Renault Lodgy Review

Renault India rolled out its most awaiting Multi Purpose Vehicle known as Lodgy in Indian automobile market with an attractive price range of Rs.8,19,000 – Rs.11,79,000. The new car would compete against similar other vehicles including Honda Mobilio, Maruti Ertiga, Mahindra Xylo and Toyota Innova. The word “Lodgy” is derived from the English word “Lodge” which indicates that it can accommodate a family and their luggages comfortably. Like other cars, Renault offers two years of basic warranty and extended warranty for the vehicle along with 24/7 roadside assistance for immobilizations and accidents.

Renault Lodgy Variants

The Renault Lodgy is available only in diesel variant and there is no petrol variant for this vehicle. The diesel variants of the vehicle are displayed below along with its prices.

1) Renault Lodgy 85 PS STD – Rs.8,19,000
2) Renault Lodgy 85 PS RxE – Rs.8,99,000
3) Renault Lodgy 85 PS RxL – Rs.9,59,000
4) Renault Lodgy 110 PS RxL – Rs.10,09,000
5) Renault Lodgy 85 PS RxZ – Rs.10,89,000
6) Renault Lodgy 110 PS RxZ 8 STR – Rs.11,49,000
7) Renault Lodgy 110 PS RxZ 7 STR – Rs.11,79,000

Renault Lodgy Colors

The colors available for the Renault Lodgy are listed below.

1) Indigo Breeze
2) Pearl White
3) Royal Orchid
4) Absolute Steel
5) Planet Grey
6) Moonlight Silver

Design and Style

Exteriors

The new Lodgy looks very decent, trendy and also has some unique exterior features. Compared to its similar other cars, it sports a distinct design radiator grille decorated with chrome treatments enhancing the style of the car. Further it is well equipped with the company’s logo in the center offering a majestic appearance. The small headlight cluster at the front is really useful while riding at night time and it has bright fog lamps with chrome wrappings which looks awesome. At the bottom of the front, it has air intake space and the bumper comes with an attractive dual tone color combination along with black strips. In order to give a finishing touch to the front face, it has a pretty look bonnet at the top. Moving to the side profile, Lodgy offers a boxy structure with its impressive features such as ski racks and a set of stylish alloy wheels. All standard features are offered to the high end variants of the Lodgy where as its mid and base variants have steel rims. It also gets some conventional features including black B including C pillars, body colored ORVMs and door handles. Renault Lodgy is embedded with a turn blinkers on top of its fenders for better safety and good side moldings. The tail is decorated with an arrow shaped taillight cluster and large tailgate with a chrome plated strip featuring “Lodgy” letters affixed on it. In addition to all, the rear comes with a pair of reflector and a third brake light on the top of the rear windscreen for better safety.

Exterior Measurements

The Renault Lodgy has been designed with excellent external measurements in terms of its length, width and height which enhance the shape of the vehicle.

1) Length – 4498mm
2) Width – 1751mm
3) Height – 1697mm
4) Ground Clearance – 174mm
5) Wheelbase – 2810mm

All these measurements are considerably good for an Multi Purpose Vehicle.

Interiors

The interiors of the Renault Lodgy are really attractive with spacious cabin for both family and their luggages. Nearly seven to eight members can accommodate the car with much comfort and the driver’s seat has height adjustment facility which is quite good. It also gets captain seats in its second row along with armrests for better support. The high end variant of the car comes with fabric upholstery and leather inserts of dual tone color schemes offering trendy appearance to the whole interiors. Moving to its dashboard features, the vehicle has a decent instrument cluster with two analogue meters, a digital display with some notification lamps. It consists of some utility features such as storage box, air vents and few control switches. Renault Lodgy is easy to handle with a conventional three spoke steering wheel decorated with few metallic accents along with the manufacturer’s badge. Some of the utility features include drink holders, storage unit, floor carpets, power sockets are offered with the vehicle for the top end variants. The base variant of the vehicle is provided with standard features such as power steering, air conditioning system, cup holders where as the mid range variants has ORVMs, on board trip computer, electro hydraulic power steering, power windows with anti-pinch function etc. Apart from other features, the company has offered an advanced cruise control system along with speed limiter functions for easy driving.

Interior Measurements

1) Seating Capacity – 7-8 members
2) Boot Capacity – 207 litres
3) Extended Boot Capacity – 589 litres by folding rear seat and 1861 litres by folding second row seats.

Renault Lodgy Engine Specification

The Renault Lodgy is packed with a better performance diesel engine of 1.5 litre which is quite similar to Duster SUV and some other cars. It consists of four cylinder with sixteen valves based on a dual overhead camshaft valve producing the displacement very close to 1461cc. This engine delivers the maximum power of 108.45bhp at 4000rpm and maximum torque of 245Nm at 1750rpm mated to the six speed manual transmission. Likewise, the Renault Lodgy engine also comes in the form of 85PS which churns out the maximum power of 83.3bhp at 3750rpm along with maximum torque of 200Nm at 1900rpm mated to the five speed manual gearbox.

Acceleration and Pick Up

Renault Lodgy is believed to offer good acceleration and pick up in which the 110PS version could provide maximum speed of 170kmph and the 85PS version gives the top speed of 160kmph. On the other hand, the 110PS version of the vehicle can accelerate from 0-100kmph in just 13 seconds while the 85PS version of the car can reach 100kmph in just 15 seconds.

Fuel Efficiency

Since Renault Lodgy is well equipped with an advanced common rail fuel injection system, it ensures excellent fuel efficiency and power. The 85PS version of the Lodgy gives the top mileage of 21.04kmpl and 110PS version of the car offers the maximum mileage of 19.98kmpl which is really impressive.

Braking and Handling

Talking about the braking mechanism of the car, it is incorporated with ventilated discs at front and drum at rear for efficient braking. Additionally, the company has provided an advanced braking technology of Anti Lock Braking System with EBD for better performance. Likewise, the suspension is also good with Mcpherson Strut at the front and torsion beam at the rear for easy handling of the car. Apart from some other features, it also has anti roll bar for enhancing the stability of the vehicle. The Lodgy is blessed with 15 inch alloy wheels with tubeless radial tyres of size 185/65 R15 for top end variants where as the base and mid range variants are provided with 15 inch steel rims featuring full wheel covers. It has lot of safety features which includes ABS with EBD, ELR seatbelts, door ajar warning, side impact protection beams, rear wiper, parking sensors, seatbelt reminder, auto door lock and unlock, dual airbags, rear defogger etc. All these features altogether safeguard the vehicle from theft or any unauthorized access and offers better safety and security.

Verdict

The Renault Lodgy MPV is really a good choice for its stylish exterior appearance, spacious cabin, safety features as well as price worthy. But it should improve some areas such as ground clearance, fuel efficiency, interior design and automatic transmission.