- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.5i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
126kW, 226Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 8.1L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto (CVT)
- Warranty
5 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2017)
2021 Renault Koleos Intens: owner review
My wife and I were looking for a new vehicle. We had a sedan, and it was becoming a little cramped and old given we are transporting two grandchildren around now, so it was time for something a bit bigger.
Owner: Barry Irvine
- Given its price point, it feels and drives like something twice or three times the price, and we did drive those as well
- I wanted the grey interior but my wife insisted on the black
My wife and I were looking for a new vehicle. We had a sedan, and it was becoming a little cramped and old given we are transporting two grandchildren around now, so it was time for something a bit bigger.
As my wife would be doing most of the driving during the week, me on weekends, she had to be comfortable driving something larger.
So we began the journey by Googling various models, made a list, and arranged test drives. The Koleos wasn't on the initial list, but one brand ended up being the caryard next to a Renault dealership, and we saw the Koleos, liked the look of it, so added it to the list.
Now, unlike a supermarket shopping list when it comes to cars, I won't go down every isle just in case there is a special sticker on something we don't really need.
So we test-drove several medium SUVs, even some bigger ones such as the BMW X5, Evoque, GLE, plus Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Haval, all the popular models in those brands, so price wasn't so much the issue. It was more the features we were looking for, and some of the more expensive models didn't have some of the features the Koleos had as standard!
We did a lot of research and driving, and kept coming back to the Koleos, even though it wasn't on our initial list as mentioned. We created our own spreadsheet listing all the features we were looking for in a new vehicle, plus things such as fuel consumption, leather, tush warmers, ride, cabin ambience, road noise, ease of use, and connectivity.
As we drove each model, we gave each category a rating, got home, glass of wine or three, and added up the scores. Well, we all now know who won, and in all honesty we didn't expect the Koleos to come out on top, but it did. So we organised another test drive, sobered up of course, and we both loved it just as much as the first time.
Anyway, we bought it and took a road trip to Canberra for five days. Now, the only thing that I will mention was the cruise control: easy to use, but the engine roared when in cruise and going uphill or an incline of any note, and the rev counter shot to almost 4000rpm. What I found myself doing in that situation, where I was approaching a steep incline in cruise, was to deactivate it and control the speed via the accelerator (handy pedal that one).
This way, the engine did not need to roar, and I could keep my speed while keeping revs at 2000–2500rpm max. This was better for fuel economy, so a little more attention was needed when driving, but no biggie.
Oh, and on that note we are finding that we are filling the tank only every three weeks, whereas our previous vehicle (small sedan) was every 1.5 weeks, so it's fantastic on fuel, sorry about that BP.
Owner: Barry Irvine
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