Overview
The ever increasing demand for entry level
cars is on its top gear now, with every car manufacturer chasing down
to fulfill the need with its product. Tata has given their new Nano for
the fight recently and Renault is ready with a much
premium looking offering
for the segment. KWID, as the car has been named looks more than what
it is said to cost. The car can be a fortune maker for Renault as its
hatchback has never been a popular car for the country. Even the sales
of larger vehicles have gone done considerably, forcing the automaker
for some beautiful and fully utilizable change.
Exterior
The KWID comes with an
unbelievable crossover like design,
which seems to differentiate the car from all the segment competitors.
The car looks much expensive from its front look, but the expected price
is said to be truly satisfactory for the buyers. The best part of the
KWID is at the front. The car looks premium from the front, with an all
new grill and aggressive looking headlights. The hood seems next to
perfection and the net structure below the front grill has been
beautifully integrated into the bumper. The cars in the segment are
rather simple but
Renault has ignited the fire in the entry level hatchback segment. The tyres have some sort of cladding which follows unevenly through the body, being present at the front and rear only.
Dimesions & Ground Clearance
The length of Renault KWID is 3679mm, width is 1579mm, height is 1478mm and the
ground clearance is quite impressive at 180mm. The wheelbase of the car is 2422mm and the boot space is largest in its class at 300 litres.
Interior
The interior of the KWID is the
best one which can be offered in the segment.
It comes with a touchscreen which also supports navigation and
Bluetooth. The interior looks premium from the first look and the
placing of buttons on the dash increases the beauty of the car. The air
vents are practically designed, with a large glove box, for easy storage
of important things in the car. The gear lever has been beautifully
designed and the center console looks very gentle and clean.
Everything seems perfect for an entry level hatchback.
Instrument Console
The instrument console on the new KWID is
fully digital
and is enclosed in a very elegant setup. The center houses the digital
speedometer, with the odometer also in the same segment. The right has
the digital fuel gauge, whereas the left of the console houses lights
for seat belt, battery and all other indications. This will be the first
ever digital display in the entry level segment, which clearly shows
Renault’s plan of being a class apart from other manufacturers.
Engine, Gearbox & Mileage
The Renault KWID comes with a
3-cylinder, 799 cc petrol motor,
which is said to be the most economical motor in the segment by
Renault. It generates maximum power of 53.2 BHP @ 5678 rpm with maximum
torque of 72 NM @ @ 4386 rpm. The gearbox used is 5-speed manual and the
talks for an AMT has been kept for some other time. The car seems large
from its visuals only, the engine factor makes it very competitive in
the Indian market as no other brand is offering aggressive looking mini
beast with all such advanced features.
Safety & Comfort
The braking at the front is handled by
disc brakes,
whereas the rear gets drum brakes for the KWID. ABS is missing which
seems to be a normal skipping point for the manufacturers in the entry
level cars in India. The suspension at the front is the McPherson's
whereas the rear gets a multi-arm type suspension. The car looks pretty
good with its visuals but the tyres seems to be small when compared to
its body size. The car seems to be spacious, with many of the comfort
features being missed on the other cars in the segment. The top variant
of KWID is expected to come with optional driver side airbag.
Expected Variants
Initially Renault KWID 800 is expected to be available in 4 variants -
Standard, RxE, RxL & top-of-the-line RxT. It is also expected that
the company may launch automatic AMT verision next year plus there are
also rumours doing rounds that they are also planning to launch 1000cc
version of KWID to compete with Alto K10 & Eon 1.0.
Expected Ex-showroom Price
The new Renault KWID is expected to be around
INR 3.0 to INR 4.0 lakh, which makes it a really fair deal for such a feature packed vehicle.
