Renault’s designers suggest that the days of the SUV aren’t nearly over… The Egeus concept, which will début at the Frankfurt Show, is a luxury four-wheel drive vehicle with striking sports car styling.
Renault’s designers suggest that the days of the SUV aren’t nearly over… The Egeus concept, which will début at the Frankfurt Show, is a luxury four-wheel drive vehicle with striking sports car styling.
The Egeus incorporates several design cues Renault designer Patrick le Quement and his team introduced with the Wind 2+1 roadster (shown at last year’s Geneva Show) and Fluence four-seater sports coupé (one of the stars of last year’s Paris Show).
The 4×4 concept carries over the voluptuous curves and slim, vertical headlamps featured on the Wind concept. And, by incorporating the air inlets under the headlamps, Renault designers have done away with a conventional grille design (a cue first introduced on the Fluence).
Its gently sloping shoulder contour and fluted side skirts highlight the aerodynamic profile of the Egeus. The bubble shape of the rear window complements the SUV’s rounded windscreen and is echoed in the bulbously-curved bonnet.
The door handles are flush-fitting and each has an optical sensor that detects approaching passengers. When a passenger nears the vehicle, the Egeus pushes out the handles by a few centimetres, making the aluminium levers easier to grasp.
The cabin is said to be “warm and welcoming” thanks to the glazed roof and a central strip with two transparent sections. There are four individual bucket seats with three-point belts, trimmed with blue-tinted weaved leather and accented with orange and red depicting a pixilated setting sun. Each of the seats swivel outwards, lowering by up to 70 mm to provide easier entry and exit. The rear bucket seats are positioned higher than those at the front.
At the top of the dashboard, a centrally-positioned interactive screen relays information to passengers, in particular a detailed trajectory map. The rotary selector mounted between the front seats works like a thumb wheel for the on-board navigation system and gear selection programmes are actuated by rounded switches. The information system includes a cockpit monocle that becomes activate in “off-road” mode. The system displays the vehicle’s inclination and warns the driver if the car is in danger of overturning. The GPS-linked speedometer uses the navigation system to display a ‘recommended’ vehicle speed.
The Egeus is powered by a 186 kW 3,0-litre V6 diesel engine mated with a seven-speed tip-shift automatic transmission.
