Seven seats on a sub-4m long car has been tried before. However, Renault’s Triber seeks to go one-up on the existing options with the promise of genuine room for seven and a flexible cabin. While you can read about the Renault’s looks, performance and more in our detailed Triber review here, we’ll be talking of the finer points of its interior in this piece. What’s good? What’s bad? Read on to know.
Is the Triber's interior spacious enough for seven passengers?
The Triber has a three-row seating configuration with forward-facing seats (as opposed to side-facing as on the Mahindra TUV300) on the third row. Triber drivers will like the elevated seating position and the good view out, but where the Renault distinguishes itself is in middle-row space and comfort. The seats split 60:40, can be slid back and forth, and the backrest angle is adjustable as well. There's fair legroom with the seats in their middle setting, but with the seats pushed all the way back, there's a surprising amount of room in the little Renault. That said, the middle row works best for two. Seating three large adults will be a bit of a squeeze. The middle-row seats are comfy and offer a good level of support at the back and thighs.
Access to the rearmost seats is actually quite good, as far as three-row vehicles go. And the big surprise is space. Sure, large adults might be tight on room at the very back, but three average-sized passengers can sit one behind the other in the Triber in reasonable comfort, and that's incredible when you consider the Renault is under four metres long. There's even good headroom at the back and what helps comfort are the adjustable rear headrests. You do sit with your knees up but, again, it's not as uncomfortable as other seven-seaters. Sadly, you only get static reel seatbelts at the back. What's also disconcerting is how close the rear windscreen is to your head.
What’s the Triber like on practicality?
The Triber cabin comes across as well-thought-out, with lots of storage for small items. There's a tray below the air-con controls, a dedicated bay for your phone at the base of the centre console and there are not one but two gloveboxes. The lower glovebox is cooled, and Renault has also included another cooled box between the front seats. It's large enough to hold a 1-litre bottle and a few cans. Each of the four doors also gets a large bottle holder.
With all seats in place, the Triber offers all of 84 litres of luggage room – enough for grocery bags and the like. But you can expand the luggage room, and how. You can flip the split rear seats forward and there's also an option to remove the rearmost seats. This involves a two-step process – you first need to detach the backrest and then remove the seat base; it's actually quite easy to do. With one of the last-row seats removed, luggage space increases to 320 litres, and with both seats done away with, you get a cargo van-rivalling 625 litres of luggage room. In case you were wondering, the spare tyre sits under the body.
What’s the Triber's interior like on quality?
Renault has taken a step up in quality with the Triber’s interior. Material quality is perhaps even better than what you get in the pricier Captur. There are no soft-touch materials but the plastics have a hard-wearing look to them. The thick bar of faux metal on the smart dash adds a look of robustness and the dual-tone theme is upmarket too. Even things like the multi-fabric material on the seats, the small bezel around the starter button and the neat steering wheel, add to the impression.
What's the Triber's interior design like?
The Triber’s dashboard is neat and tidy, and there’s almost a hint of German-ness to the design. Not that you’d complain. What also helps the look of things is the large 8.0-inch touchscreen, and the part-digital instrumentation. The large MID reads out speed while the pizza slice-like tacho that lights up with the revs is interesting in its own way.
Renault has also cleverly tucked the middle row’s AC vents in the B-pillars, while the third-row vents come mounted on the roof.
What features does the Triber get?
The base Renault Triber RxE gets dual airbags and ABS, but few frills aside from front power windows. The RxL trim adds in steering adjust, an audio system and, importantly, air-con vents for the second and third rows. RxT trim versions see the inclusion of powered mirror adjust, rear power windows and an 8.0-inch touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. You get the most kit on fully-loaded Triber RxZs, including keyless entry and push-button start. However, the reason to consider the RxZ is for the added safety of the rear wiper, defogger, reverse camera and side airbags.