23 August 2011
New car report; Renault re-born.
Understanding the Renault Fluence requires a whole new look at the fringe French brand, particularly in our part of the world.
Unlike its European home market, where Renault has long been seen as mainstream and for the masses, New Zealand buyers have been educated to believe anything from Europe is premium, so Renault has been thrown into a bracket where it doesn’t really fit.
Consequently, local importer, Motorcorp Distributors have struggled to gain any traction at all with the brand, which has been priced above where it really belongs.
It seems that the manufacturer hasn’t seen the Asia Pacific region as an important market, so presumably the importer was unable to persuade the factory to price its product more in line with the brand’s natural level. But now that’s all changed.
Designed to compete with mainstream.
After a virtual absence of a year or two from the market place here, Renault is back with a range of cars that are priced right, spec’d right and are competitive with mainstream brands.
We recently tested the latest addition to the Renault range, the new Fluence.
With Renault’s latest Megane available in hatchback only, the Fluence has been brought to market to offer the option of a sedan to those buyers preferring four doors over five. Built in South Korea by Samsung, the Fluence is a small/medium sedan offering a comfortable (if soft) ride and adequate power. Boot space, at 530 litres is impressive and interior space ample.
Under the bonnet is a 2.0 litre 4 cylinder, 16 valve 103kW/195Nm powerplant mated to a CVT transmission; running gear that is shared with Nissan and as fitted to the popular Qashqai as well as Renault’s own Megane.
While enthusiastic drivers tend to steer clear of CVT transmissions, the benefits of fuel saving, weight saving and smooth operation will appeal to those preferring finesse and refinement, qualities the Fluence offers up aplenty and which are likely to appeal to buyers in this segment.
Steering is light but responsive and makes for an easy car to pilot around town. Running on 91 Octane fuel, Renault claims a combined cycle fuel consumption of 7.8L/100km.
Styling not a strong suit, but the Fluence is a worthy contendor in its sector.
Priced at $34,990, Renault is pitching the Fluence against rivals such as the Holden Cruze, Mazda3, Toyota Corolla sedan and Hyundai Elantra. It competes well on price and offers up a higher level of equipment than most of the competition.
Bluetooth, keyless entry, 16 inch alloy wheels, cruise control with speed limiter, rain sensing wipers and dual zone climate air conditioning, USB and iPod connectivity are all standard equipment. Rear parking aid is absent, but otherwise it’s a comprehensive list at this level.
If we’re being picky, the styling is nothing to write home about and the audio system does its job, but if you like your hi-fi, it’ll be a let-down. But the biggest criticism was the heater.
Now, before you all go shouting “it’s been the coldest few days on record”, during the week we drove the Fluence we drove no fewer than three other cars. Each one warmed the cabin within a few minutes from cold and with the temperature set at about 21 degrees, maintained a cosy cabin temperature.
But the Fluence took a long time to get up to temperature and once it did, just to take the chill off the air, needed to be run on Hi, a setting we tried in one of our other test cars but it quickly became so hot, we were cooking. We wonder if Renault assumes New Zealand has a temperate climate, so we get a puny heating system.
This might seem a small gripe and call us soft, but on a cold morning it did detract from an otherwise pretty good car.
In its favour are; value for money, good equipment level, a quiet and comfortable ride, but most of all the opportunity to drive something a little bit different that’s priced the same as an ordinary car.