The new Renault Fluence – A short drive

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It’s not often that automotive journalists gets surprised when a new car gets launched. More often than not, they’re “in the know”, privy to snippets of insider information through their contacts with the main dealers or principal offices. But every once in a while, the distributors still manages to throw a curved ball at them. That’s what happened with the recently launched Renault Fluence. A C-segment sedan offering a decent size, kit and surprisingly a lower selling price than most other Japanese rival in the same category. Yet the most amazing thing about the offering is the after sales support and warranty; something unheard of in the segment. The Fluence is placed in a position that’s truly value for money.

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The only question is, does it drive as well as it’s price offering?

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I was nearby a Renault showroom and had some time to burn so I decided to take one out for a brief test drive. Oh, in case you’re wondering, this article will be a little different as it’s brief and bereft of any pictures since this isn’t a regular media unit review and the rest drive was only about 10 minutes long. But it was sufficient for me to discover a number of things about it.

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Design

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Let’s be completely honest here. The Fluence isn’t going to be winning any design awards. It looks simple and honest in a way it doesn’t pretend to be more than what it is; an urban car that takes you from Point A to Point B. Despite what they say in the catalogs, I don’t find the Fluence “dynamic” or “sturdy”. I’ll give it that its clean front lines is sleek and smart but that’s about as far as I’ll go in calling it sophisticated in design. It has as much road presence as grass by the side of the road and would just as quickly disappear from your mind the moment you stop focusing on it. You can’t call it ugly, you can’t exactly call it pretty. It’s just plain …. like a bowl of white rice. And an old fart like me finds it quite appealing. Sleeper cars like these don’t attract turbo Kancils to try to race with it.

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It measures 4,618mm in length, 1,813mm in width adn 1,485mm in height which puts it about the same length and height as a VW Jetta and similar width to a Peugeot 408. The problem with the Fluence is the cabin space; Despite having a wheelbase of 2,702mm which puts it a nose hair longer than a Nissan Sylphy, rear legroom isn’t any better than my old Skoda 2.0 FSI. The sloping rear roof which adds a touch of coupe-like flavor compromises rear headroom significantly. The good thing about this is you can now claim you drive a car that shares at least one similar characteristic with the Mercedes CLA when ferrying tall passengers at the back.

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The back is probably the only area that stirs any form of excitement, if could call it that. The way the rear tail lamp pulls to the side and extends to the middle of the boot not only makes the rear appear sharper and wider, it compliments the overall theme of the sleek, straight lines of the car. No complaints here.

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Performance

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It’s European styling paired with Japanese reliability. The Fluence gets the same 2.0litre X-tronic engine as the previous Nissan Sylphy but tuned to offer 12hp more than the donor at 143hp @ 6,000rpm and 194Nm of torque @ 3,700rpm (up 3Nm). The same Sylphy CVT gearbox is paired to the engine and the claimed fuel consumption is rated at 7.7litres/100km in a combined driving cycle.

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When moving from stationary, you’ll find there is good power in the initial pick-up. At least until 40kph where power tapers off and you’ll be rewarded with the usual CVT rubber band. The good news is that you’ll feel a second surge of power once the car passes the 80kph mark and pulls reasonably well (for a CVT equipped vehicle) till beyond speed limits. Still, it’s not a fast car since 0-100kph needs 10.1 seconds to complete and will only go as fast as 195kph on a highway.

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Ride and Handling

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Overall, the Fluence handles competently with McPherson struts with lower wishbone in the front suspension and torsion beam axle for the rear. The variable electric power steering isn’t the heftiest around and feels similar to most Japanese makes, befitting it’s purpose as a modern urban vehicle. What’s particularly likable about it is its response which is sharper, more accurate than its Asian competitors and lane changes are done quickly without any terrifying drama. At higher cornering speeds, you’d lose sense of  the front tire’s traction limit, before understeer sets in and the ESP cutting power as it attempts to right the car to its proper course.

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The suspension is comfort orientated but as the test track involved roads with few imperfections, the true measure of the comfort level cannot be conclusively determined. In other words, there was insufficient time nor proper environment to draw a benchmark on how it fares against the competition in this area. The same is to be said about the noise level; the short course indicated good promise but only by driving it longer and further can we truly determine how much better it is. The only thing that can be said is at that particular test track, it was well acceptable.

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Cabin Convenience

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The best thing about the Fluence is that it has keyless entry and engine Push Start which is invaluable in today’s parking environment. What’s not common for a keyless entry system is that it auto locks when the remote key card is away from the car. Once inside, a dark with silver inserts cabin greet you and it’s rather dreary as it is outside. The one of the first things you’d notice when stepping in is how the meters are angled in a manner that reminds you of a truck more than a sedan. It does not, however impede the read out of what’s on display there and the digital speed meeter does make one recall Citroens which of course costs more. The steering wheel is kept simple and fuss-free with  only speed limiter and cruise control buttons on it and the audio controls are found on an additional stalk below the right wiper stalk.

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The Fluence is the kind of car that gives you almost ever modern technology you’d ever want in a city car. You get a 7″ touch screen with build in GPS, USB and AUX-in jack, Bluetooth with telephony and audio streaming, 3D surround sound by Arkamys, 6 speaker system, dual-zone climate control, reverse camera with dynamic parking lines, projector headlamps with auto headlight and auto wipers as well as leather seats all round (which is very soft and comfy, I must add). It’s got the largest boot in the segment (strange that they’re not blowing their trumpets for claiming best in class boot size), trumping the VW Jetta and new Sylphy with 530litres of space (the other 2 has 510litres) and despite that, it still has space for a full sized spare tire.

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Safety

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And don’t get me started on the safety sheet – because it’s as complete as it can be for a car at this price point:-

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• ABS
• EBA
• Driver and passenger airbags
• Front and rear head level curtain airbags
• Side airbags (total 6 airbags)
• ASR
• ESP
• Rear view camera

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Plus a few other basic safety features.

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Specifications

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Exterior

• Projection type headlamps with Follow-me-home function, automatic
• Front fog lamps
• Central rear stop light with LED located on rear parcal shelf
• Electrically operated and foldable side mirrors
• 17″ 5 twin spoke alloy wheels, 205/55 R17

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Ownership and Maintenance

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Coming in at an estimated RM115,000, the Fluence comes with 5 years warranty with 2 years free maintenance (or 40,000km whichever comes first). What’s remarkable is TC Euro Cars managed to up the ante in the after sales department by offering 1 year warranty on any Renault genuine parts that’s being used on your car, complimentary pick up service where your car can be picked up from your office or home, sent for service and returned to you all nice and dandy and Mobility Solution where if the car needs to spend more than 48 hours in a service centre due to lack of parts, a complimentary vehicle will be provided to you. Yes, no more excuses of not being able to meet clients if you drive a Renault. And if you’re considering purchasing the Fluence as part of a sales fleet to reward your managers, you’d be happy to note there is no running cost as 3 additional free maintenance is provided so long as you sign the dotted line and pay the deposit before the end of June 2014.

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It’s strongest competitor would be the Ford Focus Titanium sedan which is just RM1k dearer, has the sharpest steering in the segment and also well endowed with technology such as SYNC audio systems, 9 speaker system, dual clutch transmission,etc. The only issues with the Focus is cabin comfort isn’t the best, the dual clutch is, like all DCT jerky at low speeds and compared to the after sales package offered here, it’s certainly low.

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So, the Fluence is a very sensible car to own;  it’s got the best after sales service package for a non-luxury, sub RM120k car. What are you waiting for?

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