The popular Renault Captur range has been expanded with the addition of a diesel-powered derivative. We tried out the newcomer in Johannesburg.

Renault's stylish little Captur hasmade a significant mark on the localcompact crossover market and, as it stands, sits behind the Ford Ecosport on the sales charts. On average, theCaptur tallies up a few hundred sales each month and since its launch, almost 5 000 vehicles have found homes in South Africa. It has achieved this with a fairly limited engine line-up, consisting of only small-capacity turbopetrols.Until now, that is. Enter the turbodiesel derivative.

The new engine

The new engine is not exactly "new" in terms of technology, as it does duty in a variety of Renault models already.It's called the K9k engine, which is a 1.5-litre dCi turbocharged motor that offers outputs of 66 kW and 220 Nm. This puts it between the 66 kW 0.9-litre petrol and the 88 kW EDC Captur flagship in terms of power. This engine's real strength is economy and Renault SA cheekily compared its claims to those of the hybrid Toyota Prius. A figure of 3.6 L/100 km is the claim, with emissions of 95 g/km. The Toyota Prius boasts claimed figures of 3.7 L/100 km and 87 g/km, so thisCaptur indeed seems to be a seriously efficient vehicle, on paper at least.

This engine is the same asfound in Renault's Duster as well as the Nissan NP200 small bakkie. It has also seen application in Renault's Mégane, Laguna and Scenic models. Nissan has used this engine in its Juke and Qashqai, while Mercedes-Benz selected this motor for its Citan commercial vehicle and the base-spec A180 hatchback. So… it's certainly been judged good enough for use by various brands and in numerous model types.

The Sunset theme in the Renault Captur. Note orange detailing on seats, steering wheel and info-tainment cluster

Driving the diesel Captur

This diesel Renault Captur features a five-speed manual transmission and power reaches the front wheels.It’s built on the Renault Clio platform but thesuspension tuning is different, as the target customers are likely to prefer a softer setup. However don’t interpret this as a bad thing as it offers reassuring solidity and ease of use. The diesel engine is not the most modern unit around and as a result can be a little rough at idle, but it pulls well and power delivery is smooth.

The engine has plenty of shove and it doesn’t need to be worked hard to extract the best performance from it. The manual gearbox is straight from the Renault parts bin, too,and has been used in many of its products. It boasts a light clutch action and while it only has five ratios, these feel correctly spaced out. We’d usually favour a sixth gear for open-road cruising which helps economy, but at national highway speeds the Captur diesel’s rev counter sits at around 2500 rpm only in fifth gear, so it hardly feels stressed.

This engine and gearbox combination works really well in the Renault Captur. We feel this is exactly what the Captur needed from the start and we look forward to putting it through our intensive real-world test routine. Even the claimed fuel consumption looks realistic, given that some journalists were returning similar figures on the launch test route. We drove briskly and returned 4.5 L/100 km on our drive – some way off claimed figures, but still an impressive achievement.

Limited Edition Sunset

To announce the arrival of the diesel engine in the Captur lineup, Renault South Africa has put together 100 limited edition versions called the Sunset. According to Renault, "orange is the new black" and this Sunset edition features Diamond Black and Sunset Orange exterior paintwork. The orange-and-black theme is carriedon into the cabin and there’s some orange detailing on the steering wheel as well as around the infotainment system. There’ll be just 100 Renault Captur Sunsets available, so if you want one, you'd better be quick.

The rest of the package is unchanged, with the Captur Sunset boasting the same enviable combination of stylish design, spaciousness and practicality as its siblings. For detail on this model's standard specification, click here.

Renault Captur Price in South Africa

Every Capturis sold with a 5-year/150 000 km mechanical warranty, a 3-year/45 000 km service plan and a 6-year anti-corrosion warranty. Services take place at 15 000 km/1-year intervals.

Renault Captur 1.5 dCi 66kW Turbo Dynamique Sunset R292 400

Renault Captur 1.5 dCi 66kW Turbo Dynamique (diesel) R289 900

Renault Captur 66kW Turbo Expression (petrol) R249 900

Renault Captur 66kW Turbo Dynamique (petrol) R264 900

Renault Captur 88kW Turbo Dynamique(petrol) R304 900

Search for a Renault Captur for sale here

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