A (slightly) different path

We have now entered our second month with the Renault Kwid RXT (O) 1.0 Easy-R AMT in the CarWale long term garage. We introduced you to the car when it came into the garage and then our first report looked at how the Kwid performed within the confines of the city. Then there was a promise of some highway performance but that’s for next month and this time around we are looking at interiors and practicality.

The inside job

Okay, let us be honest and state the obvious, the Kwid is not a large car. It might look large on the outside thanks to the SUV styling, but on the inside, the Kwid’s compact car origins are quite evident. It is, however, larger than its closest rival- the Alto K10, but not by much.

The facts- There’s two cup holders for the front door pockets, two in the centre console and one for the rear occupants. There are dual glove boxes as well as a shelf between the two. The boot, at 300-litres, is acceptable for this part of the market and as you can see in the pictures, it is capable of swallowing a medium sized suitcase and two bags. The dual tone upholstery is a welcome touch among the large slabs of grey plastic and rings of chrome and it does add some colour to the overall appearance.

The highlight of the dashboard is, of course, the touchscreen infotainment display. We assessed in detail, every bit of this system, when we did our comparison of the top infotainment systems offered in cars under Rs 10 lakhs and you can read about that here.

In terms of space, you can see, my knee hits the gear dial which is the case if I put the seat in my normal driving position. In turn, this reduces legroom for the rear occupant. But then again, I am a large person and have a tendency to make the Kwid look a tad bit tiny when I step out of it.

What you lose in personal space, you gain in ease of reach. Everything is at arm’s length (mine at least) including the mirrors which don’t have electric adjustment even on this top-of-the-line model. Speaking of non-adjustable, this top model doesn’t have day-night adjustment for the IRVM, which is odd considering that this is now a common feature across the table.

KMPL

We have been averaging between 11.5 to 13kmpl in mixed conditions with both heavy city driving as well as some highway stretches.

Photos: Kaustubh Gandhi

Renault Kwid RXT (O) 1.0 Easy- R AMT Long Term Review: Introduction

Renault Kwid RXT (O) 1.0 Easy- R AMT Long Term Review: Report 2