Renault Austral review

Sometimes it’s refreshing to just have a massive clearout. You know, throw away all the clothes you don’t wear, or give away whatever superfluous tat you may have accumulated over the years to a charity shop so you can start afresh. And it was perhaps similar thinking that led to the Renault Austral.

This family SUV is the successor to the Renault Kadjar, retaining almost nothing from its predecessor. Plus, there are no traditional engines in the Austral line-up; all versions get a regular hybrid set-up that allows you to drive short distances on electric power alone.

Of course, the Austral is far from the only family SUV that comes as a hybrid. For example, you might also consider the Honda ZR-V and Kia Sportage. Or, alternatively, the latter is available as a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with a much longer electric range – as is the Hyundai Tucson and Toyota C-HR.

So, is the Renault Austral good enough to rank among the best family SUVs available in the UK right now? Read on to find out...

The Renault Austral sits in the middle of the hybrid family SUV landscape when it comes to performance. Its petrol engine and electric motor combination delivers a total output of 197bhp for an official 0-62mph time of 8.4 seconds (we managed 0-60mph in 8.8 seconds at our test track).

That's a bit slower than the Honda ZR-V, Kia Sportage HEV and Nissan Qashqai e-Power, but enough to show a clean pair of heels to the equivalent Kia Niro and the 1.8-litre version of the Toyota C-HR.

The Austral will always set off from stationary under electric power and can (in theory) get up to motorway speeds without using the petrol engine at all. But, in reality, whether it does or not depends on the amount of charge in the battery and whether you are gentle enough with the accelerator pedal.

What the Austral can definitely do, though, is go slightly farther on electric power than many other regular hybrids because its 1.7kWh battery – although tiny by electric car standards – is bigger than the batteries in direct rivals, including the 1.05kWh unit in the ZR-V.

Sadly, while the Austral’s turbocharged 1.2-litre engine packs sufficient punch, if you ask for a sudden burst of pace (to overtake, for example) there’s a pause before the car gains speed as the hybrid system calculates the best form of propulsion to use. The Sportage HEV and the ZR-V are a bit more immediate in such situations.

When the Austral was launched, top-spec Iconic Esprit Alpine models featured a rear-wheel steering system, called 4Control, to reduce the turning circle and help the car turn into tight bends more eagerly. However, this has now been ditched and, in truth, it's not really missed; the standard turning circle is by no means huge, plus the speed of the responses with 4Control actually made the car feel nervous and hard to place on the road.

Without the system, the Austral is a lot more reassuring to drive, even though it still leans more than a Cupra Formentor or Seat Ateca when you're driving spiritedly. The one caveat is that you need to put the steering in its Medium or High setting; Low is so light and vague that you can still lose track of where the front wheels are pointing.

Ride comfort is another thing that's been improved by ditching the rear-wheel steering, because this brought a bespoke rear suspension set-up that caused the car to almost constantly jostle its occupants around. Things are more settled on the suspension that's now standard across the range, although the Austral still falls well short of the Sportage and Skoda Karoq when it comes to suppleness, thumping quite harshly over bumps.

In terms of refinement, the Austral gets close to the Sportage. You hear a bit of wind noise from around the windscreen pillars, along with some road noise generated by the relatively big wheels, but it's far quieter than the ZR-V.

And while there is a bit of suspension clunk at low speeds – as there is in the Ateca and Karoq – engine noise is subdued. Indeed, the unit is far quieter than it is in a Renault Arkana or Renault Captur.

The power delivery can be a little jerky when the engine fires up to help boost acceleration (feeling like a rough gear shift) but progress is smooth in electric mode. The brake-pedal response lacks a bit of initial bite, but it's still easy to stop without any jerkiness – something that's not always the case in hybrids that try to blend regenerative braking with conventional braking.

Speaking of which, the driver can adjust the strength of the regen effect by using paddles behind the steering wheel.

“The Austral has one of the most unusual hybrid set-ups I've encountered, because its petrol engine is connected to a four-speed automatic gearbox, then the electric motor has two gears of its own.” – Neil Winn, Deputy Reviews Editor

The driver’s seat in the Renault Austral has plenty of adjustment, including for lumbar support, with mid-spec Techno Esprit Alpine models and above also getting electric adjustment and a massage function to boost long-distance comfort.

As a bonus, the driving position is slightly more commanding than in a Honda ZR-V or Kia Niro. And while it's not as elevated as in the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage, the forward view out of the Austral is still great, thanks to a low dashboard and windscreen pillars that are not too obstructive in terms of angle or positioning.

True, the rear window is rather small, but all models come with all-round parking sensors and a camera to compensate.

Meanwhile, adaptive LED headlights that allow you to use high beams without dazzling other road users are also standard, which is a big help when driving on unlit roads at night.

The dashboard is dominated by large screens: a 12.3in digital driver's display and a 12.0in portrait-oriented touchscreen through which you operate the infotainment system.

Some people will find the driver's display is partially obstructed by the steering wheel if it’s set low, but it otherwise works well, with crisp graphics and a good range of information. It can show a full-width sat-nav map if you wish, and there's a head-up display that projects your speed and other info onto the windscreen.

The infotainment software itself is very impressive, but some of the icons on the touchscreen can be hard to read and hit when you’re driving. More positively, you get a moveable rest on the centre console to help steady your hand a bit, and there are proper physical controls to adjust the air-con and change the driving modes.

The Austral comes with plenty of soft-touch finishes and a good range of materials on the surfaces at eye level, with cheaper plastics hidden lower down. That said, while it all looks appealing, the ZR-V, Tucson and Sportage feel more robust.

“I like the fact that the Austral's infotainment screen is portrait rather than landscape, because it allows you to see farther ahead when you’re viewing the sat-nav map.” – Steve Huntingford, Editor

Up front, the Renault Austral has enough leg, head and shoulder room to keep six-foot-plus occupants happy. Plus, there are lots of useful storage cubbies, including a sunglasses holder in the roof that doubles as a convex rear passenger mirror for keeping an eye on kids in the back.

The door pockets are big enough to take decent-sized bottles of water, and there's a sizeable cupholder below the infotainment screen. The only trouble is, if you put a drinks can in that cupholder, you can't slide the hand rest forwards enough to get full access to the storage area underneath it.

The back seats slide back and forth (a rare feature among hybrid family SUVs) allowing you to give rear-seat passengers more knee room than in a Kia Sportage. The seats recline too, but head room still isn’t as generous as in the Sportage, and neither is shoulder room. Indeed, three adults in the back will find it a squeeze. 

With the rear seats slid back as far as they'll go, the Austral's 430-litre boot capacity gives it the edge over the Honda ZR-V and is about the same as the Kia Niro's. Slide them forwards and storage increases to 555 litres, edging ahead of the Nissan Qashqai (504 litres) and Seat Ateca (510 litres), but greatly compromising rear leg room.

It's also worth noting that the Hyundai Tucson and Sportage have more luggage space than any of those cars. And with the Austral's rear seats pushed back so that you can fit adults in them, there's room for only six carry-on suitcases, whereas the Tucson and Sportage can both take eight.

You get some handy backrest release handles in the entrance to the boot to help you fold down the rear seats when loading longer items. Unfortunately, the seats fold in a 60/40 split (rather than a more versatile 40/20/40 arrangement) and there’s an annoying step in the floor that you’ll need to lift items over.

“It's disappointing that you can't adjust the height of the boot floor, but I found the underfloor storage area a handy size. – Will Nightingale, Reviews Editor

The Renault Austral is priced broadly in line with key rivals, whether you go for the cheapest version or the most expensive. What's more, resale values are predicted to be competitive, which is surprising given how poorly the Renault Kadjar (its immediate predecessor) held its value.

The fact the Austral should still be worth a lot after three years is not only good news if you're planning to buy outright; it also helps to keep PCP finance costs sensible. But however you're planning to buy, check out our latest Renault Austral deals to get the best price.

We think entry-level Techno trim has enough kit to keep most buyers happy, including keyless entry and start, automatic climate control and an six-speaker Arkamys stereo.

Mid-range Techno Esprit Alpine adds heated and massaging front seats, a heated steering wheel, a powered tailgate and adaptive cruise control.

Meanwhile, range-topping Iconic Esprit Alpine cars give you a panoramic glass sunroof, upgrade the stereo to a 12-speaker Harman Kardon system and swap the standard rear-view camera for one that offers a 360-degree view.

The Austral's official CO2 output of 105-107g/km means company car drivers will pay less in BIK tax than for most regular hybrid family SUVs, but a plug-in hybrid or electric car will be even cheaper tax-wise.

The official fuel economy of 60.1mpg beats most rivals too, including the Honda ZR-V and Nissan Qashqai e-Power – although the slightly smaller Kia Niro hybrid pips it. On our fuel efficiency test route, we saw a figure of 49.4mpg, which is some way down on the official figure given by Renault but still better than the 45.2mpg we got from the ZR-V and the 43.8mpg from the Kia Sportage.

The safety experts at Euro NCAP gave the Austral a full five-star rating when they tested it in 2022, with it closely behind the Qashqai when you look more closely at the scores. All versions come with lane-keeping assist, front and rear automatic emergency braking (AEB), traffic-sign recognition and a system that alerts the driver if their attention has wandered from the road.

In terms of reliability, Renault came ninth out of 31 car makers featured in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey – behind Toyota, but just ahead of Hyundai and Kia, and way ahead of Nissan in 28th. 

The standard Renault warranty of three years or 60,000 miles, whereas you can get seven and 10 years respectively from Kia and Toyota.

“When I was looking at this year's What Car? Reliability Survey data, Renault's performance really stood out, because it's gone from 23rd to ninth in one year.” – Claire Evans, Consumer Editor

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