More than promised
Renault Rafale: the heartbeat of a speedy Frenchman
"Watch how it greets you with a glowing heartbeat in the Alpine seats," the friendly Renault man tells me when I pick up the Rafale. Even though I initially associated it with flickering neon lights, the speedy Frenchman with the sloping rear end quickly captivates me.
It achieves this with a sensible design, an emotional but not aggressive bodywork, which comes across particularly well in colors like this decir red, and its absolutely unobtrusive handling. It should also be mentioned that this is the top-of-the-range Esprit Alpine trim (with a few extras added), which also includes the pulsating A on the front seat backrests.
Viewed soberly, the Rafale is not much more than a Renault Espace with a coupé rear end, but that does not do it justice in all its elegance. And the amazing thing is: The Rafale is hardly less practical than its hatchback brother with the misleading name (as is well known, Renault once called vans, not SUVs, Espace); despite the sloping roofline (height: 1.61 m), there is not even a lack of headroom in the rear seats. And the space on offer is opulent, although the wheelbase is rather short in relation to the length. There are no seven seats for the Rafale - but the third row of seats is not much more than a fig leaf in the Espace either.
A few dimensions for classification
At 4.71 meters, the Rafale lies between the slightly shorter Peugeot 408 and the slightly longer BMW X4. The wheelbase of 2.74 m undercuts the Peugeot by five centimeters and the BMW by as much as twelve centimeters. However, Renault does not dare to officially attack the Munich model anyway; they have their sights set on the significantly smaller (but closer in price) X2. Or even the VW Tiguan, for whatever reason.
A few dimensions for use
The trunk holds 627 liters, 92 of which are under the floor, leaving 510 liters that can actually be used. If you fold down the rear seat backrests (fiddly with a loop on top), you get a step and a total of 1914 liters behind a rather high loading sill. You won't find an additional load floor that would provide a flat surface.
Life is good in the Rafale
The front seats have a feel-good atmosphere, the Alcantara-Alpine armchairs are a great place to sit, the rest is familiar from the Espace. Huge touchscreen with Google operating system, inclined towards the driver, easy to learn. For the first time at Renault, there is also a real head-up display.
The sliding lid on the center console with the massive handle as a hand rest is somewhat irritating because the compartments are never fully open or closed and the whole design is rather impractical in everyday use. Second point of criticism: the large number of steering column levers, three on the right-hand side alone. Drive selector switch, windshield wiper and sound satellite, a bit too much of a good thing, operating errors are not uncommon.
Renault's handling of assistance systems is absolutely exemplary, especially the annoying mandatory speed limit warning and active lane departure warning systems. Although they don't work any better at Renault than at others, they are easy to deactivate. To do this, simply press a button on the left-hand side of the dashboard twice and you're done. All you have to do first (which is very easy) is set up a preset with all the desired assistance settings.
Even the basic version includes most of the safety features (the rest with Esprit Alpine), dual-zone automatic air conditioning, reversing camera and Google navigation.
Relaxed drive
The criticism of earlier versions has been well received, Renault has now developed the full hybrid drive so well that it is no longer a nuisance at practically any time. It accelerates well, doesn't take too much time when overtaking and stays so pleasantly in the background that I have a more negative feeling towards the three-cylinder combustion engine than anywhere else. The drive is really well suited to this car - if you want to drive in a relaxed manner.
A 1.2-liter petrol engine with 131 hp and a 69 hp electric motor share the propulsive power and together reach a maximum of 200 hp. There is no conventional gearbox, but instead two gears for the electric motor and four for the combustion engine. An additional starter generator (18 kW/25 hp) connects a total of 15 driving modes. Renault calls this a multi-mode gearbox. It reaches 100 km/h in just under nine seconds and stops at 180 km/h. The extent to which the system recuperates can be adjusted via shift paddles.
Fuel consumption has settled at 6.7 liters per 100 kilometers (WLTP: 5.0 l/100 km), which means a range of over 850 kilometers.
In future, the Rafale will also be available as a 300 hp plug-in hybrid.
4control, but no all-wheel drive
Looking at the B-pillar of the Rafale, you might think it is all-wheel drive. However, 4control refers to the all-wheel steering, which steers up to 5 degrees on the rear axle. How aggressively it does this can be set via the driving modes or directly on a 13-stage scale. It is not advisable to go beyond medium values, as the steering feel becomes increasingly unnatural and synthetic. The turning circle with 4control is 10.40 meters, without 11.60 meters.
The steering is generally very direct, which gives an agile impression, but lacks feel. In terms of relaxation, this is perhaps the only point where the Rafale lets up a little. Okay, the suspension is also rather firm. However, its parents tend to talk about dynamics and sportiness anyway, so this is understandable. And despite a tare weight of 1721 kg according to the registration certificate, the test car is anything but cumbersome.
The prices
The Rafale E-Tech Full Hybrid 200 Techno starts at 44,760 euros, while the Esprit Alpine is listed at 48,760 euros. With extras, the test car comes to a good 56,000 euros.
Driving citation
Quite a lot of money for a Renault that is aimed at the VW Tiguan. Strictly speaking, however, it is a class above and is therefore not as expensive as it seems at first glance. It offers more than it promises. You can't say that about every car. And the fact that its heart beats for the driver makes it even more charming.
Why
Good looks, no aggressive appearance, despite its coupé-SUV shape
Plenty of space
Mature full hybrid
Why not?
Somewhat synthetic driving feel
Or perhaps ...
... Renault Espace, Peugeot 408 or 3008
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