Brian McCulloch hops aboard the latest addition to the troop.
For some car lovers it is clearly a puzzle as to why anyone
would drive around in a van. As a driver of what was at
first sneeringly called in the English-speaking world a
VDV (Van-Derived Vehicle), I was entertained hearing
Renault’s engineers and project managers at the press launch
of the New Kangoo, describing the results of their market
research into buyer preferences. It sounded as if hired
anthropologists had observed an unknown tribe.
Among the
facts discovered:
• The back seats are used more than in any other Renault
• Most buyers like large doors and lots of space
• Kangoos are popular with families.
I could add my own observations:
• Vans with seats are commoner in the country
• Rugby forwards love them for their headroom
• For value for money they often cannot be beaten.
Often, after testing far more costly cars, I get back into our
van-based car (not a Kangoo) and am struck how well it
compares, mechanically, in its roadholding and comfort.
Clearly I am not alone: Renault launched the Kangoo in 1997
thinking it would be a little van to fill the gap left by the old
Express van but 2.3 million have been sold, of which roughly
half were the van proper, while the other half were the more
expensive van with seats. Finding a replacement for such a
money-spinner is clearly a heavy responsibility.
For the New Kangoo, the company has moved up a size,
from the first generation Clio-based platform to the one based
on the Scenic. The new version is 18cm longer, 10cm wider
and 15cm higher. For most people the most important
improvement is the added width: in the old model the driver
and passenger were shoulder-to-shoulder.
The New Kangoo is quiet too, rivalling a car, with hardly
any of the usual van-like resonance, and comfortable over the
bumps. The version with seats has a completely different rear
suspension from the van proper, which the engineers said
would have a harsher ride except when there is a heavy load.
On the more expensive versions, sliding doors to the rear
passenger seats even have electric windows, and the seats
themselves fold flat in one operation. The front seat also folds
flat, so objects 2.5m long can be carried.
The version tested was the top-of-the-range 1.5-litre,
105HP diesel six-speed in Privilège trim at €19,600. For all its
horsepower, the motor is not the easiest to use. Approaching a
roundabout in second at around 10kph, I eased into a gap in the
flow expecting easy acceleration up to the speed of the traffic
in the system. But for an embarrassingly long time, nothing
happened although the accelerator was to the floor. The turbo
eventually woke up with a start and the Kangoo jumped
forward like, well, a kangaroo.
The 85HP diesel, cheaper by €1,000 and with similar
torque figures, was not available to test. Similar experiences
with the 85HP Clio give credence to the claim that it is a better
diesel motor for the vehicle.
Official figures show a 0-100kph time of 13 seconds for the
105HP model and 16 seconds for the 85HP. During the test the
105HP diesel used six litres per 100km according to the onboard
computer. The official mixed-driving figure is 5.5 litres
per 100km, and it blows out 146g of CO2 per km, so is neutral
if the proposed bonus-malus tax measures become law.
The 105HP motor comes into its own, though, out of town,
with enough oomph for (well planned) overtaking on most
roads. With the sixth gear it is also remarkably quiet.
In a quick test, the petrol model, a 1.6-litre 16-valve unit,
also with 105HP, but with a five-speed gearbox costing
€17,900 (before malus), coped well but unspectacularly. Its 1.4
tonnes delivered a much more linear power than its diesel
sibling. The official mixed-driving figure is 7.9 litres per
100km, but the short test, mainly on country roads, showed 9
litres per 100km. Rated at 191g of CO2 per km, it would incur
a €750 malus.
Where the Kangoo scores is in the fixtures and fittings of
the cabin. One of the usual banes of this type of vehicle is
creaks and squeaks from an interior screwed into what was
designed to be a cargo box, and from the plain metal-framed
windows in commercial versions. In both models tested there
was not a sound. It seemed as well put together as a luxury car.
A small point: the edge of the console holding the gear lever
rubbed against my knee, no matter how I adjusted the seat.
As one would expect, the Kangoo boot is huge, 660 litres
under the parcel shelf which is adjustable. Rear passengers
have useful overhead cubby holes, and the driver and front seat
passenger have a shelf for maps and things. The versions tested
came with cruise control and speed limiters and a good radio.
One interesting option for all models is a €250 ‘one click’
roofrack system, which converts bars on the roof into a roof
rack in seconds without tools.
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