At Renault, the marketing department always has something to do. After just one generation, the Kadjar is history again. So the automotive name artists of the Rhombus brand had to find a new catchy name for the compact SUV and conjured up Austral from the marketing hat, which at least from the first letter fits well with Arkana. According to the will of the Renault product strategists, this duo has a very clear task together with the Megane E-Tech: recapturing the C segment, once a bastion of the French car manufacturer.
The requirement sounds plausible, but is quite difficult to implement. In the compact segment in particular there are a few alpha animals, and if you want to compete for their food bowls, you have to offer a lot. The managers in Paris know that too. That's why they pack into the crossover Austral E-Tech Full Hybrid 200 pretty much everything that the group technology shelf and the new CMF-CD03 platform has to offer. This includes the E-Tech drive, which has already impressed in other Renault models in various stages of development. "E-Tech is our answer to diesel," says Renault Chief Technology Officer Gilles Le Borgne. In the Austral, the latest expansion stage is at work consisting of a 1.2-liter three-cylinder with 96 kW / 131 hp, an electric motor and the HSG generator, which contribute a total of 50 kW / 68 hp to the propulsion. As before, the interface remains the DogBox transmission, which is similar to a CVT automatic in its characteristics, but the principle of which comes from the Formula 1 cars. The relatively strong starter generator is responsible for the ideal speed to compensate for the lack of synchronization. In addition, the friction of the transmission is greatly reduced, which helps with energy recovery and lowers consumption. Renault specifies it as 4.6 liters per 100 kilometers. On our first test drive we came up with 6.4 l/100 km.
The interaction of the drive units mostly works well. Every now and then the transmission has to sort itself out a bit, which is noticeable in a slight jerking. Even when it comes to the point, the French SUV does quite well. The chassis is comfortable but not too soft, only the steering feels synthetic and could give a little more feedback. Thanks to the latest version of 4Control Advanced, the interplay between the newly developed multi-link rear axle that steers (now with a maximum deflection of 5 degrees instead of the previous 3.5 degrees) and the driving stabilization systems, the Renault Astral can be maneuvered around the curve in a fairly lively manner. The small turning circle of 10.1 meters helps, especially in narrow inner cities.
When it comes to assistance systems, the Austral with 32 is currently the leader of the Renault C segment conquest force. Among other things, an intelligent adaptive cruise control helps, which now keeps the vehicle in the middle of the lane even without the right lane marking and reduces the speed before corners. In addition, there are such established helpers as a 360-degree camera, a rear cross-traffic alert or a blind spot alert.
It is striking how quiet it is in the interior. With the two screens, the vertical 12-inch tablet and the 12.3-inch virtual instrument cluster, it is the same as that of the Megane E-Tech, but offers a few improvements. For example, the other cars are now shown in three dimensions directly in front of the driver and the 9.3-inch head-up display reduces driver distraction. The infotainment is based on Google software, which has a positive effect on the operation, which is catchy. With all this high-tech, the overloaded steering wheel, with three levers (automatic, wipers and the classic Renault radio remote control) on the right and one on the left (indicator / light), seems almost anachronistic.
When it comes to economy of space, the 4.51 meter long Renault crossover cuts a fine figure. Thanks to the rear seat segments that can be moved lengthways by 16 centimeters, there is also space for people over 1.85 meters tall. The trunk holds 430 liters in the basic configuration, if you fold down the backrests of the rear seat, a step is created, the loading floor rises slightly and the volume increases to 1,455 liters. Not record breaking, but okay. With all its advantages, the Austral E-Tech Full Hybrid 200 is no bargain. The top equipment used costs at least 44,400 euros, and this Austral, which will be available from dealers from December of this year, cannot be had for less than 40,400 euros.
