[RavenAvi]

Rush Lane's review is out, and they give a big two-thumbs up to the Kwid.

Excerpts:

Let’s face it, the budget small car segment in India is in a dire need of design freshness and that’s exactly what Renault Kwid offers in abundance. With a pioneering SUV-ish styling, well balanced proportions and an excellent road presence, Kwid looks nothing like conventional competitors. The term hatchback doesn’t really fit well with Kwid’s profile as it looks more like a micro crossover than a small urban runabout it actual is. Plastic clad squarish wheel arches, bulging sheet metal design, big rub strip work well to make for a muscular appeal. However the plastic wing mirrors and old school lift type door hands look tacky.

Rush Lane

[SandyX]

Renault Kwid Top Speed Attempt, 0-100 km/h

0-100: 12.57 s
Top speed: 143 kmph

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LShCeum1lP0

[avingodb]

My wife is after my life that Kwid looks good and a worthy upgrade from our present first gen Nano. I also had to promise going for a TD, something she never asked for before, as soon as it is launched. So the Ranbir ads are working quite well!

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by Chillout

The main reason, of course, for the spritely performance, the claimed 25.17km/l fuel efficiency - which makes it the most fuel efficient petrol engine car in the country - and the excellent ride-and-handling is the low weight of the Kwid. And they've done a lot of work to engineer that in. The engine block, of course, is aluminium, but the entire intake manifold and head is plastic - which saves 2 kilos. The oil pan is also plastic, which saves another kilo. They've also worked hard to reduce the number of parts in the car, and therefore the nuts and bolts that go with them. It has only three wheel lugs for instance, and a single windshield wiper. The lead engineer for the Kwid pointed out that whereas most cars would have about 20 kilos worth of nuts and bolts, the Kwid carries just 8kgs of them."

Originally Posted by SandyX

Key takeaways from today's media event.

- 80% developed in India
- 800cc 3-pot 54PS/72Nm
- FE 25.17 Kmpl
- Loaded AVN & 300lt boot space
- Weight 660kg :cyl head, intake manifold and oil pan plastic, 12kg saved on screws
- Virtual showroom to make choice of color, variant & booking starts Sept 14th
- 25 lifestyle decals & 6 accessory packs

Guys, the head cannot be made of plastic. It must be be the tappet cover that is plastic.

[RavenAvi]

Motoroids review is out, and they tout the Kwid as the next big game changer and the best option for a customer in it's segment.

Excerpts:

If it’s the Maruti Alto 800 to the left and the Hyundai Eon to the right, it’s the new Kwid’s door I’ll be knocking.

The wheels are pushed to the extreme corners of the vehicle, allowing for shorter overhangs and a long wheelbase of 2422 mm, which, apart from being the longest in the segment, accounts for more interior space. The side indicators are neatly integrated into the front wheel arch, rather than making a hole in the bodywork, or sticking them on the door mirror caps. Speaking of arches, the ones on the Kwid are huge. They look hungry for more, especially with the standard (read skinny) 155/80 tires wrapped around 13-inch steel rims.

...
...
...

The Kwid’s dynamic character can be summed up as a beautiful ride and handling balance, let down by an overly assisted, vague steering feel.

Renault calls it a game changer and they couldn’t be more right, because the Kwid literally rewrites the rule book. It’s a product that trumps its competition over and out in all areas; be it styling, features, efficiency, or comfort.

...
...

Motoroids

[SandyX]

One can see the better looking ORVM in many of the shots that came out recently, but none from the media event. Even the red Kwid on Renault product page has got the good looking version. Interesting none of the reports mentioned it, eventhough they cited the stock design as a con. Maybe an accessory, but they should've known.

[shibujp]

This is a stellar effort from Renault and the right move if they expect to bring a game changer to a segment packed with some strong players.

The Kwid with it's cross over looks, decent space, comfortable ride and good interiors should sell well provided it meets the performance/mileage trade off well.

Should eclipse big bro Duster if this is the case. Also this time Renault does not rip us off with a Dacia run about.
Drive on,
Shibu.

[Satishtv]

Any idea if an Automatic or AMT version will be released, have been looking for a car in the 5 lakhs range having both Automatic + Airbags for a long time.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by Satishtv

Any idea if an Automatic or AMT version will be released, have been looking for a car in the 5 lakhs range having both Automatic + Airbags for a long time.

AMT could be a possibility as well as a slightly large motor, however no official word on it yet. 5 lakhs is a healthy budget to go in for a used Micra CVT or Brio AT both cars especially the Micra, are a big step-up and far more complete packages than anything in that range that you would be able to buy new.

[hybridpetrol]

Interesting! Navigation system in A/B1 segment hatchback? I do not think any other car that is less than a million rupees offer this pretty useful feature!
So, Renault is packing all the features that the first time car buyer could ask for in his car, but with a 800cc engine similar to the Alto.
I specifically like the thick seats on offer (whereas Alto & Nano provided wafer thin seats)
I would say Renault is trying to take the example set by Tata to the next level. (i.e., Once Tata has realized that customers are not willing to buy the 1L rupee Nano, they discontinued all lower variants, and now the only ones on offer, contains all the "comfort and convenience" nice to have features, including an AMT gearbox).
With Renault, they offer a decent car with several segment first features. If it manages to sell in good numbers, it probably might not affect the 20K per month selling Alto or 6K per month selling Eon, but it will surely mark "The End" for the Datsun brand.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

I would say Renault is trying to take the example set by Tata to the next level.

+1.

A car in that price segment (or even a segment above like Celerio) has no right to look so good, have so much space and pack in such features as touch screen audio etc. This one doesn't look the part of a small cheap car, and that itself is a big victory for Renault.

I hope they price it well. The product has success written all over it, if priced competitively.

However, that said- read somewhere that this car is even lighter than the Alto. I wouldn't be surprised if it fails a crash test catastrophically. No point being "shocked" about it later.

[motor_breathing]

Some kwid media drive is happening in south goa, i saw many cars with numbers following one another. It looked nice and had good road presence

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

A car in that price segment (or even a segment above like Celerio) has no right to look so good, have so much space and pack in such features as touch screen audio etc.

I like your statements - "no right to look so good"!
When one takes the bold step to move forward, everyone follows.
I feel, after the power windows, audio system with 4 speakers, keyless entry, the next feature to be adopted in all cars will be the GPS Navigation system.
This is a very useful feature, and these days, it is better people have them on their cars, instead of having to look at their mobiles when driving. In fact, this feature is more relevant to a car, than others such as steering mounted controls for bluetooth integrated voice calls etc.

Kudos for Renault for introducing this on a lower segment hatchback. I wish the others, particularly Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai follow suit, by at least offering this feature in B2 hatchbacks to start with.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by motor_breathing

Some kwid media drive is happening in south goa, i saw many cars with numbers following one another. It looked nice and had good road presence

Media drives are being done at Goa only. If you see the navigation system pics of various reviews published till now, it's all in and around Goa.

Hope TBHP report will be online soon.

[ritz3645]

You can download Kwid app at
http://bit.ly/KWIDapp

Kwid is not positioned against Alto and Eon, but comparison in App is with Celerio, Wagonr, Swift and wait I 20 Elite.

Hope pricing is not like I20 Elite.