Arkana a stylish baby SUV

Nile Bijoux takes Renault’s Arkana, a swoopy coupe SUV, for a drive around the top of the South Island.

The Arkana is Renault’s latest entry into the small SUV market, and while its bonesmight lead you to believe it’s simply a Captur in new clothes, it’s a little more interesting than that.

Make me an instant expert: what do I need to know?

Yes, the Arkana is based on the same platform as the Captur, but it has a cooler name. And a cooler design.

Renault wanted a swoopy ‘‘coupe’’ SUV instead of just a normal small SUV, and it lines up alongside the likes of the Citroen C4, Toyota C-HR and the Mazda MX-30 M-Hybrid in terms of ‘‘weird SUV sort-of-coupes’’ that retail for less than $50,000.

That means it looks more like a jacked sedan than a jacked hatch. Is it better? That’s up to you, but I think the Arkana pulls it off quitewell.

LED daytime running lights mark the front, and the rear features a full-width LED light bar only separated by the Renault logo in the centre.

$39,990 to $44,990 (Estimated Clean Car fee: zero band). 1.3-litre turbocharged inline-four with 115kW/ 262Nm, 6.7L/100km and 137g/km CO , seven-speed dual-clutch

2 automatic, FWD (all models). Five door SUV. Now

It looks fantastic at night.

The plastic wheel arches are a bit comedic – you won’t be doing muchmore off-roading than crossing unsealed roads – but the rest looks good.

It’s well-specced, too. Both the Zen and higher-class Intens get a bunch of kit by default, like a heated leather steering wheel, automatic climate control, automatic wipers and headlights, and a decent audio system. Standard safety includes adaptive cruise control, lanekeep assist, traffic sign recognition and blind spot warning.

Intens models add rear-cross traffic alert to the safety stuff, black leather and suede upholstery, LED lights and heated/ ventilated seats to the cabin, and bump the infotainment screen from 7 inches to 9.3 inches.

These also get a 7-inch digital driver display instead of a 4.2-inch readoutwith analogue dials.

Under the bonnet is a 1.3-litre turbocharged mild hybrid four-cylinder making 115kW and 262Nm, paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic powering the front wheels.

Fuel consumption is officially rated at 6.7L/100km and 137g/km of CO emissions

2 meaning the Arkana is in the zero band for the Clean Car Programme.

Where did you drive it?

We headed to Nelson for the launch drive route that sent us over State Highway 6, through Picton via Queen

Charlotte Drive, and on to Blenheim.

It’s a good route, if a bit short, to test the car’s agility, power delivery and how the chassis handles bumps and bruises on the tarmac.

Starting with the good, the suspension soaks up most bumpswell and handled the winding Picton roads nicely.

The steering is good too, accurate without being too light or heavy, yet still easy enough to spin one way or the other when navigating through town.

Overseas reports reckon the suspension leans too far towards stiffness, but it didn’t feel that bad. On the contrary, the Arkana felt lovely.

The digital dash is very clear, and the infotainment screen looked nice. It had high resolution and good colour reproduction, but was quite laggy to my pokes and prods.

The Intens is the only one to get builtin sat-nav. All models support Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, but only through a cable.

Renault’s seats are comfy, but the lowest setting is annoyingly too high for my six-foot frame – same problem as the MGHS.

The interior trim looks nice, and the soft-touch bits feel good too, but Iwould have preferred Renault to leave the plastic with some texture, instead of smoothing them over.

But the biggest problem area is the engine. Not the overall powertrain, because the dual-clutch transmission is very nice and a welcome change from the CVT we’ve come to expect here, but the engine itself.

It’s wheezy with a coarse sound that almost indicates something isn’t quite right under the bonnet, and the throttle response seems to be tuned for the full hybrid version we don’t get in New Zealand (yet).

The engine feels like it waits for a second too long before it kicks in, a gap that would probably be filled by electric torque.

Renault said it is in constant discussions with the factory about the hybrid, and told us it’s amatter of ‘‘when, not if’’.

Same goes for the RS Line variant, the highest-spec model in the Arkana’s international lineup. Iwouldn’t be surprised to see the RS Line debut as the hybrid option...

Renault Arkana Price range:

What’s the pick of the range?

I didn’t get the chance to drive the base model, but the introductory level of specification and the fact the powertrain is identical across both versions means the Zen, at $5000 cheaper, is probably a better bet, unless you really want the extra digital displays and warm bums.

At the same time, five grand isn’t all that much to get those extra bits and pieces.

Powertrains:

Body style: On sale:

Why would I buy it?

You want a stylish coupe-SUVwithout payingBMWX6 money but still want a degree of premium-ness.

Why wouldn’t I buy it?

You want a stylish coupe-SUV that’s also a proper hybrid, which I suspectwill fix most of those engine woes.