Renault Lodgy review, test drive

Renault is all set to enter the Indian MPV market with the new Lodgy in April. But how capable is this new people mover?

Published on Mar 10, 2015 11:16:00 AM

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On to the all-important matter of space. You can have the second row as either a bench or two individual captain seats, and though these chairs are comfy, they’re not as supportive as the ones in the front; what there's plenty of, is room. Access to the last row comes by flipping down and tumbling forward the second row, but these can’t be slid back and forth.The good news is that there's loads of headroom and sufficient knee room in the last row. It’s wide enough for two adults to sit comfortably, but the high floor results in a knees-up seating position. You could also easily fit three kids in here, given that the headrests are placed towards the edges of the seat and that there’s an extra seat belt in the middle.

For your storage needs, there are a number of ways to configure the seats. With all seats in place, there's only about 210 litres, but it’s more or less on par for the segment. The third row backrests split and fold down for a little more room, or for more still, you can flip the whole row forward. And if luggage is a bigger priority than passengers, the third row can be detached and removed altogether.

The Lodgy will be the 12th model in India to be powered by the Renault K9K 1.5 diesel;there's no petrol on offer for now. The good news is that, like the Duster, the Lodgy will get both the standard 84bhp diesel and the more powerful 108.5bhp version (with a six-speed gearbox). It feels quick too, and though we didn’t get a chance to stretch its legs on the highway, the Lodgy moved forward with more than sufficient gusto. This latest version of the K9K gets the latest ‘T4’ architecture, which is essentially an electronics upgrade to meet the latest European regulatory requirements. The upshot is a smoother power delivery evident in the Lodgy.