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When the Renault Captur first went on sale in 2013 there wasn't nearly as much competition in the supermini crossover section as there is now. Pretty much every brand in the market now offers something similar, whether it's the Nissan Juke or the Ford Puma, but Renault managed to get their foot in the door fairly early.
They've also adapted by changing the design and adding hybrid engine options to keep the car current but also an option to future proof as the world moves away from diesel engines and towards greener driving.
Our Renault Captur Review will guide you through the current models and help you to navigate which will be the best option for you.
The exterior of the car is almost identical to the previous version of the Renault Captur which allows it to keep much of its character, even though they have increased the dimensions.
Other changes include C shaped LED daytime running lights, LED headlights as part of the standard equipment, a wider grille, redesigned bumpers, and larger alloy wheel options. It adds in chrome touches and finishes too to bring it more in line with other models in the Renault range such as the Clio or the Megane.
Renault decided to make the Captur more "dynamic" by pushing the window like up towards the rear of the car, which does impact the visibility a little but is helped by parking sensors as standard and a rear view camera on the top spec models.
The original Captur received many complaints about the quality of its interior and Renault appear to have listened and taken a lot of inspiration from the Clio for the latest Captur. There's soft touch plastics throughout the Renault Captur's cabin and high quality upholstery across all trims which really raises the interior quality.
The touchscreen infotainment system is angled a little towards the driver, a touch that many new cars are adding to minimise distraction, and it pulls the driving experience together a little more too. In your higher trims this is a portrait touchscreen, which is an interesting design choice and makes it feel much more like having a tablet attached to the car.
Additional pieces of equipment, such as the wireless phone charger and the digital driver's display, really enhance the experience that you get when you're in the front seats and makes it much better equipped than other small SUVs.
The Renault Captur is one of the wider small SUV options available on the market at the moment at 2003 mm wide, which means that there's much more room for passengers inside. Rivals like the Ford Puma and the Peugeot 2008 are much narrower at 1930mm and 1550mm respectively which makes it much more difficult for adult passengers to sit in the rear seats comfortably.
One of the other benefits of the Renault Captur is the sliding rear bench. It can alter the amount of boot space by 114 litres between the farthest forward and backwards positions which is ideal if you still need to use the rear seats for passengers or don't want to fold the seats down. If you do fold the rear seats down the boot space is expanded to 1275 litres for the petrol, 1149 litres for the hybrid, and 1118 litres for the plug in hybrid.
The Renault Captur has a ground clearance of 174mm, the same as the Peugeot 2008 and more than the Kia Niro or the Nissan Juke has which gives it a higher driving position before looking at any seat adjustments.
It's also got good access for all passengers, some competitors have lower rooflines which makes it more of a struggle for those using the rear bench, and has isofix points in the rear seats too. Combined it makes it even easier to take the whole family out together.
The Renault Captur has four different engines available: two petrol engines, one hybrid, and one plug in hybrid option. The brand have ditched the option of a diesel engine entirely as part of their pledge to be carbon neutral in Europe by 2040.
The first is the TCe 90, a 1.0 litre petrol engine capable of 90PS. You can expect a combined mpg of up to 47.9 and CO2 emissions of 135 g/km, fairly average for an engine of that size. The TCe 140 is fairly similar, with the same combined mpg and CO2 emissions a little lower at 133 g/km. Both of these are six speed manual and you'll find the same engine choices elsewhere in the Renault range, such as with the Renault Clio.
The next option is the E-Tech Hybrid 145 engine. This has a 1.6 litre petrol engine paired with two electric engines and a 200V battery. This works when the electric motor captures the driving forces from decelerating and braking and stores it to recharge the battery. The E-Tech Hybrid increase the combined mpg to 56.5 and reduces the CO2 emissions of the Renault Captur to 114 g/km.
The option with the best performance, as you would expect, is the plug in hybrid option. The E-Tech Plug In Hybrid powertrains were based on those used by the Renault F1 Team. There are two electric motors combined with a combustion engine and a central battery to give you a full electric range of around 30 miles. This is a six speed automatic gearbox and produces as little as 34 g/km of CO2 emissions whilst giving you up to 217.3 mpg. This will obviously reduce your running costs enormously although it increases the initial price of the Renault Captur considerably.
Renault hybrid cars start with 100% electric power to offer you a more punchy start and then switches to the combustion engine when necessary. Renault says that their hybrid cars can drive in electric mode for as much as 80% of the time.
There are 4 trim levels available in the Renault Captur range: the Evolution, Techno, River Gauche SE, and the R S Line. Each has varying equipment levels and are an improvement on the first generation Renault Captur.
The entry level Evolution is a really well equipped car. It has a broad range of equipment such as 17 inch alloys, LED daytime running lights, LED head and tail lights, electrically adjustable and heated mirrors, privacy glass, automatic wipers, and automatic high beam on the exterior. Inside, you can expect cloth upholstery, black soft touch dashboard, faux leather steering wheel, a hands free key card, driver's seat height adjustment, front and rear electric windows, height and reach adjustable steering wheel, a central armrest with storage, a wireless phone charger, 4.2 inch digital driver's information screen, a 7 inch touchscreen with sat nav, and Apple Carplay and Android Auto.
If you opt for the E-Tech then you'll also have badging to show this on the exterior and interior, a 7 inch digital driver's information screen, and button for electric only mode.
The Techno adds front and rear parking sensors, a rear view camera, electronic parking brake, an auto dimming rear view mirror, 18 inch alloys, exterior chrome enhancements, two tone paint, a shark fin antenna, 3 driving modes, a modular boot floor with two levels, and a 7 inch digital driver's display. The interior upholstery is also upgraded to part cloth and part faux leather in black and grey.
Again, opting for the E-Tech adds badging on the interior and exterior but if you have a plug in E-Tech it adds a 10 inch digital driver's screen, a type 2 charging cable, and a 3 pin plug charging cable. This is the same for every trim level from here onwards.
The Rive Gauche SE adds some more styling to the Captur including 18 inch diamond cut alloy wheels, black door mirrors, the Renault logo in black on the front, black Captur naming on the tailgate, a 9.3 inch infotainment screen, and black leather and cloth upholstery.
The top trim RS Line adds further styling like a front grille with honeycomb design, grey front and rear skid plates, double chrome exhaust tailpipes, RS Line badging, aluminium Renault sport door sills, aluminium pedals, and a red insert around the air vents. You're also treated to the RS Line sport cloth upholstery with red lining and stitching, a frameless rear view mirror, and increases the infotainment screen to 9.3 inches.
An odd choice is that it doesn't appear that any of the Renault Captur models have adaptive cruise control, which is unusual given all of the high spec equipment that is placed along the range.
The new Renault Captur has a five star Euro NCAP rating, placing it on par with many other models in the small SUV category such as the SEAT Arona and the Ford Puma.
It's high rating comes down a really strong set of standard equipment such as front dash warning indicator in case of heavy braking, hill start assist, variable assistance electric power steering, lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition with an overspeed alert, cruise control, electronic stability control, and a gear change indicator. Automatic LED lights across the entire range also make your visibility better at night too.
If you opt for a plug in hybrid Renault Captur the electric battery has it's own warranty of 8 years or 100,000 miles (whichever comes first). This is fairly standard across electric cars and gives you peace of mind that this relatively new technology is protected should anything happen.
your Renault car is covered by a warranty package for up to 3 years from date of first registration with unlimited mileage during the first 24 months, then limited to a total of 60,000 miles (100,00 miles for 100% electric vehicles) or 3 years whichever comes first.
The Renault Captur is well priced in the small SUV segment with the entry level Evolution starting at £22,195. This puts it in the same price bracket as the Peugeot 2008, although it's a little roomier and much better equipped than it's French rival. The SEAT Arona does come in cheaper at £20,730 but doesn't give you as much cargo space.
The Techno increases your starting price by £1600 to £23,795 and the Rive Gauche SE jumps again to £24,995. The top trim level, the R S Line comes in at £26,895 and is £1915 cheaper than the top trim Peugeot 2008.
Adding any of the optional extras or making changes to the standard trim, such as choosing a different paint colour or engine, will increase the price of your new Renault Captur further. This is especially true if you opt for the plug in hybrid models.
The Renault Captur is still a firm favourite amongst buyers looking for a small SUV and the newest iteration has made sure that it stays that way. With more space, the second generation Captur has accepted where it previously had issues and adjusted to improve the car overall.
Thanks to both hybrid and plug in hybrid engines you can opt for something a little bit greener whilst not fully committing to electric just yet.
