The burgeoning compact crossover segment appears to gain a new entrant on a monthly basis as automotive manufacturers cash in on the newfound popularity of what are essentially hatchbacks with a raised ride height and some faux off-road styling cues. One such entrant comes from Renault, in the form of the Kiger. The French marque has achieved great sales success with the likes of the Kwid and Triber, which are also built in India, just like the Kiger, with the latter sharing its CMF-A+ with the Triber.
With the recent December break having just ended, we handed back the keys of a Kiger, in Turbo Intens manual guise after spending a month with the vehicle in-between testing one of South Africa's latest all-electric vehicles, but more on that in another article.
Styling
The exterior design of the Kiger is very well executed for a compact crossover, offering what we would deem a 'grown-up Kwid' look. The silver roof rails, the raised ride height, thick matte black plastic cladding over the wheel arches and more boxy proportions versus the product it replaces, the Sandero, should appeal to those shopping in the compact crossover segment.
Interior and space
The interior is where a common theme emerges with the Kiger, and that is the fact that a spec sheet and the real-world execution can be deceiving. You see, on paper, the Kiger appears to have it all, a digitised instrument cluster, a colour touchscreen infotainment system, a driving mode rotary dial, an artificial leather-trimmed steering wheel, a neat digital climate control system, keyless entry/start, cruise control, multifunction steering wheel and a contemporary interior design concept.
Having listed all of these features, one might be tempted to rush out and buy a Kiger, given the sub-R300 000 price tag, but there is a catch, and that comes in the form of poor quality throughout the cabin, with cheap plastics and sub-par build quality. The keyless entry works just fine when approaching the car from the outside, but try to open the door when inside and occupants will have to awkwardly pull the door lock mechanism up to unlock their door.
The 8.0-inch infotainment system offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality and appears acceptable, but our phone kept on disconnecting, as did another Android device that we paired, which may mean a software update is required. The brand's so-called ARKAMYS 'surround sound' system is far from premium but gets the job done reasonably well.
In terms of practicality, front occupants have to deal with a difficult seatbelt operation in which the centre console intrudes upon your hand when trying to get the seatbelt to attach. This centre console does add a large 7.5-litre storage area for various items though, despite there being no dedicated cupholders to speak of in the cabin. The rear occupant seating room is deeply impressive, with a huge amount of rear legroom and reasonable headroom. While the boot has a narrow and relatively awkward loading point, there is a capacious 405-litres of space on offer, making the Kiger rather practical.
Performance and driving impression
Powering the Kiger Turbo is a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that produces 74kW and 160Nm of torque, which is certainly sufficient for most tasks, the problem comes with the clutch action in the manual model, which proved frustrating to modulate, resulting in either a bogged-down pull-off or an overly aggressive launch.
There are three driving models available in the Kiger, 'Eco', 'Normal' and 'Sport'. We attempted using the Eco model, but this accentuated the clutch issues further and recommend either Normal or Sport as these modes eliminate some lag and make the driving experience more tolerable. Out on the open road, there is quite a bit of cabin intrusion from wind and tyre noise, while crosswinds on the freeway appear to noticeably disturb the Kiger.
Safety
The Kiger range is yet to be crash-tested, however, the Nissan Magnite and Renault Triber, which both share a platform, powertrains and many of the same technologies as the Kiger, both achieved 4-Star ASEAN NCAP crash test safety ratings, respectively. The model tested comes with ABS, 4 airbags, outer rear ISOFIX child seat anchor points and stability control.
Fuel economy
Despite a claimed fuel consumption figure of 5.0 L/100km, our on and off month-long stint with the product resulted in a combined fuel consumption figure of 6.7 L/100km, which is reasonable given that most of our 1 800km was done in an urban environment.
Pricing
The manual flagship Kiger Turbo Intens retails for R279 900, which is impressive considering the size of the vehicle. The model comes with an impressive 5-year/150 000km vehicle warranty as well as a 3-year/45 000km service plan.
Verdict
The Kiger serves as a great example of a product that appears complete on paper, but is less than satisfactory in the real world. The lack of refinement, poor tangible quality and a general impression that the Kiger is built to a strict budget leaves the end-user with a disappointing crossover that could have been so much more.
