Greece, Halkidiki Peninsula. mobile.bg team from the venue.
More than once we have talked about the new flagship of Renault, with which Režija is trying to enter the premium segment. The French demonstrated the vehicle statically as early as last summer, but only now have they started selling it. Most recently, one of the first users of the most luxurious Renault became French President Emmanuel Macron. Now this car has set foot on home soil, and our team had the opportunity to give it a thorough test drive. In this material, we will emphasize the dynamic presentation of the model, and everything more interesting than innovations and design can be recalled from our article related to the static premiere of the car, attended by a mobile.bg team. Here are our impressions of the road.
Exterior and interior
The car is built on the CMF-CD platform, on which both the Austral and the seven-seater Espace are made, but the Rafale is much larger than the Austral, which has been sold in our country for a year. However, Renault's top model is also different. It is the flagship of the brand's new styling language, announced with the Scénic Vision concept and then outlined with the facelifted Clio. It is this new design language that underlines the premium appearance of the Renault Rafale. After all, this is the new flagship of the brand - a 4.7-meter SUV, inspired by the coupe concept, with attention to detail - that's the best way to describe the Rafale.
Despite its length, the Rafale is strictly a five-seater unlike similar-sized alternatives such as the seven-seater Peugeot 5008 and Skoda Kodiaq, here the French have emphasized the luxury perception of things. The Rafale's elegant roofline is reminiscent of German premium bestsellers such as the BMW X4 and Mercedes GLC Coupe. Both German counterparts are similar in length, but cost significantly more.
Another alternative is the new Peugeot 3008, which, however, is definitely inferior in appearance, but is similar in terms of dynamic characteristics and price. And the vision is the basis of the emission of the most luxurious Renault. The success of the compact Arkana has shown that there is a real appetite for coupé-shaped SUVs and attractive monthly maintenance costs, which the French say are far more attractive than those of German premium counterparts.
The Rafale also has a rather attractive and spacious interior. Renault has been on form lately with the interiors of its cars and the Rafale is no exception. In the cabin, you'll find plenty of soft-touch plastics, elegant trim and switches that work nicely, with the harder plastics mostly well hidden. Otherwise, a central role in the salon is played by the 12-inch portrait-oriented touch screen, which controls most functions, but to our delight there are also physical controls and buttons on the steering wheel.
The infotainment screen is slightly turned towards the driver and has quick responses and clear graphics. Some of the menus could be easier to understand on the fly, although overall it's a good system that pairs well with the driver's 12.3-inch display with the same high resolution. The four knobs (lights, wipers, gears and audio controller) on the steering column seem complicated to operate at first, but they work well and are intuitive.
The Rafale's relatively large size helps the cabin provide plenty of interior space, with plenty of room for those up front. Move to the back and both legroom and headroom will also impress, especially with the optional panoramic sunroof. In other words, four adults will feel extremely comfortable, and there is also room for a fifth. Although the center rear seat is a little flat, there is no lateral support, and there is a low hump in the floor.
But if there are not three, but two passengers in the back, then the central rear armrest is worthy of note. It features two USB-C ports, a pair of cup holders, and rotating smartphone stands that can hold everyone's phone horizontally or together for a larger device. This functional feature aims to keep both children and adults entertained on longer journeys.
Practicality also impresses on paper. The rear seat folds 40/20/40 and Renault quotes a boot volume of 647 litres. There's a slight catch here, though, as that figure includes underfloor storage, which is swallowed up by the extra spare wheel. Still, 535 liters above the boot floor isn't bad for cargo space in a car of this class. The downside in terms of cargo space is that when you decide to increase it at the expense of folded rear seats, the so-called load edge - that is, the floor of the trunk and the backs of the folded seats are not at the same level.
Otherwise, everything else in the salon is flawless. Quality materials and very precise assembly. The power seats proved to be quite comfortable, especially on longer journeys, and have a decent range of adjustment. However, only the driver has an adjustable lumbar support. As we already noted, the materials look extremely high-quality and luxurious, although Renault is playing seriously with the recycling and reuse of Alcantara and other more sustainable materials that are everywhere in the cabin.
Engine and driving characteristics
One of the most important things in a car claiming to be premium is safety. Euro NCAP have yet to get their hands on the Rafale, although the results of its closely related Austral give us some indication of what to expect. Austral received the maximum five stars, and for the Rafale, as the flagship of the Directorate, even more is expected, or in other words, the highest scores in the class, making it a pretty safe bet.
In this regard, all versions of the Rafale feature a wealth of safety kit including adaptive cruise with lane assist, adaptive LED headlights, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and road sign recognition. But in addition to safety, the driver and passengers of this type of car also expect driving pleasure.
Renault has been making a lot of noise about how it's a more dynamic alternative to other big SUVs, and the French are partly right. All but the entry-level models get 4Control four-wheel steering, which increases agility and maneuverability at low speeds and stability at high speeds. The system works particularly well at low speeds, making the Rafale feel significantly smaller than it is - a fact that makes the car perfect for urban conditions, although it's not small at all.
As for more dynamic extra-urban driving, the Rafale is not at the level of sports cars, but at the same time it gives a great feeling of connection with the wheels, there is enough traction, and the roll in the turns is not great. The hybrid drive also helps and when you press the gas it provides adequate performance, but we can responsibly say that it is not sporty. The plug-in hybrid with a power of 300 hp. it will be "another beer", but it will appear on the market at a later stage.
The car that is available for sale in our country and that we drove has a power of 200 horsepower. However, you should be prepared that the hybrid powertrain does not always behave as you expect. Sometimes a gentle push of the throttle will kick the internal combustion engine into high gear, while other times you won't even hear it. It's best to drive this hybrid smoothly and efficiently, thus achieving a mode where the low noise levels and overall smooth operation of the entire powertrain are impressive.
More specifically, the Rafale, which is produced in Palencia, Spain, arrives in our country exclusively with electrified engines. Initially, versions with a 1.2 E-Tech Full Hybrid powertrain are available on the Bulgarian market, which is composed of a three-cylinder turbo gasoline unit and an electric motor, already available for Austral and Espace. The power of this hybrid, as already mentioned, is 200 horsepower, which is quite enough for the rather small coupe.
The ride is another advantage of the Rafale, although the version we tested has standard suspension (the upcoming 4x4 plug-in version will have adaptive shock absorbers). But these hybrids also have a perfect ride that cannot be defined as either soft or hard. Our definition is "tight" or in other words optimal. Even on the country's broken roads, the Rafale is a good companion for long distances.
And how much does he spend? Our urban driving was less than the extra-urban one, but in urban mode the car moves much more on electricity and there the on-board computer recorded a consumption of 5.5 liters per 100 kilometers. In extra-urban driving, about 400 kilometers only on the highway and even more on first-class roads, the consumption did not exceed the 6.5 mark, which we consider an excellent achievement considering the dimensions of the car.
Prices and Equipment and Verdict
The Rafale starts with a full E-Tech hybrid system and a choice of high-end Techno Esprit Alpine and two lower trim levels that are cheaper and less sporty Techno and Techno 4Control, but which also come with very rich standard equipment, including a projection display, 20-inch alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control and part of the seats upholstered with Alcantara.
Of the extras, the innovative panoramic roof with electronically controlled tinting, the Harman Kardon stereo system with 12 speakers, and the 360-degree system with self-parking cameras are worth it. In other words, things that are nice to have, but by no means essential. Overall, the Rafale is and looks premium, coming close to German premium alternatives, but quite a bit cheaper.