Renault Kwid review, road test

The Kwid’s suspension setup is MacPherson struts at the front, and a torsion beam with coil springs at the rear. It is well tuned for Indian roads and Renault, as with most of its cars on sale here, has achieved class-leading ride quality. At low speeds, it doesn’t feel edgy or firm, and increase the pace and you won’t get tossed around over a bad patch of road, which is the norm in cars of this segment. It takes on bad roads with aplomb, crashing only when going over sharper undulations. Renault’s decision to use 80-profile tyres also contribute to this good ride. What’s impressive is that the Kwid feels quite stable even as the speeds rise and imparts surprising amounts

of confidence.

Handling, though, is a disappointment. Make no mistake, the well-configured suspension means body roll, though present, is surprisingly unobtrusive for such a high-riding car, and the level of grip is quite good despite the weedy 155/80 R13 tyres. The limiting factor here is the steering, which robs the handling experience of any joy. You see, the base variants of the Kwid don’t get power-assistance, and so, the steering rack for all cars is tuned to be light and easy to twirl. When power steering is added on top trims, the compounded result is a super-light but lifeless steering that offers almost no feedback. While that’s good for city use and parking, on the highway, this extra lightness makes it feel rather disconcerting, and it suffers heavily from unwillingness to return to centre freely. But perhaps not all those who buy a Kwid would be eager to drive it fast on mountain roads. The Kwid is mainly a city car, and it’s quite well cut out for the urban grind.