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In its time with us, we found the Renault Captur to have some big plus points but also some little issues too.
BusinessCar editor Paul Barker took delivery of the car and was impressed by its looks and the improved quality of the interior. But as a family man he found the boot wasn't wide enough to lay a folding pushchair across, making it impractical for those drivers with young families. In terms of total volume, the Captur does actually trump rivals, with a slightly bigger boot than the Vauxhall Mokka and Peugeot 2008, and surpasses the Nissan Juke easily, which is 126 litres smaller than the Renault's 1235 litres.
The Captur was handed to me after I joined BusinessCar in the summer, and I immediately found that where it really shines is with its efficiency performance. While Renault's Eco2 green sub-brand might not be as well known as something like Volkswagen's Bluemotion, the tech underpins the Captur's CO2 of just 95g/km and our final average economy of 52.4mpg. Even more impressive when you add that plenty of the mileage has been urban.
There are lots of aids to help you drive more efficiently, including the indicator above the steering wheel, which turns from amber to green depending on how harshly you work the engine. There's also the R-Link telematics features, which can track how you're driving and indicate areas for improvement such as anticipation, acceleration and gear changes. I didn't improve my driving much beyond a rating of 70, but that's not bad.
There were some annoyances with the R-Link system too, though. It's possible to configure alerts and alarms for when the Captur drives above a certain speed, but turning them off through reams of menus proved difficult, with only a quick flick of the radio volume during an alert silencing the din on a long journey.
Another strong area for the Captur is its residuals. It's an area that isn't usually Renault's strongest point, but at 41.4% after 3yrs/60,000mls, it's not far off a Mini Countryman One 1.6D 90, which retains 41.8%. The strong efficiency figures, the Captur beats both the Mini and the Peugeot 2008 1.6e-HDi Allure, at 111g/km and 103g/km respectively, leave it with the best cost per mile figure at 37.2p, compared with the Mini's 40.3p and 41.2p for the 2008.
There is, though, a slight sacrifice on performance and the Captur is a bit sluggish off the mark and getting up to city driving speeds. Its shape also means you get buffeted in the wind, while the feel of the gear stick is a bit wobbly and loose. Meanwhile, navigating through the touchscreen is over-complicated, with multiple inputs necessary just to switch back and forth between radio, satnav and iPod.
The Captur is a great little urban runabout with impressive efficiency figures, and while there are some little niggles that come with long-term ownership, there's still enough charm and practicality to make it worth considering as your next company car.
| Mileage | 7428 |
| Claimed combined consumption | 76.3mpg |
| Our average consumption | 52.4mpg |
| Forecast CPM | 37.3p |
| Actual CPM | 38.6p |
Verdict |
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Business Car Magazine © 2020 | Business Car is part of NS Media Group.
