This is the Renault Austral

• New name, new beginning
• New 1.2-litre three-cylinder in three variants
• Longer than the Qashqai

‘This is the car that should make the Renault Kadjar forget’, colleague Lars recently wrote. Such a sentence is particularly appropriate here, because Renault’s new C-segment SUV has a new name for a reason. Don’t get us wrong: the Renault Kadjar is a fine car, and certainly not a flop. At the same time, this is mainly because it shares its technical base with the equally fine Nissan Qashqai, the car that actually invented this segment. The Kadjar is admittedly slightly larger than the Qashqai, but initially came across as a bit of a rush job due to the many buttons and switches from Nissan. The fact that the 2018 facelift largely put an end to that with new button clusters for climate control, windows and mirrors, has never been able to put an end to that ‘brother of’ image.

The (previous) Nissan Qashqai and its brother.

design

The somewhat conservative design of the Kadjar does not help either. Where the Talisman, also launched in 2015, introduced the huge C-shaped headlight units and wide taillights that we have recognized since then, the Kadjar still manages to this day without those elements. The Austral has them, of course, in a new shape that is very similar to what we see with the fully electric Mégane E-Tech. He does borrow more design elements from that car, such as the striking strip above the side windows that includes the rear side window, only to disappear again at the height of the rear door. An important difference with the E-Tech is of course that the Austral has a grille, with a striking ‘block’ infill. The whole looks neat, typical Renault and undeniably modern, but at the same time the Austral is certainly not a design-technical guts. Just a neat SUV, that’s it. If you want to spice things up a bit, you can opt for an Esprit Alpine version. That is comparable to what is until now called RS-line at Renault, although instead of custom bumpers we mainly see a different color scheme and unique interior decoration. For example, the semi-matte gray color is unique to this variant.

Room

A fairly large SUV for its segment, by the way. The Austral is 4.51 meters long, 1.83 meters wide and 1.62 meters high, with a wheelbase of – just like that of the Qashqai – 2.67 meters. This makes it 1 or 2 centimeters longer on all sides than the Kadjar, and about 8 centimeters longer than a Qashqai. This also provides extra space, albeit initially mainly with the sofa flat. Then there is 1,525 liters in the Austral, against 1,447 for the Qashqai. With the bench up, the Renault narrowly lags behind with 500 instead of 504 liters, but he has a trick up his sleeve: a 16 centimeters sliding rear seat. With that option (option!) the luggage space can be increased to a maximum of 575 liters. That is often possible with some leniency, because there is enough legroom in the back. However, there must be a side note, and that is that part of the stated amount of space is under the loading floor. Not a disaster, but the floor cannot be lowered for unclear reasons, so the luggage compartment is always split up, unless you omit the bottom plate in its entirety, leaving an unfinished and bumpy bottom. The hybrid versions also contain the 12V battery, which still takes a small corner of the space. The corresponding numbers: 430 liters with the bench in the normal position, 555 with the bench in the front position.

Renault Austral

Mild Hybrid Advanced

By ‘hybrid version’ we mean a full hybrid, but there is also a mild hybrid. In fact, every available powertrain is electrified, and also new in the Netherlands. The well-known 1.3-liter four-cylinder, which is in the Qashqai and many other Renaults, Dacias, Nissans and Mercedes, is not on the Austral menu in the Netherlands. Internationally yes, but here we have to make do with three versions of an all-new 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo engine. The first is called Mild Hybrid Advanced and delivers 130 hp in conjunction with a 48V mild hybrid system. That is 10 hp less than the base engine of the Kadjar and Qashqai, but on the other hand, this powertrain must be a bit more economical. Renault promises 1 in 18.9 and CO2 emissions of 123 grams per kilometer. The three-cylinder runs according to the so-called Miller cycle and, thanks to a special balance shaft, should run just as nicely as a four-cylinder. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. It is striking that no powertrain is shared with the Nissan Qashqai for the time being. Although that car is on the same new version of the CMF-CD platform, it has its own petrol engines and will also have its own hybrid version.

E-Tech Hybrid

The Mild Hybrid Advanced is only available with a manual transmission. Automatic drivers automatically end up with the full-fledged hybrid, which, just like with the Clio and Arkana, is called E-Tech Hybrid. The Austral E-Tech Hybrid will have a powertrain with the same design, and including the unique gearbox (7 gears in total) with straight teeth. At the same time, there is a lot different, starting with the engine. The naturally aspirated 1.6-liter four-cylinder in the current hybrids – originally from Nissan – is being replaced by the same new 1.2. So here too a turbo engine, and with a cylinder less than what we are used to from the hybrid. The Austral E-Tech Hybrid is available with 160 or 200 hp. The fastest version sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.9 seconds. While the engine got smaller, the battery got bigger. Renault states a consumption of 1:21.7 with CO2 emissions of 105 grams per kilometer. It is striking that the E-tech Hybrid models get an ‘E’ after their type name, so that ‘Australe’ appears to be standing.

Plug-in hybrids are not yet available. Renault remains a bit vague about why, but it seems that the brand first wants to wait and see what the regulations regarding (the CO2 emissions of) these types of cars will do. There will certainly not be an electric version, but the Austral will have an electric counterpart with a unique carriage.

What is special is that the Austral is also available with 4Control, or four-wheel steering. Until now we only saw that on larger Renaults and RS models. It is a new version of the system, with a rear axle that countersteers up to 5 degrees at speeds below 50 km/h. That gives a turning circle of 10.1 instead of 11.5 meters, which is seriously compact. In addition, versions with 4Control get a more advanced Multilink rear suspension, where other variants use a torsion axle.

Interior and technology

In addition to lower consumption and more power, the E-Tech Hybrid has another advantage, because the automatic transmission provides more storage space in the interior. In that case, Renault mounts a control lever on the steering column, just like with the Mégane E-Tech Electric, so that the center remains free for all kinds of boxes and containers. We also find a striking ‘lever’ here, which turns out to be nothing more or less than a place to rest your hand when operating the touchscreen. In the best case scenario, that is no less than 12 inches in size, in addition to the equally large set of instruments. The screen combination is very similar to that of the Mégane Electric and also houses a new system that is based on Android Automotive. It therefore also offers all kinds of handy Google functions, a nice integration with smartphones and the possibility to dress things up with apps to taste. If twice 12 inches is not enough, you can also get a large head-up display.

In the rest of the interior we also see a lot of the electric Mégane. This means that there are many new elements, such as the somewhat square steering wheel and the buttons placed on it. That all looks a bit more high-quality and a lot more modern than what Renault now uses. The rest of the interior may also be there. It is sleek and modern, but thanks to the use of wood, among other things, it is also quite atmospheric and cozy. There are few buttons, but fortunately we do see physical keys for adjusting the temperature.

Renault hopes to welcome the Austral in the Netherlands at the end of the summer, so in the early autumn. Before that, we hope to be able to drive it and the prices will be announced.