Of the two diesel engines coming to the UK it is the 151PS engine that is expected to be most popular with fleet and retail customers alike. Unfortunately, though, only the more powerful 177PS version priced at £24,695 was available to drive at the launch.
Long gearing means the Koleos struggles to pull away at low speeds in anything other than first, while the classic French smooth ride is sadly offset by a tendency to roll heavily through the corners due to the high ride height.
Most damning of all are the figures: the Koleos is neither fast – 0-62 in 9.9secs – nor economical, managing only 35.8mpg. CO2 emissions of 209g/km are high for the 177PS engine, too, and the 151PS version is not much better at 191g/km. And despite all the electronic wizardry such as hill descent technology, the little 4×4 is no more than capable off road.
Keith Hawes, Renault‘s UK fleet director, is hedging his bets on the Koleos’s corporate performance, and will only say: “It will be interesting to see what impact pricing has.”
He also stressed that Renault are “completely new” to this sector so any future performance is unknown.
What is also unknown is what the Koleos will be worth in three’ years time – at the time of driving, the residual value experts had yet to assess the car.
