Renault Austral is offered with three hybrid powertrains and it has several commonalities with the India-bound Arkana
Renault has unveiled the Austral C-segment SUV, which acts as a replacement to the Kadjar and it strengthens the space with Arkana and Megane E-Tech and both are being considered for India as well. The Austral has several commonalities with the Arkana as it sits on the third generation CMF-CD platform. The five-seater SUV derives power from hybrid drivetrains as it does not get an all-electric variant.
The Austral gets an Espirit Alpine variant and it gets a host of performance updates. The base variant comes with a torsion beam rear axle and regular front wheel steering while moving up the range, Renault offers four-wheel steering and multi-link rear suspension enabling a turning circle of 10.1 metres. On the outside, the Espirit Alpine comes with a set of 20-inch diamond-cut black alloy wheels, unique Alpine badges, and satin black roof rails.
The interior boasts a Nappa leather steering wheel, aluminium pedals, and Alcantara upholstery with blue stitching. With three powertrains to choose from, the entry-level Austral features a 1.3-litre four-cylinder mild-hybrid petrol engine working in tandem with a 12V Li-ion battery pack to produce 138 hp when paired with MT and 158 hp when linked with an AT.
The 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine with a 48V Li-ion battery is part of the Mild Hybrid Advanced lineup and it develops 128 hp. The 1.2-litre three-pot gasoline mill with an E-Tech strong hybrid system kicks out either 158 hp or 197 hp. The French manufacturer has added an additional electric motor to propel the SUV and a high voltage starter/alternator starts the combustion motor and charges the battery.
Renault says the technology allows for 80 per cent of the time to be spent on city roads while being in an all-electric mode and is said to consume 40 per cent less fuel. Compared to the mild-hybrid engine equipped variants, the full-hybrid tech consumes 70 litres of volume due to the packaging as the bootspace capacity stands at 430 litres.
The interior comes with a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, a 12-inch vertical mounted touchscreen infotainment system with built-in Google functionality, a 9.3-inch head-up display, Harman Kardon audio, and so on.
