Road Tested By Hugh Maguire.
So What is the new Renault Rafale E tech hybrid you may ask? Basically it is a 5 door coupe SUV with clever self charging hybrid technology and underpinnings developed in part by their sports car division Alpine.
The name Rafale was originally used on a Caudron-Renault Rafale aircraft which way back in 1934 won numerous aviation races and other accolades. So from the off it would seem Renault is positioning the new Rafale at the upper end of this market segment.
So has it any street cred?
Its a pretty smart looking coupe SUV but you may notice it has overtones of Peugeot in its stye particularly when viewed from the front. This is no doubt because its designer formerly worked for Peugeot and I guess his ideas carried over into the Rafale. I do like the design of the car though. It has real presence on the road so we are off to a good start.
What’s it like inside?
There is no doubt Renault have made a big effort here to make the interior feel up market. High quality materials are evident throughout though you can still find some less attractive hard plastics lower down in the cabin if you take closer look. The overall impression is though of a premium cabin, with nice deviated stitching to the seats and door trims as well as full configurable ambient lighting and a pretty nice dashboard layout. Its all digital of course and again it is configurable to your taste. I liked it! The large head up display functions very well too with a better than most display which adds to the overall driver involvement.
I like the Alpine design touches too such as the A which is actually illuminated in the front seat backrests as well as the Alpine colours in the stitching and the Alcantara upholstery. It all feels and looks very premium.
The specification is really very good and I can’t detail it all here but suffice to say you really will want for nothing in the new Rafale. I was particularly impressed by the Solarbay pano roof which electronically can change from clear to opaque.
Accomadation is excellent boasting loads of leg and headroom both front and rear while the boot is also very good offering up to 535 litres of load space with the false floor in place or up to 627 litres with it dropped.
So what is under the bonnet?
In my opinion self charging hybrid is the best way to go right now and that is exactly what powers the new Rafale. With the new Rafale you never have to bother plugging in. It does all the work for you and in practice I found it to be able to run on EV power a surprising amount of the time even driving at higher road speeds in out of town traffic.
The turbocharged petrol 1.2 litre engines kicks in and out almost unnoticed and produces a healthy 200bhp. I found performance to be pretty good overall and on the fuel economy side it really impressed burning just 5.1 litres of petrol per 100km.
Will I enjoy driving it?
The Rafale is pleasant rather than fun to drive. Its easy to manoeuvre around town ( four wheel steering is standard on this model which really benefits the turning circle) and its reasonably quiet and refined on the motorway. That four wheel steering though can make the car feel somewhat nervous and twitchy in that sometimes it feels as though it reacts too sharply to steering inputs. I think overall some rivals offer a more involving driving experience.
Hugh’s Verdict.
The new Rafale E tech hybrid is an attractive all-round package and it certainly opens the door to the premium segment for Renault. Nevertheless its expensive and the acid test will be are buyers willing to part with upwards of €51,495 for the entry version and €60,420 for the esprit Alpine E tech hybrid tested here.
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