Renault has taken a similiar step as its fellow French manufacturers Citroen and Peugeot in producing an SUV with the help of a Japanese car manufacturer. Citroen and Peugeot recently launched the Citroen C-Crosser and Peugeot 4007 twins, which are essentially reskinned Mitsubishi Outlanders.
The new Renault Koleos (to be sold as the Renault Samsung QMX in South Korea) is based on the Nissan X-Trail platform and even uses the same suspension system, which is a MacPherson-type front suspension and a fully-independent multilink rear suspension. The Koleos is basically another fruit of the Nissan-Renault Alliance.
It is marketed as a crossover and has crossover-like styling instead of outright rugged SUV styling, and like most crossovers that are intended to stay in the urban jungle, comes in 4X2 as well as a 4X4 drivetrain. The design first made its debut as a concept at the 2006 Paris Motor Show.
It is available with either a 2.5 litre 175 horsepower inline-4 petrol engine or two M9R 2.0 litre dCi Euro 4 turbodiesel engines that come in either 150 horsepower, 320Nm torque or 175 horsepower, 360Nm torque versions. The turbodiesel engines feature piezoelectric injectors, common-rail 1,600-bar fuel injection, and water-cooled variable-geometry turbochargers. Transmission choices include a 6-speed manual, or a CVT transmission.
The 4X4 drivetrain powers the front wheels most of the time, and channels power to the rear only when necessary, up to a split of 50:50. There is a Hill Start Assist feature for gradients of more than 10%, and also a Hill Descent Control feature that holds the car at 8km/h when going down steep hills. Ground clearance is 188mm for the diesel models and 206mm for the petrol version.
The Renault Koleos will make its official public debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show in March 2008. More photos and a video after the jump.
VIDEO: Renault Koleos SUV
After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
Wierdly this japs-french ‘mix’ looks soooo korean
Nice…
Is it coming here? Or do we still have to put up with the weird-looking Kangoo??
i still prefer its original(X-Trail) instead of this, Koleos!
2nd generation X-Trail much more yummy than this!
it actually looks quite good… audi-ish taillights… are renault doing some tie-up with samsung? whats with the name?
erm i dunno about the looks.. It looks odd to me
Has a place to sit on the back. That is quite good.
soo hyun…..looking
it reminds me of Hyundai Tucson.
looks so Korean….
eh why myvi front lights over there…
The interior looks fresh & funky. It looks much-much better than X-Trail, both inside and out.
The name is Greekish but somehow it comes out sounding so Korean, just my 2 sen …
definately something wrong here.. everything feel so Korean.. maybe it come from LG design studio like our Saga?
I think the exterior is nice…but more asian feel to european….the interior however..mm..doesnt seem to have dat relation with the outer…one glance looks cheap…probably nicer in darker toned colours, grey ka?…
The Samsung version looks nice… I saw it a few weeks ago online…
agree with chaku, i think it looks like a Tuscon too…
This one come from Nissan Qashqai, just re badge!
Unlucky, Renault make it WORSE!
What a disappointment this one turned out to be.
I guess it’s based on the Nissan Qashquai, but the Nissan looks much better and more modern.
usually Renaults are weird, or at least more modern looking than most.
This is neither….
Qashai/Dualist looks way much better man!…way better!
black Koleos is nice
I have to agree that the car looks Korean-ish….the car is a little too curvy, and may contrast to its toughness character of a 4×2/4×4 SUV.
The LCD display looks nice and futuristic, and resembles “targeting system” seen on those computer games.
While everyone focuses in on the looks….I’m more interested in the engines.
Those TDs are impressive. They out hp equivalent CC petrols
Even on the large Laguna, the 175hp version will power the car to 100 in less than 9 seconds….and then out economy a civic. Nice engine.
qashqai…koleos..qashqai…koleos….qashqai alot better than this french…normal…french always fail to produced a good dsg..
SAYA MENGUCAPKAN SELAMAT HARI PILIHANRAYA KEPADA SEMUA RAKYAT MALAYSIA. ERRR IM NOT CONTESTING IN THIS ELECTION.
cool…this wut i call SUV….the engine power is so nice…the interior are so great….just a bit weird exterior but acceptable….nice jap-french collaboration…this thing can be call SUV not like those SUV wannabe rush yuks…
rear style compromises bootspace
why some says this is based on qashqai when the article clearly says its based on x-trail??
the rear fold-down gate is a nice touch….which mean this is really to compete with the outlander/c-crosser/4007….they have the fold down gate that can support a 200kg max weight…..
the interior of this koleos looks better than than its competitor. the outlander has this flimsy turn dials for air-conditioning…it wobbles in its place. the 3rd row seats are standard in the outlander here…which is a nice plus.
engine-wise…the 2.2 HDi in the c-crosser churns out 150ps arnd 3xxx rpm..but it redlines at 4500rpm…..only the 2.2 HDi is a common rail engine….the 2.0 version is theolder type…the same engine used in VW cars….140ps at 4000rpm….noisy little bugger
all i can say is very the weird…
The exterior is sleek except for the tail light. It’s hard for me to digest. The interior looks slightly upmarket and unmistakenly french. Overall not bad except the interior. Maybe I’m so used to japanese design.
OFF topic….. can anyone suggest what kind/ brand of sound system is better and of course affordable?????