Reviews of the Renault Captur

The Renault Captur is a crossover SUV that offers families a practical vehicle that's good in both urban and rural environments. With its unique looks, affordable price, and hybrid engines, it's easy to see why the Captur is a popular choice in the UK.

Rivals to the Captur include the Ford Puma, Skoda Kamiq, Volkswagen T-Cross, and Seat Arona.

Our Renault Captur review covers:

• Facelifted exterior in 2023 adding muscle to the exterior  
• Good interior featuring some premium materials
• 422-litre boot
• One petrol and two hybrid engines available
• Four trim levels: Evolution, Techno, R.S. Line, and E-Tech Engineered

Pros:

• Affordable
• Plenty of safety technology
• Nice interior

Cons:

• Rear space isn't great
• Infotainment system not as advanced as rivals
• Engines quite weak

The Captur is now in its second generation and has just received a facelift, giving it a significantly more refined exterior since we saw it first in 2013. Its exterior now features C-shaped LED headlights, a bold front grille, and larger alloy wheel options.

Moving inside, the Captur has enough practicality to accommodate a family, but that's probably its limit. Up front, there's plenty of room for passengers above six feet tall; however, in the back, they'll find their heads close to the roof and knees rubbing against the front seat. If you want more space, look towards the Skoda Kamiq or VW T-Cross.

Boot space comes in at 422 litres for the petrol Captur and 305 litres for the hybrid versions. Although this isn't as good as most of its rivals, the Captur comes standard with sliding rear seats, meaning you can increase boot space if you haven't got anyone sitting in the back.

In the cabin, the Captur has a good number of premium materials, which is a nice touch considering its affordable price. There are plenty of soft-touch plastics on the dashboard, more than you'll find in the Seat Arona or VW T-Cross. However, cheaper materials begin to appear as you move down, but this is expected.

Drivers get a seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system as standard that's landscape and mounted high up on the dashboard. It has a built-in sat-nav, Bluetooth, a DAB radio, and Android Auto/Apple CarPlay. Upgrade to the R.S. Line or E-Tech Engineered trims, and you get a larger 9.3-inch screen which shows more information.

You also get 4.2-inch digital drivers display behind the steering wheel as standard. From the Techno trim and up, the screen gets upgraded to seven inches, and from R.S. Line, it's ten inches. 

Four trim levels are available: Evolution, Techno, R.S. Line, and E-Tech Engineered.

Evolution starts the line-up with 17-inch alloy wheels, full LED headlights, tinted rear windows, automatic air conditioning, a synthetic leather steering wheel, traffic sign recognition, cruise control and speed limiter, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, and rear parking sensors.

Techno adds to this with 18-inch alloy wheels, longitudinal roof bars, a front passenger height adjustable seat, ambient lighting, three driving modes, a seven-inch digital driver display, and front and rear parking sensors with a rear-view camera.

R.S. Line has 18-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, R.S. exterior styling, a leather steering wheel with red stitching, a 9.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system, and a 10-inch digital driver display. 

E-Tech Engineered has 18-inch diamond cut wheels with gold inserts, an E-Tech engineered front bumper with gold F1 blade, leather-suede upholstery with gold lines and stitching, gold inserts on air vents, and a leather steering wheel with a gold E-Tech badge. 

Three engines are available for the Captur. The entry-level option is a 1.0-litre petrol engine with 89bhp, or you can upgrade to the mild-hybrid E-Tech Hybrid 145 or the plug-in hybrid E-Tech 160.

The entry-level 1.0-litre petrol is paired with a six-speed manual gearbox. It comes with a top speed of 104mph, achieves 0-62mph in 14 seconds, and returns a good fuel economy of 48.7mpg. There's no denying it's a pretty lacklustre unit and falls short of the entry-level engines found in the Skoda Kamiq or Seat Arona.

The hybrid 145 is best if you want more performance and don't want a plug-in. It's best suited to cruising around town at low speeds but is punchy enough to propel you from 0-62mph in 10.6 seconds with a top speed of 106mph.

The range-topper is the plug-in hybrid E-Tech 160. It comes with 158bhp, achieves 0-62mph in 8.6 seconds, and has an all-electric range of around 30 miles. It can charge fully in three hours using a 7kW home charger, however, it doesn't feature any fast charging technology. 

The Captur returns solid performance on the road, but it's nothing special. Its steering is precise around town but doesn't give much reassurance at faster speeds, making it fall short of the Ford Puma. If you go for the hybrid engine, the car feels heavy and less agile than the standard engine, meaning its manoeuvrability is a bit trickier.

As well as tougher handling, the hybrid engines add extra weight that does the suspension and ride comfort no good. You can feel potholes and bumps in the road; however, it's worth noting that ride quality does improve as you get up to motorway speeds.

Prices for the new Renault Captur start from £21,300.00 OTR* or to lease from £224.10 per month.

Looking to get behind the wheel of the Renault Captur? Nationwide Vehicle Contracts is one of the UK's largest car leasing brokers and offers a range of leasing deals to suit your every need.

Leasing may be cheaper than an outright purchase, thanks to a low initial deposit and fixed monthly rentals.

*' On the road' price correct at time of publication and includes one year's road fund license, DVLA first registration fee and number plate fee. Prices are subject to change; always check with your nearest retailer.