Stylish utility vehicles

Singapore — The good news: Renault’s Kadjar has a 1.5-litre turbodiesel engine. The bad news: It has a 1.5-litre turbodiesel engine.

That means whether you like the Renault will mainly depend on how you feel about diesel propulsion, because the engine is the defining characteristic of this mid-sized crossover.

You can get much of what the Kadjar offers from a Nissan Qashqai, after all. Thanks to a corporate tie-up between Renault and Nissan, the two cars share about 60 per cent of their parts.

But the Kadjar arguably looks better. It has a more imposing presence, which is probably down to its 19-inch wheels and aggressive styling. None of its body panels are from the Qashqai, and it’s a slightly longer, wider car. It also has a bigger boot than the Nissan. At 472 litres, the Kadjar’s cargo hold is the biggest in its class, says Renault.

GALLIC FLAIR

Where it shows some French brio is in its controls, which are centred around a bright, seven-inch capacitive touchscreen system. It leaves only a dozen or so physical buttons on the dashboard, and getting the hang of its menu system doesn’t take long.

The main instruments have gone digital, which makes them customisable. Next to this, a typical German car’s gauges look downright severe.

This may suggest that the Kadjar is aimed at young people (it is), but it makes fine family transport too. There’s ample room in the rear (though it lacks air-conditioning vents back there), the cabin isn’t short on storage bins and it has six airbags.

DIESEL DOES IT

What really ought to sell the Kadjar, though, is the frugality of its diesel engine and twin-clutch, six-speed transmission. Like many diesels, the Kadjar’s engine runs out of puff at high revs, but it has enough low-end muscle to ensure that you seldom have to stomp on the accelerator like it was your worst enemy’s face.

Having a light touch is literally rewarding, too. After more than 400km with the car, we averaged 4.4 litres of diesel per 100km. That’s about 13 per cent worse than Renault’s official figure, but is still frugal enough to comfortably exceed 1,200km before stopping for fuel. At that rate, the average Singapore motorist would only have to refuel a Kadjar 15 times a year.

Yet, only one out of 100 passenger cars here runs on diesel, according to Land Transport Authority figures.

Why? Perhaps people can’t abide having their cars sound like taxis, and the Renault is certainly guilty of that.

But own a Kadjar and your fuel bills will be so satisfyingly small that you’ll want to post them on Facebook. That may not prove 99 out of 100 people wrong, but it should make them slightly jealous.

RENAULT KADJAR 1.5T DCI

Engine: 1,461cc, in-line four turbodiesel, 110hp, 250Nm

Performance: 181kmh, 0-100kmh: 11.7s, 3.9L/100km, 103g/km CO2

Price: From S$115,999 with COE

On Sale: Now

PROS: Sharp styling, as frugal as a hybrid car

CONS: Clattery engine, lacks rear air-con vents

Singapore — What’s the single most important factor when it comes to buying a new sport utility vehicle (SUV)?

According to multiple reports from car makers themselves, it’s definitely not off-road capability, neither is it fuel economy, nor safety, nor comfort or a long list of equipment. The key point is how the car looks — and at this point, most current or prospective SUV owners would nod in agreement.

Toyota’s RAV4 has come a long way in the appearance department: The super-popular third-gen model could have been the Platonic ideal of a generic SUV.

ROAD PRESENCE

The fourth-gen model debuted here in 2013, looking sexier and more angular. Now it’s been face-lifted and the result is quite drastic.

Typical mid-life updates for cars leave us guessing which parts are new, but the updated RAV4 has a notable, distinct road presence.

If it used to look like the result of an old RAV4 spending the night with a Gundam mecha, now it looks like it’s been cross-bred with the Iron Man suit: More modern with its LED running lights, layered surfaces and a prominent “chin”.

And if you want to complete that look, it’s even available in a shade of metallic red — though the metallic blue shown here seemed to be hit or miss with viewers polled, it’s a lot more of a reaction than any other RAV4 has elicited.

The danger of choosing a car with your eyes alone is that you may regret it with your feet, back or wallet further down the road, but there’s likely to be no such danger with the RAV4.

The only downside of the design is that you might feel “sunk in” while driving unless you adopt a towering seating position, which is something of an SUV requirement these days.

FEATURE-PACKED

An active driver’s colour display is new and it shows useful information, such as the state of the all-wheel drive system or how long the start-stop system has been active. The latter is also new, and helps improve the car’s fuel consumption from 7.5L/100km to 6.5L/100km.

It’s a steady, predictable drive — leaving you to enjoy the space and decently quiet cabin. Toyota’s InTouch tablet-esque infotainment system is part of a long equipment list. It also packs seven airbags (quite a number for a car this price) and even has some off-road ability with a lockable differential and hill-descent regulation.

The RAV4 looks the goods when it comes to a modern SUV, but to take it on appearance alone would be to sell it short. If you dig past the surface, it actually feels like a more expensive vehicle since it punches far above its weight when it comes to features.

TOYOTA RAV4

Engine: 1,987cc, in-line four, 150hp, 196Nm

Performance: 185kmh, 0-100kmh: 10.7s, 6.5L/100km, 149g/km CO2

Price: From S$148,888 with COE

On Sale: Now

PROS: Modern, angular looks, all-rounder capability

CONS: Chunky style impedes vision a little