Excitement is building for the launch of the Renault Austral SUV - and here’s everything we know so far.
The Austal looks set to replace the Kadjar crossover-SUV in the Renault range, which instantly marks it as a rival to the best-selling Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage.
It’s set to go on sale in the UK early next year, with prices starting at around £30,000.
And with an ‘athletic’ design and electrified powertrains up for grabs, it’s sure to be an important car for the French firm.
Here’s everything you need to know before order books open:
The Austral looks great
The Austral is pretty easy on the eye, to us anyway. It’s chunkier, more assertive than the Kadjar, and appears to be placed at the ‘SUV’ end of the crossover spectrum.
Renault says the Austral has a ‘curvy, sensual silhouette’ while it has also been designed to be roomy for passengers. Rear passengers benefit from knee-room that is on par with the best in the category at 27.4 cm.
Base models will sit on 17 inch alloy wheels while high-end variants will get larger 20 inch alloys.
Inside the cabin, the Austral gets Renault’s new ‘OpenR’ infotainment set-up, which marries a 12.3 inch dashboard display with a 12 inch vertical multimedia screen. You can also have a 9.3 inch head-up display.
There’s a sporty version called the ‘Austral Esprit’
Renault has borrowed the ‘sporting DNA’ from its sister brand Alpine to create the Austral Esprit - a high-end trim with a ‘sportier look’.
It gets its own matte-finish body colour - ‘Satin Shale Gray’ - as well as a grille bar, unique 20 inch alloys, and an uprated interior complete with Nappa leather and door sills bearing the ‘Alpine’ logo.
You can have four-wheel steering
To give the Austral the best possible turning circle - which is always welcome with a decently-sized SUV - the Austral benefits from the option of ‘4CONTROL’ four-wheel steering. Those models have a turning circle of 10.1 metres - which is about the same as a Ford Fiesta - while the 4CONTROL also gives the Austral optimum handling, particularly in urban areas.
The Austral gets electrified powertrains
Whichever Austral you lease, you’ll enjoy a form of hybrid technology.
There are two petrol mild-hybrids, offering power of between 130 hp and 160 hp, while there’s also a full-on ‘E-Tech Hybrid’ full hybrid engine, with power of up to 200 hp.
The full hybrid is, of course, self charging, so you never need to plug it in.
It pairs a 1.2 litre petrol engine with a 400v battery and Renault says it’ll return around 51 miles to the gallon, making it ‘one of the most cost-efficient hybrid SUVs to run’.
The most powerful mild hybrid will return around 40 mpg.
Another bonus is that each of the three electrified motors on the Austral also feature regenerative braking. For the E-Tech Hybrid, the driver can select one of four different modes using a toggle located behind the steering wheel.
There are plenty of driver assistance and safety systems
There will be no less than 32 different systems deployed in the Austral covering three areas - driving, parking and safety.
So, you can expect adaptive cruise control, lane centering, a 360 degree camera, automated park assist, blind spot warning, lane departure prevention, rear automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detecting tech.
You can also enjoy full phone connectivity, over-the-air software updates, and a swanky Harman Kardon sound system.
A seven-seater is in the works
A seven-seat ‘Grand Austral’ has been spotted in testing, which has a stretched wheelbase and an extra row of seats in the rear.
The Grand Austral - when it arrives - will make a great alternative to affordable seven-seaters like the Skoda Kodiaq and Seat Tarraco.
For now the Austral is two-wheel drive only.
But, again, rumours have it that a 4x4 Austral is also in the pipeline.
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