Renault has released images and limited technical specifications of its facelifted Koleos SUV, which will be launched in Europe before the end of the year. Its local introduction will follow soon after. The new car features updated interior styling, revised cabin materials and a range of more fuel-efficient engines.
The most noticeable changes are to the car’s front end, which now features a much more attractive facia design with a new chrome grille and sleeker headlights. The current Koleos always looked a bit frumpy, but the new car appears sleeker. The rear remains unchanged, but features LED lights. A new colour, Cayenne Orange (pictured), has also been added to the options list.
Inside, the cabin has received an upgrade to the materials used and a new design for the instrumentation. We also suspect that the facelift will come with an uprated standard specification list, although the current car doesn’t leave much to be desired. In Europe, the Koleos will have satellite navigation, climate control and a Bose sound system as standard.
Depending on the market, three engines will be available: a 2,0-litre turbodiesel with two states of tune (developing 110 kW or 129 kW) as well as a 125 kW petrol engine. There are no details on the local range yet, but we suspect that the current range will be closely mirrored, so expect the petrol and perhaps the stronger of the two diesels to be available.
As is currently the case, there will be a choice of manual and auto ‘boxes as well as front-wheel and all-wheel drive – with the Koleos making use of Nissan's innovative 4×4 drivetrain that is also used on the highly successful X-Trail.
Particular attention was paid to reduce the Koleos’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The CO2 emissions of the 110 kW dCi 4×2 is a remarkable 148 g/km and the emissions of the bigger 127 kW dCi is 166 g/km.
The Koleos has been a long-time favourite of the CAR team and managed to impress us when we tested it in 2009, soon after its local introduction in 2008. We especially appreciated its interior’s practicality and flexibility as well as the car's high safety standards. But despite all its attributes, the Koleos never managed to penetrate the local market as expected, or as deserved. The new car’s sleeker look is sure to help things along.
