2015 Renault Lodgy review, road test

Unlike most of its rivals, the Lodgy is only available with a diesel heart — the popular 1.5-litre K9K. With a single camshaft for its eight valves, this four-cylinder motor may not be cutting-edge in terms of technology, but it is a very flexible unit. Like on the Duster, this motor is available on the Lodgy in two states of tune – 83bhp and 108.6bhp – with different turbochargers and injection systems responsible for the varied power output. Also, the ECUs used by the motor on the two variants are different. The more powerful version tested here, THP in Renault-terms, gets a variable-geometry turbo (as opposed to the fixed-geometry turbo on the 83bhp version) and also comes with an intercooler.

The 1.5-litre diesel motor pulls really well once revs rise beyond 2000rpm and carries on till 4000rpm, after which the power tails off. When the roads open up, the powerful mid-range means, as long as you are not in sixth gear, it’s easy to overtake cars at typical highway speeds. However, while the final cog doesn’t help you gather pace quickly, it’s a great cruising tool that keeps the engine spinning at just about 2,000rpm at 100kph – great for stretching your fuel tank.

The Lodgy sprints to 100kph from standstill in 11.5 seconds, making it, by far, the fastest MPV on sale here. That said, the motor’s initial turbo lag and the slightly heavy and snappy clutch make driving this Renault in stop-go traffic a little cumbersome. However, off-boost power isn’t too bad, and unless you really want to make quick progress, it won’t warrant many downshifts.

This engine is mated to Renault’s six-speed TL4 manual gearbox, and while it doesn’t require much effort, the gearshifts could have been more precise. To aid drivability, Renault has kept first, second and third gears on the shorter side, which allows you to keep the engine on song in typical city driving circumstances. And the fourth, fifth and sixth gears are tall, to aid relaxed highway cruising.