It’s been a busy year for Renault as the company has largely revamped its crossover lineup, the latest of which is the new model. Renault Symbioz.
It was unclear whether Symbioz would make the trip Down Under when the spokesperson spoke Car expert The local arm will “look at all right-hand drive products for our market but there is nothing concrete to confirm at this stage”.
Measuring 4413mm long, 1797mm wide, 1575mm high and with a wheelbase of 2638mm, the Symbioz sits in the middle at 4.23m arrest and Austral 4.51m, as well as 4.57m Arkana crossover coupe.
With the rear seats pushed all the way back, the Symbioz’s trunk is said to be able to hold 434L worth of furniture according to VDA standards. This figure can increase to 548L when the rear seats slide forward and 1582L when the rear seats fold down.
Externally, Symbioz carries Renault’s latest design language with sharper lines and details. The front has a closed upper grille with an embossed pattern. There’s a pair of slim headlights emphasized by S-shaped driving lights.
The Symbioz rides on a stretched version of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s CMF-B architecture that underpins the Clio and Captur.
When launched in Europe, Symbioz’s only drive system is the E-Tech hybrid system including a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder gasoline engine with a capacity of 69kW, a 36kW traction motor, and an electric starter generator. 18kW high voltage and 1.2kWh battery pack.
These units work together via a “multi-mode clutchless dogbox” with four gears for the gasoline engine and two gears for the main electric motor, the entire system has a total power output of 107kW. Fuel economy is said to be quite modest at 4.6L/100km when using the WLTP standard.
Standard on all models is a 10.4-inch portrait touchscreen running the OpenR infotainment setup. Based on the Android Automotive 12 operating system, the touchscreen features wired and wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity.
In front of the driver is a 10.3-inch clock display screen. Available features include ambient lighting with 48 user-selectable colors, a nine-speaker Harmon Kardon sound system, and an electronically dimmable glass roof.
A choice of 18-inch wheel designs is available, while the top-spec sporty Espirit Alpine comes with 19-inch rims.
Safety suite includes front and rear automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go function, surround-view camera system and identification traffic signs.
Production of the Symbioz will take place at Renault’s plant in Valladolid, about 200km northwest of Madrid.
