2016 Renault Kwid 1.0 review, road test

The ‘head-nod’, typical of an AMT, is pretty mild and, once on the move, the Kwid AMT’s shifts are less abrupt. The closely stacked ratios also help in keeping the pause between shifts to a minimum, but, unlike other AMTs, you can hear the gear shifts and that doesn’t speak well of the overall sound insulation and refinement which is still an issue.

Another trouble with the AMT is the lack of a creep function, which will be missed when crawling in bumper-to-bumper traffic, inching into a tight parking spot or starting off on an incline with no rollback.

It’s an omission we feel Renault will have to fix in the future.

What’s commendable is the 1.0-litre engine’s frugal nature. In our tests, the 1.0L manual returned 15.1kpl for the city and 22.5 on the highway compared to the 800cc’s 15.3kpl and 21.5kpl. The 1.0L AMT gave us 14.9kpl in the city and an identical 22.5kpl on the highway. Impressive as these figures may be, they can’t compensate for the Kwid’s range, limited by the small 28-litre fuel tank.

Both the 1.0 manual and automatic are available only in the top RXT trim and, save for the grey mirrors and a ‘1.0’ decal on the doors, they look identical to the 800cc RXT variant. Up front, there’s a large Renault badge on the grille which is flanked by ‘C’-themed headlamps, and the bumper below carries inset fog lamps. The squared-out wheel arches are prominent on the sides and feature the turn indicators which are integrated into the front cladding. As mentioned earlier, the sides of the 1.0-litre engine cars gets a decal-covered door trim, but this may seem too large to some. The rear window, however, gets a nice, discreet chrome ‘RXT’ badge at the lower edge. At the rear, black dominates the bumper and there’s an integrated rear spoiler at the top. Overall, there isn’t a whole lot that’s different, with all getting the high ground clearance of 180mm.

The cabins too are identical with respect to styling and equipment, so expect to find similar bits in the interior like the digital speedo unit and, of course, the sought-after 7.0-inch touchscreen. The unit also has a navigation system, but given the budget cost, it does not get a rear-view camera, unlike Renault’s larger cars where it does duty. The steering wheel stands out, thanks to its quality and chunky feel.

In terms of space, the Kwid can seat four average-sized adults very comfortably. The front seats, however, don’t offer enough side bolstering and are fairly flat. The boot is still impressive with its substantial 300 litres of storage. Storage spaces around the cabin are ample, with two gloveboxes and a large open storage between them. In terms of safety features, the Kwid 1.0 gets only a driver airbag and no ABS.