plenty.
New colours and materials lend it a more premium feel.
The interiors see a big change in colours and materials, and on the whole, areas that immediately catch your eye look premium and well finished. Where the earlier car had all-black interiors, the new Kiger sports a light grey colour on the lower half of the dashboard, door arm rests and the seats. Looking particularly cool was the liberal but tasteful use of yellow contrast stitching on the steering wheel, gear lever shroud, seat borders, bolsters and the arm rest. The front seat backrests also have the new Renault logo embroidered in the same yellow, which looks really neat and premium.
Front seats now ventilated; new Renault logo embroidered on the backrest.
As before, interior space is good with sufficient headroom and plenty of legroom, especially for rear passengers; however, taller drivers will find the footwell cramped. The seats are comfy, with the outer two seats being nice and broad and the centre seat being wider than average. There’s also a flip down armrest with cup holders. The front seats have good bolstering, with ventilated seats upping the comfort factor.
Headroom and legroom at the rear is good.
Storage spaces are the same as before: dual gloveboxes with a deep center console, large door pockets, two phone trays, with one being a wireless charger. Boot space stands at 405 liters which can be extended via the 60:40 split rear seats.
Renault Kiger features and safety: 8/10
Ventilated seats, 360 deg camera part of the equipment list; 6 airbags now standard.
The new Kiger comes with a few new features, with the highlight being ventilated front seats and a 360-deg camera which has a clear enough feed. It lacks a 3D view, but given the poor execution that many have, this isn’t that much of a miss. The cooled seats work well and are operated via buttons on the bank of switches just above the auto climate control dials. The dials work nicely with defined increments and look neat with the integrated displays. There’s ambient lighting too, not via LED strips but white bulbs placed beneath areas like the door handles and the centre console. It doesn’t look quite as elaborate as pinstriping, but adds a nice glow to the recesses.
360-degree camera is a new addition; screen resolution could have been better.
The digital instrument cluster is carries over as is the 8-inch touchscreen. While it does offer wireless smartphone projection, Renault should have upgraded the screen’s resolution; it looks quite lacklustre against competitors. Auto headlamps and rain-sensing wipers have been included, too.
Safety gets a boost with all variants of the new Kiger sporting 6 airbags as standard, along with ESP, traction control, TPMS and hill start assist. While the new Kiger’s crash test rating has not been released, it’s worth noting that the pre-facelift car secured a 4-star rating under the older protocol.
Steering wheel also gets the new logo.
Renault Kiger performance and refinement: 8/10
Turbo unit is peppy and CVT works well with minimal rubberband effect.
Unusually, Renault organised the drive of the new Kiger facelift within the ICAT testing facility in Manesar. However, this did give us a chance to test out the Kiger turbo in a safe space. It continues to get the same 1.0-litre, three-cylinder engines: the naturally aspirated unit puts out 72hp and 96Nm, while the turbo makes 100hp and 160Nm (152Nm on the CVT). A 5-speed MT is standard, but the NA engine can be had with an AMT, while the turbo gets a CVT option.
Kiger’s turbo-petrol engine is peppy, but gets noisy when pushed hard.
We drove both manual and auto versions of the turbo engine, and, as before, came away impressed. The engine is peppy and a quick stab of the throttle provides a quick response; unlike a typical turbo, power stays strong and linear even a little past 5,000rpm. It does whine a lot though when pushed hard, but refinement is good and the typical three-cylinder thrum is well contained when driven at a normal pace.
The manual gearbox isn’t very feelsome, and we would pick the CVT. It’s got very little of that rubberband effect, and is virtually absent in city speeds. It does a good job of staying in the powerband, something you have to be mindful of with the manual.
CVT gearbox is the pick of the range; has very little rubberband effect.
It gets three drive modes – Eco, Normal and Sport – with sufficienct differentiation between them. In terms of acceleration, the previous turbo Kiger clocked a 0-100kph time of 11.54 seconds, and that’s unlikely to change in the new car.
Renault says they have added a lot of insulation, like in the cowl area and thicker carpets, but there’s a fair amount of mechanical sound that makes its way inside, right from the rev of the engine to the suspension and brakes and even the rear wiper motor.
Renault Kiger ride comfort and handling: 8/10
Ride and handling is good and well composed even at speed.
It drives in a sure-footed manner, feeling like a bigger and heavier car.
Having driven the Kiger inside the test facility, it’s hard to judge the ride quality; however, we expect it to remain the same as before, which is good. The ride is compliant and there’s a nice sure-footedness at speed. On the whole, it rides like a bigger and heavier car. It handles well too, and emergency lane changes at the track were well composed.
Renault Kiger mileage and fuel economy: 7/10
ARAI claimed mileage of 20.38kpl for the turbo.
The ARAI-claimed mileage of the Kiger is 20.38kpl for the turbo-manual, while naturally aspirated engine with the manual gearbox has a claimed efficiency of 19.83kpl.
Renault Kiger price and verdict: 7/10
Misses out a few features, but is good value for space and performance on offer.
The Kiger won our 2022 Autocar Compact SUV of the Year award and it’s not hard to see why. Four years on, though, the update should have had a bit more kit like a sharper touchscreen and fast USB charging slots. Insulation needs to be better too, as mechanical noises still make their way into the cabin. These issues aside, there’s a lot to like. The turbo engine remains a delight and is a high point in this segment – it’s responsive, and feels nautral to drive when paired with the CVT. On the inside, it’s spacious and decently equipped and the facelift has really upped the premium look and feel. It also gets handy features like ventilated seats and a lot of safety kit as standard.
Priced from Rs 6.30 lakh for the base naturally aspirated engine and going up to Rs 10.00 lakh for the fully loaded turbo-manual, it’s good value. And while the top-spec CVT comes in at a 1.3 lakh premium, it’s still good value given the automatic’s performance and overall price position in the segment. As far as updates go then, this is a good one, and it will definitely keep the Kiger alive in the crowded and competitive compact SUV segment.
Also See:
Renault Kiger facelift video review
