Renault Captur

Features: Talking about the design, the front includes a sculpted bonnet with a deep-set grille. The front bumper houses C-shaped DRLs and a skid plate at the bottom. Black skid plates run along the length of the car to give it that rugged look. The 17-inch alloy wheels are a size larger than the Duster’s and on par with those of the Creta. Over to the rear, the split tail lamps feature LED elements. There’s the usual skid plate here as well, that rounds off the Captur’s look nicely. The Captur is a 5-seater SUV just like its sibling. The 437-litre boot, though, is a touch smaller than that of the Duster and the Creta. The rear bench gets a 60:40 split that takes the cargo volume up to 1200 litres. The feature list includes the usual feel-good goodies such as automatic climate control, rear AC vents and a touchscreen infotainment system. Sadly, there’s no Android Auto or Apple CarPlay on offer. On the safety front, the Captur gets dual airbags and ABS with EBD as standard. The top-spec Platine variant gets four airbags and safety tech such as Hill Assist and Traction Control.

Engine: The Captur shares powertrains with the Renault Duster. Engine options include Renault’s tried-and-tested 1.5-litre diesel, and 1.5-litre petrol. The diesel is available in a single 110PS/245Nm tune, and with a 6-speed manual gearbox only. The petrol, on the other hand, gets a 5-speed manual transmission. It’s key to note that there are no automatic variants of the Captur on sale. That said, we do expect Renault to launch a petrol-CVT model. We’ve tested the diesel Captur, and found that it had quite the legs for the highway. It’s a bit cumbersome to drive inside the city, though. Fuel efficiency figures stood at 15.5kmpl inside the city, and 21.1kmpl on the highway. The Captur isn’t a particularly quick car either, taking a cool 13.54 seconds to reach 100kmph from a standstill.

Rivals: Renault Duster: The car that started it all, the Renault Duster is the only modern crossover in the segment to feature an AWD system. Its butch design, adequate space, CVT transmission (petrol), AMT (diesel) and all-weather ability make it score a lot of brownie points in the segment. Interior quality and limited service network make it less appealing.Nissan Terrano: The Duster's better-looking cousin (for some), the Terrano suffers from being too overpriced for its own good. It does get a diesel AMT variant which is a good option for those looking for a convenient urban SUV.Honda BR-V: Honda's offering in the segment is essentially a jacked up Mobilio with some mechanical changes to compensate for the raised stance. It is one of the only crossovers here that can seat seven people.Maruti Suzuki S-Cross: Maruti's premium crossover suffers from the fact that it does not look like an SUV. It is a premium offering with a good amount of standard equipment, good space for five people and their luggage. Sadly, there's no 1.6-litre diesel any more. Hyundai Creta: The Hyundai Creta might be a vanilla package, but that doesn’t stop it from being a potent one. It’s got the mix of looks, features and drivability which ensures thousands throng the showrooms. The waiting periods can get annoying though, so be warned! Kia Seltos: The Kia Seltos looks stunning, is really well built and is packed to the gills with features. There's an exhaustive list of variants, two trim packages, three engines and automatic options in both diesel and petrol power. It handles and drives like a car and the only real downsides are it rides a little on the stiff side and doesn't really give off those big SUV feels some people crave. MG Hector: The MG Hector aces everything we love about big SUVs. It's imposing, spacious, rides nicely and is priced well too. Wow features include a massive panoramic sunroof and humongus touch screen infotainment system. There is some room for improvement when it comes to finish and build and it's dynamics around corners. Overall though it packs in heaps of value.

Variants: Renault is offering the Captur in four variants, namely RXE, RXL, RXT and an India-specific Platine. The petrol engine can be had with the first three variants, whereas the top-spec variant is exclusively available with the diesel motor. Additionally, the top two trims - RXT and Platine can be had with a dual-tone paint scheme. If you need the most bang for buck, pick the RXL variant.