The Motoring Industry has a very cool trend, in that they loan a car to a journalist over the holidays, and in return, the review of the car is written. This year end I needed a mid-size SUV, and the manufacturer or distributor that came through for me, offered a Renault Koleos. This pleased me as my own vehicle is a Nissan X-Trail, which shares a platform with the Koleos. So it was a familiar experience.

Looks.

The Koleos is a good looking car, it came in a blue colour which really accented it’s looks and popped in the daylight. Loved the C-shaped daytime running lights that run just below the LED headlamps. Of course it has the distinctive Renault diamond grille as well. The SUV looks big, actually long, and as it does not offer a 7-seat option like it’s counterpart, the X-Trail, it has loads of space inside.

The rear lights also create a unique pattern, to give the car more width, not that it needs it, it is wide, and seats three passengers in the rear comfortably. The rails on the roof create an attractive accent as well. We received many admiring glances on our drives around the beautiful Cape, and especially on Chapmans Peak, where the deep blue of the ocean complimented the blue colour of the Koleos, to make amazing pics.

Cabin.

The cabin is spacious, and it has comfortable leather seats, which are fully adjustable. Many storage compartments helped with the normal holiday paraphernalia, such as water and the like. We had quite a bit of luggage, for three people staying two weeks in Cape Town, so three suitcases and bags, were swallowed up in the 464 L of boot space.

We never needed a fold-down option, which when the rear seats are folded down, take the space to an almost ridiculous level. The dash area is attractive, and the LED ambient lighting function was great. It has all the buttons close to hand on the steering wheel, but I did not find the cruise control function, in the time that we were there. Connectivity was good, with Android and AppleCarPlay functionality. The build quality felt premium, and there was very little noise. It was great for the beach, and we loaded all our kit into it.

Engine.

The Koleos has only one engine derivative, which might be a drawback. It is the 2.5 L 4-cylinder engine, mated with a CVT auto engine. These can ‘’hunt’for the optimal gear on occasions, and in Cape Town with the mountainous terrain, it did occur sometimes. Luckily we were not in a hurry so it did not become whining at any time. Consumption can also be an issue, but with our holiday mode kicked in, we achieved a 9.5L/100km , so not too bad for mixed driving.

If you want the car to accelerate, you can kick into manual, and then it has plenty of power. It has 126kw on tap, so more than adequate. The drive we had was smooth and quiet, and the handling, especially on the challenging Chapmans Peak pass, and Franch Hoek pass, was very good.

The ground clearance of 210mm gives you the option of going onto gravel roads quite easily, and helped us to reach a difficult area where our B & B was in Noordhoek. The Koleos has a 5-star Euro Ncap rating so it is a safe vehicle. We felt comfortable on all the narrow and steep roads we navigated, near Slangkop lighthouse and Misty Cliffs.

The Koleos was the perfect holiday car, and served all our needs, it was a lovely car to look at, and also to drive in, and we did a lot of that in Cape Town. It costs R534 900 approx for the top derivative, and comes with a 5-year/150 000 warranty & 5-year/90 000 service plan.