After 10 years of being one of the most popular light commercial vehicles around (2,300,000 sold), Renault has launched the second generation Renault Kangoo, and it is bigger now as it is now based on the C-segment Renault Scenic platform. At 4210mm long, it is 180mm longer than its predecessor, with a wheelbase of 2700mm.
Under the Kangoo’s hood you will find one of three different engines – a 1.5 liter dCi turbodiesel, a 90 horsepower 1.6 liter 8 valve petrol and a 105 horsepower 1.6 liter 16-valve petrol. The 1.5 liter dCi turbodiesel comes in 4 different stages of tune – a 70hp, a 85hp, a 105hp and finally a 105hp with a DPF filter.
On the interior, you have 5 seats with air distributed evenly for both front and rear passengers thanks to air outlets at each passenger’s feet. Storage space for “glove compartments” alone is a massive 77 liters, including aircraft-style storage compartments for the rear passengers. Boot space starts at 660 liters but can be increased to a maximum of 2800 liters with both the 60:40 split fold rear bench and front passenger seat folded down. This allows a maximum item length of 2.5 meters. Rear bench is a true 3-person bench with 118mm more elbow room than the first gen Kangoo. Legroom is also best in its class at 210mm, 43mm more than the Kangoo.
Suspension is a typical MacPherson strut at the front and a space-saving torsion beam with coil springs, and a 15.1mm anti-roll bar. It uses a variable power steering to help with city maneuvering. Safety features include Bosch 8.0 ABS with Electronic Brake Variator, ESP, USC (under-steering control system), ASR (traction control), and MSR (torque movement regulation). ASR allows the vehicle to launch easily on slippery surfaces, and MSR prevents the wheels from locking during deceleration on slippery surfaces.
Renault quotes realistic loading figures for the Kangoo as it is very important for a typical Kangoo buyer’s purchasing decision. Here’s the deal: the boot has a maximum loading capacity of 660 liters (1312 liters with luggage restraint net). If you fold the rear bench down flat and fill it up to the front seat backrest, you get 1500 liters. Set up the luggage restraint net to enable loading up to the ceiling and you have 2600 liters. Fold down the front passenger seat and this increases to 2800 liters (with luggage restraint net).
The most economical Kangoo is of course the 70 horsepower dCi version, using only 5.2 liters per 100km. It also promises to be a pleasant drive, with the torque of a typical 2.0 liter engine – 185Nm – available from as low as 1,750rpm. The top of the line dCi makes 105 horsepower at 4,000rpm and 240Nm of torque at 2,000 and features modern diesel technology like a common rail injection system with 1,600 bar injection pressure, piezo-electric injectors and a variable geometry turbocharger. This gives a combined cycle fuel consumption of 5.5 liters per 100km, not that much more than the 70 horsepower version.
Two more Kangoo engine variants are expected to be launched by Q2 2008 – an E85 1.6 liter 16V engine and a B30 (biodiesel) 85 horsepower 1.5 dCi.
More photos after the jump.
Click here to read the rest of Renault unveils second generation Renault Kangoo
Renault is looking into making a budget car even cheaper than the Renault Logan, and its production base and initial market will be India, home of the Rs 1-Lakh car project. Renault wants its new budget car to cost US$3,000 – about Rs 1.19 Lakh.
