[abhisheksircar]

It has the much needed ground clearance. It looks absolutely amazing. It's fun to drive. It's not the best when it comes to interiors, but we still decided to go for it.

Presenting the Renault Kiger 2022 | RXZ 1.0 Turbo | CVT



What I like

- Stunning Presence and Design from all angles
- Fun Turbo Engine (~99 bhp) with elements like drive mode
- Smooth CVT gearbox
- Well tuned suspension learning from it's elder brother, Duster
- Very spacious even in the back seat
- 405 ltrs of boot space with 60:40 split foldable rear seats
- Storage everywhere including a cooling glovebox
- Cruise Control is a bliss on the highway
- Pretty decent ICE with ARKAMYS 8 speaker 3D sound setup
- Wireless charging along with wireless Android Auto. It supports Apple Carplay as well
- Particulate Matter 2.5 filter. A welcome feature in these times
- 5 Years extended warranty and Easycare which allows 0 expense on service for 3+ years

What I do not like

- The interior quality. Can live with it and that's more like it.
- Some weird ergonomics like the seat belt lock almost hidden
- The dashboard is too animated for my taste but some loved it
- Turbo lag at lower speeds as expected
- Lack of some much needed features like ESP, Hill descent control
- Loading lip is high and takes some effort for heavy luggage
- No sunroof. This is nitpicking

Prelude
Cars Considered
Sales Experience
Exterior
Interior
The Drive
The Unknown
Accessories
Perspective and Comparison
Conclusion
The Treatment

[abhisheksircar]

My wife has been driving a Celerio VXi AMT for the last 7 years. There has been no major issues in the car at all and the car was in pretty good shape. But she didn't like the AMT gear box. It was not responsive and jerky like every other AMT gearbox. We learnt to adapt and drive to match it's behavior but that's the most we could do. What we also missed are safety features. This was a bare bone skeleton. It had seat belts !

We were contemplating a change and in came the Baleno 2022. We are a family pampered by the Suzuki sales and service experience. We knew all the right people out there in the dealer team when needed to connect. Baleno 2022 ticked all the right boxes but for the unknown AMT again. We were told that it's much more smoother but no cars to test it. We had to trust it's smooth enough. We booked the car prelaunch and saw the car on the day of launch and it was absolutely amazing. Loaded to the brim and quite good quality. And then came the long wait.

We were told that the delivery will be within a month, since we booked prelaunch. After 45 days, we get an email saying that it will take a month or two more from the earlier promised time. We could wait but we did a blunder by trusting the earlier commitment and sold off our Celerio. We got a reasonable resale value to a known person and we sold it off. I even ordered a TPH cover to make sure it's protected from Day 1. The email of further delay was a bummer.

We started looking around for other options which can be quicker to deliver. Just few days back, I drove a friend's CVT Magnite and I quite liked the transmission and feel factor. Having the same platform, I considered the Kiger. I called up a dealer in JP Nagar as I had their number from the day I was looking for a new car 7 years back as I was interested in the Fluence. The dealer had a Blue Renault RXZ 1.0 Turbo CVT which was allocated to a customer but he wanted a month more since his house construction got delayed by a month. Which means, the car is in Bangalore already, March 2022 Manufactured as per the VIN and ready to be registered and delivered in a week. Perfect !!

We still asked for a test drive, more for my wife than me as it was for her. First look of it and she was quite intimidated by the size of it, coming from the humble Celerio. She immediately got into two minds of, should I ? She liked the looks of the car. She got in and drove it within the narrow roads around our vicinity. She loved the seat height and the smooth gearshifts. The suspension was handling the bad roads quite well. I was sitting in the back and was amused to see her driving at 60 km/hr and telling the salesman that one should not drive fast in these roads. I asked her to check the Speedo. She was shocked as she didn't even realize. She immediately slowed down and the salesman suggested her to try the more sedated Eco mode. She was comfortable with that. She ended the drive saying that this was it. Although it's bigger and more intimidating, it drives quite easy and comfortable. This was a real upgrade for her. What it ended up with was for us to spend another 2 lakhs but since we keep our cars for long, we thought it's worth it.

The car that came in for test was the Red 2021 CVT RXZ Turbo and hence we then drove to the showroom, where they had a blue 2022 RXZ CVT one in display. We saw it and immediately booked it. This was it !

[abhisheksircar]

So what were the options available ?

My bible to see all that's available has usually been the Indian Car Sales report on Team Bhp. This time it was no different.

Car Sales - Feb 2022

Citroen : Nothing from this stable as it was beyond the budget.

Datsun : Nothing exciting here.

Honda : Jazz. This was one contender but the age old design and with not much Focus to the Indian market, I decided to steer clear off the brand. Also, I do not like the snob behavior of the sales team.

Hyundai : We considered the Hyundai i20 or the Venue. We struck off the i20 cause we now had a taste of a crossover/compact-SUV and the Venue, till date remains a strong contender. It's just that we get better VFM with the Kiger and the biggest drawback was the wait time. If we had a ready available Venue, it would probably have been the Venue cause it's proven and will have a better resale value but then I was not aligned with how it looked.

Jeep : Nothing from this stable as it was beyond the budget.

Kia : Sonet. This again was a strong contender but for the deterrence of a long wait time. Else it was a close call between the Sonet and the Venue. The other factor was also the cost factor as we had already stretched our budget on the Kiger and these two options would have further stretched it.

Mahindra : XUV300 is the only option we could have considered but for AMT.

Maruti : Wait time of Baleno is similar with other products in the stable as well and hence this went off the list too.

MG : I somehow do not connect to this brand for the sheer reason of re-badging some Chinese Cars as MG. Baojun 530 = MG Hector and so on. I did not even look at the available options. My friends have it, they are okay with it. But that's me !

Nissan : Magnite was the obvious contender and this was the car I liked which made me consider the Kiger. Lookwise, I found Kiger to have sharper looks. That's subjective, of course. But Magnite has the advantages of hill descent and ESP. It lacks two curtain airbags though. And then again the wait time. I have friends who have been waiting for the Magnite for 8+ months.

Renault : Kiger it is but I would have LOVED to have considered the Duster too. No availability now. I presume the new one is on card. It's one amazing vehicle. I have a friend who sold a Duster to buy another. This time, the AWD. I did not consider the Triber cause an MPV is not what we were looking for.

Skoda : Another brand I would prefer to stay away from, unless amazed by some option. Primarily because of the service issues and expensive spares. Not sure if things have changed now but that's my blocked mind.

Tata : Nexon would have been considered but for AMT. Altroz DCA had a long wait again. And again, no more hatchback after driving the Kiger.

Toyota : We could have considered the Glanza but this has a wait time of 1 month plus and again a hatch.

Volkswagen : Polo. This was another strong contender but we opted out due to long wait period and again, a hatch !

It might not have been a Kiger if we had time. It could have been as well. But since she had already sold her car, having a car soon was a strong criteria. Not at the cost of a collapse though and I definitely do not feel like we compromised on the Kiger as even if we had to wait, we could have still gone for the Kiger. The Sonet and the Venue were strong contenders, but for the further price difference and the wait.

[abhisheksircar]

The sales experience began with my call to the Renault Dealer, JP Nagar branch. It was cordially attended by a saleswoman who in turn handed over the call to Nanda Kumar, who has been my SPoC for this whole purchase experience. He has always been available to attend to my queries. Renault works in a way that all the dealers in Bangalore is owned by one entity and hence if I reach out to him first, it's his deal, even if I go to any other outlet to close it. He kept asking me, did you call anyone else before, did anyone call you before etc. Reason, if they did, irrespective of who closes the deal, the one who initiated gets the credit. In my case, it's been just one SPoC. With this one dealer in one major town, the pricing is also quite controlled and it seems to be driven by Renault very closely. Dealers/outlets, do not pit against each other. Every accessory or freebee is accounted for.

As I mentioned elsewhere that Nanda drove down with a 2021 RXZ and once we were okay, he took us to the closest outlet which was in Sarjapur to complete the formalities of booking. We paid a booking amount which is mostly returned, in case of a cancellation which is usually the administration charge but if I heard it right, it was around 1000 INR. I did not bother paying much attention to it as we were going ahead with it. After paying the booking amount, we were given a docket which had the receipt for the booking amount, accessories list, renault finance options, details about easyCare, extended warranty and contact details for Customer Care Manager.



This car has got almost everything but there is always scope to accessorize and I was soon contacted by Vivek with the accessory details and I picked up very basic things. There is lots going out there. I was asked for 3M Paint Protection etc which I had denied cause I had other plans.

PDI

I had re-iterated multiple times to make sure that the registration process is not initiated before PDI is done. Once registration is done, there is not much that can be done. One way to control is to release payment only after PDI is done. My Sales Rep said that it's not usual but he did not fuss a bit to arrange for it. The car was called into the Silkboard showroom as the trucks are not allowed till the Sarjapur center.

We went in there and there was the car, our first glance and connect with a new family member !





As always, the PDI list was kept handy, so was the VIN decoder (ARTICLE: Find your car's date of manufacture (VIN)). As was shared earlier, this was indeed a March 2022 (N3) vehicle and there is not too much doubt on this one as this version was launched in Mar2022 only. We looked all around, started her for the first time and she spoke ! It was 14kms on the dash.





We also checked if the infamous mud from the tail light issue and it's probable fix was in place and there it was. So in the 2022 version they now have a fixture to avoid that. Though I would have really liked a complete fender lining hiding the exposed parts.



What I find it difficult to notice is if a panel has been "fixed" and for that I called in a friend and a detailer (Shrey). He came in and had a look too and we were good to go. The car was over waxed to make it all shiny and hence it was requested to wash all that off to keep it natural. There was some minor panel gaps noticed which was highlighted which they would look into it before delivery. My son was Critical when he was much younger and he was critical this time too. He loves this PDI experience.



A good PDI needs to end with a good lunch and it was Sushi this time.



The Delivery

The whole sales and delivery experience has been pretty good and I am quite happy. There was a day delay since most of the technicians were off after a long weekend holiday and hence the accessories were not installed but they have been profusely apologetic on it and I was absolutely okay with it as there was no rush to sabotage a festive occasion.

The day of delivery, we had to get the car rolling within 1030 hrs to follow the preferred time. We got an automated SMS the previous day confirming the scheduled delivery time and location. In the morning, the sales representative, Nanda messaged us keeping us informed about the progress. We were on time and so where they.

We reached in a time when the team huddle was going on and it was quite elaborate. Pledge, Commitment song, National anthem followed by a motivation and functional speech by an internal trainer/employee. It was evident that the company was quite structured and organized. Soon after the huddle, they got busy with our delivery process. The car finally came in with all accessories in place and since they had to drive the last stretch as trucks were not allowed, it was 28 kms on the dashboard which is quite acceptable. A final check was done all around to ensure that things were kept as is from the time the PDi was done to the delivery time. The accessories were checked and we were good to go. The car looked beautiful in the blue.



They did a Puja of the car within the showroom before the first drive after handover. It was done with love by an employee again. The whole team gathered around to support the occasion.



A series of exchanges were done, which included the dummy big key, a delighted customer board, chocolates from us and the final key of the car.



Finally she took the key and started the car to move it a bit ahead as a closure of a car delivered.

And then there was the flag off. This was massive. I have never seen a delivery like this. The whole team came outside and formed two rows around the car and there was a flag off with everyone cheering the drive off from the showroom. It was quite overwhelming. This is from Trident Renault, Sarjapura although my sales representative was from the JP Nagar branch and he left him home before 0800 hrs in the morning to make everything ready on time.

https://youtu.be/78vK5Kuvwzs

The car is for later but the delivery sure felt like picking up more than a million rupee car !

Till now, the impression of Renault India has been wonderful or should I say, Trident Renault has been wonderful. I must make a mention of Cluster Head Dileep, who has been also quite supportive.

There is just one thing which I did not like and I confirmed with friends having cars from other manufacturer dealers and they all have the same issue. To push a insurance of their choice which is expensive and need not be the best. I still went for it to have a peace of mind.

The Blessings

I had to rush out after the delivery to a weekend engagement and hence we just parked the car for 3 days at home. In came Monday and the first thing we did was to head to the temple for the blessings from Lord Ganesha. This one is in HSR layout and that's where all our vehicles end up for blessings.





The pandit was jolly good and we had a quick ceremony for a complete blessing of the car to be part of the family and be safe and keep us safe for years to come.

[abhisheksircar]

Renault Kiger is one looker !!

There are cars which look great but fail to look good in certain angles. The Indian and the French engineers have done a tremendous job to make it absolutely good looking. The muscular flexes all over the car, the sleek DRLs, the standing out tri LED setup, the bold Renault login, the diamond cut alloys, the funky rear light setup, the split spoiler, everything just comes together really well. Yes, it does have it's resemblance to the smaller Kwid, specially for the lower variants which does not have the Tri LED setup but that's not a bad thing. It still looks great. Renault Kiger falls in the Sub 4 meter Compact SUV segment competing with Nexon, Sonet, Venue, Brezza, XUV300 and the likes.

What's new in 2022 (RXZ Turbo CVT variant)

- Front Skid Plate
- Turbo badging on the doors
- Red logo on the alloys
- Chrome strip on the trunk door



Kiger probably looks the best from the front with it's bold design elements supported by the sleek DRLs with integrated indicators and the triLED setup. The sculpted bonnet and the skid plate adds up. It's quite commanding for it's segment.



The Renault Kiger has a pretty good ground clearance at 205 mm which is quite similar to it's competition.



The front 3-quarter also looks quite good with the muscular wheel arcs, roof lines and the prominent Turbo door badging.



The rear 3-quarter is no less with the funky tail light design which jets out from the body giving it a very smart crease lines. The rear split spoiler sure does add up.



From the rear also, it really flexes out and has some very neat lines along.



I didnt' stop looking at it even from the top. The lines of this car are just perfect. The split spoiler and the ridges on the roof looks really good.



The front facia is busy and yet composed. The loud Renault logo makes it's presence announced. The DRL and Indicators are very nicely integrated in a neat unit. I absolutely love the TriLED setup. There is no fog lamp and the claim is that with the placement of the LEDs, there is no need for a fog lamp. Low beam activates the outer two, while the high beam activates the innermost LED. The skid plate adds up to the SUV feel



The rear light almost looks like a concept. It includes not only the shape but also the 3D element to it which looks really funky with the C Type setup. The badges of xtronic, Turbo and Kiger are subtly styled in. A huge chrome strip adorns the setup.



The Kiger rides on MRF Wanderer EcoTreds which is a 195/60 R16 wrapped around diamond cut alloy wheels. The whole setup looks and feels quite good.



The RXZ badging is in the front 3 quarter fender.



The turbo badging on the door could be handled differently but it's not bad either. I like the way the claddings give way to the jack mounts.



The rear comes in together really well with the split spoiler, shark fin antennae, roof rails and a neatly tucked in washer for the rear wiper.



The front wiper is supported by one unit of washer which sprays in 3 different locations. Center, Left and Right. First time of the day and the wiper comes on first before the water is sprinkled which I do not like.



One of my favorites on how the rear camera is integrated within the renault logo



The engine bay is busy but has enough space to plonk in a 1.6 as well. There is insulation provided.



The fuel cap is the usual which is reasonably built. Not flimsy but not extremely well built too.



Single exhaust unit with a metallic heat management panel around it. The under body is well coated.



Not 90 degree, but the doors open wide enough for easy ingress or egress.



I love the keys. It's sleek and just slips in to your pocket. I would be worried to drop it though as it has plastics all around. I ordered a key cover from Amazon.



The tail lights look stylish from behind with the C setup and lights up well with braking.



With the TriLED setup, I was expecting the headlight to shine out well and it did. I took the car to a dead zone with no lights at all, and this was the result. Quite nice. It still does not make rain driving easy in the night but I have not found a car with good headlights to make me comfortable in that aspect. The pics were taken with the right settings to give the exact feel of how it looks in real.



The Kiger among the Tiger family as an easter egg in the rear glass panel

Now few things that I did not like in the exterior.



Why Renault why ?? Take few thousands more from me and get me a nice fender lining which does not make the car look like I stole it mid production cycle or the fender lining just fell off. Atleast in the 2022, they have provided an extra layer of protection around the rear mudguards for the mud to not seep into the headlight unit, but still. Why Renault Why ??? It's like every story has to have a catch. For Renault, it's an easy fix and I hope it comes out soon and is backward compatible.



This is more than a million rupee on road. This is not the kind of finish expected. I checked in other Kigers and while most places it's fine, it's this unit which really stands out

[abhisheksircar]

They say there is no perfect car and this is no exception. While the engine, gearbox, body and styling fared quite well, it's the interiors which took the hit in terms of cost cutting which is quite evident. Can I live with it ? For sure. Am I wowed as I was with the exterior design ? For sure not.

What's new in 2022 (RXZ Turbo CVT variant)

1. Red stitches on the seat
2. Cruise control
3. Wireless charger
4. Red graded shade on the dash



As soon as you sit in the driver seat, you realize that this compact SUV makes you feel one segment higher. The seating could match up with the next segment SUVs. The flat bottom steering looks good and is quite functional. The raised ICE Unit is quite easy to navigate. First look definitely goes to an almost waterfall central console which looks quite nice. You might then notice the huge mirror on the A pillar blocking a good section of the view. The next thing you notice is the plastics. It's not bad but not one you would expect in a car of this segment. Soft plastic is almost like a given these days. There is play of Piano black material here and there which looks good. Piano black needs attention though.



The rearview mirror is a bit flimsy and allows very narrow view through the rear window. The headrests add to the ineffectiveness. I personally did not have an issue with this yet. It's manageable. Dimming is manual and not automatic.



The upholstery is fabric here as it needs to work effectively with the side airbag units. Yes, the kiger has 4 airbags. I like the red stitching on the seats. The seats allow height and incline adjustments. The ignition block in the steering column looks quite odd and empty and I would have preferred the ignition switch to be on the steering column instead of the center console. The plastics overall does not feel like a million rupee car. It's scratchy and not soft.



There is a nice gradient treatment on the front dash with a piano finish which breaks the monotony of Piano black everywhere.



I like the flat bottomed steering. It has a short patch of leather on the top. I plan to place a full leather cover on it soon. The steering is slightly on the heavier side in a good way making the handling quite nice. It's a pleasure in curvy roads. The steering has all the required controls, including the cruise control buttons. No qualms over here. You can adjust it for height but not reach.



The stocks are aligned to the Indian standards with washer based controls on the left and light based controls like indicator, high beam switches on the right stock.



The rear seats have plenty of space. There are two adjustable headrests which come on the rear seat. There are map holders in the back of the front seat. There is a center armrest which allows you to place some cups and a phone but the cup holders are very shallow. The rear doors hold 4 speakers, just like the front adding up to a 8 speaker system. All the doors can also hold one liter bottles. Kiger has storage sorted for sure. It's everywhere. The rear seats support ISOFIX seats.



The boot allows a massive 405 litres of storage space which is quite good for a compact SUV. The seats allow a split fold allowing to extend the storage space to the rear passenger seat. The loading lip is quite high making handling luggage a bit cumbersome; only if the luggage is too heavy.



The center panel with the armrest looks and is quite functional. It has a sliding unit for storage extended with a reasonably well placed armrest which locks itself with a strong magnet. It's quite big and is recommended with a storage organizer to manage it well.



But that huge storage in the center seems like an after thought as while putting it, they tucked the seat belt lock cramped way between the seats and the central unit. I still struggle to locate and put the seat belt. I hope to master this soon



The front and rear doors have capacity to hold 1 liter bottles. It has piano insets to add to the aesthetics. Each door hosts a speaker and a tweeter. The rear door supports childlock.



There are 2 glove boxes on the front passenger side. It's got ample storage space. The lower one is a cooled glove.



The front driver door provides controls for the power windows, adjusting the mirrors and closing the mirror units. Only the front driver side window supports auto up and down. The rear window does not open completely and stops with few inches to go. The ergonomics of using either of these power window switches in every door is not that great and you have to bend your hand a bit back to use it. We are spoilt these days !!



PM2.5 air filter in all AC units is very thoughtful in these times which is almost like wearing a mask around the car to avoid even very fine dust and germs to an extent.



The AC controls along with other controls are pretty nicely placed. I like the LED driven indicators inside the knobs. The AC is adequately effective although Bangalore is going through a weather patch which is comparable to any hill stations. Peak summers, next year or some drive outside will give a better picture. One thing I do not like is having to switch off the blower manually every time to off before switching off the car to avoid the car starting next time with the blower on. This should have automatically gone to 0 when switching off the car. The switches above it has blowers for the front glasses, hazard light indicator and central door lock and unlock buttons. There are 2 buttons still empty and this is where I could have liked the cruise control on and off button to be in instead of placing it in a central unit. It has a phone/key/wallet etc storage unit under these switches.



The unit just below it hosts a USB port, start/stop ignition button and the cruise control activation button. Under that is the wireless charger. This supports fast wireless charging. The phone gets a bit hot though over time. There is a dedicated button to switch on and off the charger. There is a dedicated button alongside it for ambient light as well. Next to it is a mode selector helping you to toggle between Eco, Normal and Turbo mode.



The ICE unit is pretty decent and nothing extra ordinary here. What I like is it's high placement. I also like the other controls like AC temperature change etc also being displayed on top of the system so that the driver does not have to look down. This supports both Android Auto and Apple Carplay. The resolution is not that great though. The rear camera in low light conditions is not well supported by the reverse light to make it almost unusable with it's own light. This system is support by an 8 system ARKAMYS speaker system which is quite decent. It's clear although lacks depth. It's nowhere comparable to the Tata JBL systems. I like systems which can let me hear the depth while in low volume. This one does not. I might have to consider a bass unit although I'll prefer to keep it stock. Something that I like in my Ciaz is the music pausing when I hit the mute button. Not the same here. Although just twice, but the unit got stuck on the reverse screen even though we were moving forward. Will keep a watch.



The AC units in the rear helps and it also has a 12W charging point. While the rear AC vents can be switched off, none of the front AC units can be closed. For the front vents, you can only change the direction away from you, if needed.



The reading lights look outdated for a car which looks so modern from outside. Only the passenger blind gets a mirror although no cover to close the mirror if needed. The mic is placed right above the driver seat and clarity is quite good. There is a temperature sensor just next to the front reading light to work with the Auto unit of the AC.



The instrument console is completely digital. I like the analog clock impression in there. It has all the basic information although I am so used to see a Tacho that it's missed here although I am not sure how useful it is in an automatic which does not even have a semi-manual mode. The door open indicator shows every door individually. The seat belt alert is for both driver and passenger. On not wearing the seatbelt, the ICE unit goes muted and only the beeps are audible. As you can see, The car currently shows a mileage of 8.6 km/ltr but this is the average considering that it was 3.4 km/ltr when I received the car. In general when I am driving, I see it gives a real time mileage between 12-18 km/ltr. I have a feeling that over the time, it will average out at around 12-14 km/ltr which is good enough.


The visuals in the night is like a cockpit with all the switches support by backlit lights. The ambient lights are in the doors and the central console. A big omission is the gear indicators glowing in the night. This should have really been there.



The inner door beads have a velvetty texture to it instead of the usual rubber. I do not know the long term durability of it yet and why is it different from the usual plain rubber. It feels good though.



These locks are from the 80s and again one more thing that does not suit this otherwise well designed car from outside.



The break pedals are right off the manual instead of adapting to the automatic by providing a broader paddle. Personally I did not have an issue in this although a broader one is more convinient.



In the interior, the Why Renault Why moment is with the exposed nuts here and there. These sure deserve a cap or something. Renault sure loves to flaunt it's engineering !

[abhisheksircar]

I was surprised by the finesse of the gear box when I drove the Magnite for the first time and this translated to the Kiger as well. I did not drive the Magnite for long but with the Kiger it's now around 250 kms and I am quite impressed

The Feel Factor : The car feels and behaves like a segment higher. It's does not restrict itself to be like a compact SUV. The sitting posture, the space available is quite good.

The Engine : 1.0 Turbo producing about 100 bhp, this engine does not feel stressed while in the highway or overtaking. Although I definitely feel that there is a turbo lag in lower RPMs. Once you are past that, it's a breeze with this engine just cruising away, literally !!

The Gearbox : This CVT box mated to a 1.0 turbo is a beauty. Not once in this 450 kms did I feel the gear shifts. It's not different from any other car having CVT but someone coming from the AMT lineage is pleasantly surprised. I had read somewhere that it's just a fuss of the CVT over the AMT, it's not. CVT is much more refined although not a new breakthrough technology.

The Suspension : I personally love this bit. It takes in bad roads pretty nicely and has a very well balanced suspension setup. It definitely has learnt from the duster. I have compared similar patches of road in different vehicles ranging from Sedans, to hatchbacks, to compact SUVs and even full grown SUVs. The Kiger holds quite well.

The Tyres : MRF Wanderer Ecotred holds pretty well and feels like having the right specifications for the Kiger. Along with the suspensions, it behaves quite well on the road. No complains here although there is no long drive done on this yet. I'll update if I have some constructive feedback.

The Steering : The steering is slightly on the heavy side and that's good. There is connect to the car and the car holds to the lines quite well.

Cruise Control : This is my first car with the cruise control functionality and I'll be honest, its scary at the beginning with the car at 80 km/hr speed with your legs off the accelerator but after you get used to it, it's just a bliss with your focus only on the steering. It's really a bliss on the highways. You can cancel it as soon as there is a slight touch on the break or even by hitting the cancel button on the steering. Once back on track, you can press the +/- to get it to your desired speed and the vehicle will get to the speed and stay there without any manual intervention.

The Turbo mode is fun to drive in although it does not really add some extra boost or bhp to the engine, it's purely electronic with the throttle and steering response becoming much more sensitive. Leaving aside the technicalities, it's fun. The Eco mode is almost not drive-able or at least, that's how I feel. I mostly have been driving this in the Normal mode. I rarely use the Turbo mode. The rare few has been during some overtakes in the highway or when I just wanted to have some fun.

In general, the Kiger behaves quite matured for a compact SUV and is quite composed and fun to drive.

[abhisheksircar]

We have been buying from the Suzuki garage from almost 2 Decades now. Although the cars cannot be called the best of the lot, what it really makes up for it is the bend your back approach to keep your customer happy. Be it sales or service. We were going to continue this, but for the delay.

Renault as a brand is what I appreciate for the awesome product they have, the Duster. That is a tank with literally bullet proof features all across. It's a rally car with bullet proof engine on the road ! Beyond this, it's unknown territory for us.

Service : This is a big question mark for us and we really hope it goes smooth. There are quite a few stories out there with issues but most of them said the same thing, they tried their best but the vehicle itself has design issues. I'll keep this thread updated and hope to have no sour surprises. I asked the sales team to connect me with the best team in Bangalore irrespective of the distance. The recommendation was Silk Board Renault Service center.

Cost of spares : I have been told that unlike the other cars, this car was developed in India with a lot of local sourcing and hence the cost of spares will be quite reasonable. This is something that I have not verified and this will remain an unknown to me for now.

Resale : This is another big unknown as Renault cars are not known to fetch a good price. That said, we are accepting this as we keep our cars in quite good condition and for long.

Issues : Kiger was build for India, in India and is just a 1+ year old car. There are definitely unknowns in the long term and I am hoping to see no bad surprises.

[abhisheksircar]

There is a pack of accessories which is suggested. This includes the following.

1. Carpet Black : 1967 (It's a nice black carpet with bright blue edges. I took it to keep it as a spare but I used it just on the day of the delivery)
2. Trunk Carpet Mat : 1249 (Same as above)
3. Mud Flaps Kit : 844 (They sell in separate pairs too. Front and Back)
4. Armrest Console Organizer : 818
*5. Car Cover - Silver : 1995 (I asked them to remove this as I would be picking up another one)
6. Cushion Pillows : 988
*7. Front Skid Plate : 2535 (This was again removed from the package list, since it comes as default with the RXZ 1.0 Turbo)

The total package costs 10396 although I removed few from there.

To add to that, these are the following accessories I went for.

1. Trunk Light : 2298 (They should have really included this by default)
2. Door Scuttle : 689
3. Illuminated Scuff Plate : 3199
4. Puddle Lamps : 6126
5. Engine Guard : 2990

Outside the showroom, at this moment, I have just taken up one accessory and that's the 3M mats which handles dirt really well.

Door Scuttles



Armrest Console Organizer



Cushion Pillows



Trunk Light



Illuminated Scuff Plate



Puddle Lamps



Engine Guard



3M Mat



Key Cover

[abhisheksircar]

I have captured a bit of perspective with some different cars to relate to.

Magnite

This is the most common comparison as under that skin, it's the same car. Magnite was the car that I drove while waiting for the Baleno which made me consider the Kiger.

The Differences

1. Exterior Looks : This is very subjective and while one might like the Magnite, the other might be inclined towards the Kiger. For me, the Kiger looks amazing from any angle. Even from the top but Magnite falls a bit weak if seen from the front. The rear in the Magnite looks matured.
2. Interior : With the dual tone interior, the Magnite looks better and feels better quality than the Kiger but the Kiger scores on the central console layout with the central armrest setup.
3. Features : While Kiger has 4 airbags, compared to the Magnite having 2; the Magnite makes up for Hill Descent Control and ESP.









Duster

A quick perspective with it's elder brother, The mighty Duster. That's one SUV I really like for it's handling. The Kiger stands quite nicely next to it. The Kiger surely seemed to have learnt a bit from the Duster for it's drive-ability. I hope they get the Duster back with better interiors.









Ciaz

A car very often seen on the road and hence an easy perspective comparison. A 2015 Ciaz and a 2022 Kiger. Yes the Ciaz looks dated, but is holding quite good elegantly. The Kiger has quite a presence even in front of a full size Sedan.







One last fun perspective with a legend

[abhisheksircar]

Today Renault Kiger accounts to about 3% of the total C1 segment sales which is the hottest segment in India. That's way too less than what this car deserves. Indians definitely have this major herd mentality and that's one of the strong reason. The unknown future is another. Leaving that aside, I feel Renault has a winner in it's hand which needs people to just test drive it to close the deal. One of my friend was not so restricted with time and has been taking his own sweet time to test all possible cars to chose his next car. His final two include the Kiger. Is it the best car available today ? No. But it surely is the best value for money. I do not want to name and offend owners of few C1 segment cars which are selling way more than the Kiger although are way more inferior to the Kiger in many ways. Kiger has a good safety rating. Renault extends trust towards it's car with provisions like Extended warranty (Warranty till 5 years) and EasyCare (Service taken care for 3 years/30k kms for a meager 15k INR which includes all consumables like engine oil, oilfilter, etc).

Renault almost created a segment of it's own with the Duster. It was an amazing SUV which is fun to drive, has a very good suspension setup and can manage most kinds of roads. Kiger is no different in this aspect and is fun to drive with a good suspension setup which is quite well balanced. A slightly heavy steering which holds it's line is also something that I quite like. Unfortunately Kiger also takes the genes of Renault making great cars with not much interest in great interiors. I am in no way saying that the interior is bad but with subtle changes and attention to details this shortcoming in the interiors can be also overcome. My 7 year old Ciaz has interiors that are more attended to than a car that was developed from the scratch just last year.

1. Make the plastics better
2. Place the switches in a better way
3. Stop flaunting your engineering and cover it

That's it !! Renault has sorted the difficult part. A car that is good to drive and what's pending is very achievable if there is a desire to correct it. They did not feel the need in the Duster and I doubt they will work further towards it in the Kiger also although these are not major changes. I really would not mind a simpler analogue instrument cluster in lieu of attending to the other smaller bits.

Renault has committed itself to develop cars specific to the Indian market with the Indian engineers along with French engineers to be sold in India and exported from India to the world. I hope the Indian market responds positively to this commitment. It's definitely a turn around for Renault with the Kiger and Triber with Renault today selling almost as many vehicles as the Honda and more than the Skoda, VW, MG, Jeep etc. It's a perfect time to get back the new Duster to regain it's brand presence.

I can say without any hitch that the Renault Kiger is a grossly underrated car in India which hopefully gets it's due recognition over time.

[abhisheksircar]

The car was done with all required accessories and it was now time to protect the paint and do some design changes.

1. PPF on necessary places. Front Bumper, Headlights, Door Edges and Door Handles
2. Ceramic on the rest of the painted surface
3. Black wrap on the roof
4. Carbon fiber wrap on the mirrors
5. Almost blacked out the chrome with a bit of chrome hints left

I decided to trust Guy Car Steamer, Shrey with these requirements. He is honest with his suggestions and hence it's easy to work with him. After trying a lot to convince him to put PPF on the bonnet too, he did not agree and decided to go for a more reasonable ceramic. That's Shrey !

The car was left there was 3 days. I would go everyday to have a quick look on what's happening to decide on some on the spot decisions. Everything went quite well and I am really happy with the final outcome.



This place is always busy and it's recommended to take an appointment and go there. As soon as I entered the second day, my focus was all on the CBRs parked there.



Stek PPF is known for being one of the best in the industry now and that's what went on this.



Stek films with 0 visibility loss on the windows to keep the heat away



The blacked out chrome with the bit of chrome left out to help keep a little bit of bling still there



Carbon fiber wraps on the mirrors and RXZ Piano black badging to avoid scratches on the paint and of course for the aesthetics as well.



Black wrap for the roof and the split spoilers. It's not glossy and hence gives a very smart look. Very good application making it look like OEM as well.



The rear blacked out chrome strip and the logo





The final bit. Ceramic Coating which is done after any minor production or delivery based paint corrections that it requires for that perfect finish.



And finally she is all done and ready to build memories !

Final few parting shots

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Going to our homepage tomorrow

[Siddarth_Ramani]

Agreed to each and every point. Congratulations and wish you many more happy s'miles'. This is an almost perfect car for the money. Alas majority of Indians still ask the neighbour Maruti uncle for suggestion.

One thing I can say about Renault or french manufacturers in general, is that they always have a surprise factor. Kwid was a brilliant product for the time, we all know Duster and Triber is just a magic. I did not expect that much space to be honest. I thought they were selling a namesake 7 seater. But for city usage it's good. The gearing is short, so much so that my 84 HP Tiago feels slow infront of 71 HP Triber. But Triber struggles at top end. It badly needs the turbo.
French cars be it Renault or Citroen, they do not complete. They try to do things differently and it works very well.

[Piyush Kanthak]

Thank you for the review Abhishek, it felt like a T-BHP review, very professional and crisp.
Kiger is definitely an underrated product, Renault can easily iron out the flaws in it. Got a couple of questions
1.How was the puddle lamp installed? Are the lamps in the door or is it externally fixed?
2.Is there any rubber band effect?
3.Is blue color difficult to maintain
Considering Kiger was a good decision because the options you were considering didn't have good safety.