Renault Kwid review, road test

The brand new ‘BR08’ engine in the Kwid was developed in-house at Chennai with inputs from Nissan and Renault’s global R&D centres in Japan. This all-aluminium, three-cylinder motor was built with a strict cost and weight target, employing a plastic oil sump, for example, but it still uses twin camshafts and a four-valve-per-cylinder configuration. The focus has been to balance out power and efficiency – it makes 53.2bhp at 5,678rpm, which isn’t much compared to class standards but in the lightweight body, the power-to-weight ratio is better than usual. However, it does exhibit the usual tantrums of a small-capacity, three-cylinder petrol engine. Start it up, and you can immediately feel the vibrations at idle, with the occasional hiccup, but dial in some revs and it fades away.

There’s ample torque too, 7.34kgm of it, which peaks out at 4,386rpm, but more than 80 per cent of that figure is available from as low as 1,200rpm. In our acceleration test, the Kwid managed to do the 0-100kph sprint in 16.93 seconds and hit a true top speed of 147kph. Performance then is just decent and on par with the competition.

While outright performance is acceptable, this engine isn’t very rev happy and neither does it deliver power in a linear manner, with quite a few flat spots and hiccups all through the rev range. You have to feed in some throttle to move it from a standstill smoothly, but then it gets going smartly enough. The power delivery in the mid-range is frustratingly flat, leaving you second-guessing what gear you need to be in. It does pick up a bit after the bland mid-range, but that’s not ideal in everyday driving. You feel the need to work the gears often in traffic, and on uphill starts, slipping the clutch is the only way to move smoothly ahead or else the engine will stall. This was clearly evident in our in-gear test as the gaps in power delivery reared its ugly head as the Kwid  just managed the 20-80kph run in 3rd gear in 17.13sec and 40-100 kph in 4th gear in 29.45sec. You also get a fair bit of engine noise and gearbox whine in the cabin as you pick up speed. A compact city car like this naturally does not feel at home on the highway, but at least the engine feels comfortable cruising at a constant engine speed. However, step on the gas for an overtake at three-digit speeds and it will feel understandably strained, and again, you will have to go down a gear or two.