Renault Kadjar long-term test report: trade rose from Ford Focus

More than a few people who traded up / opposite of conventional hatchback crossover like - or even like - the Kadjar.

As you remember, before Kadjar I spent one year in the Ford Focus, so I feel well qualified to make some comparisons, especially considering that the Focus is a conventional hatchback as you'll find.

There is a lot I like about Kadjar, but compared to the Focus feels quite large.

I will write that Kadjar is as big cars that I would love to use every day, to run the school, city trips, awkward parking lot and the like, but I was quite surprised to find that the Renault and Ford are very similar in size.

Amazingly (well, I was amazed), Kadjar wheelbase, at 2646mm, is 2mm shorter than the Focus of this, and the front overhang (from the center of the front wheels to the limit of the bumper), at 897mm, 1mm less than that of Ford.

The Kadjar is 13mm wider at 1836mm by 1823mm Ford, and overall it is 89mm longer (4449mm vs. 4360mm), but everything aft of the rear wheels. boot, basically.

And yet tasted good Kadjar roomier inside and less docile in town and when parking, and it's not extra length to the rear of the problem.

Most of the increase comes from a sense of the size of the raised ride height and driving position.

The Kadjar is 144mm higher than the Focus, with all the extra height added lower down, if that makes sense.

There is actually 20mm less headroom in the Renault, but despite sitting higher, a view directly in front of the hood was nowhere near as good as it was in the Focus and it was much more difficult to assess where the nose and front wheel.

Of course, the rear cabin is more spacious than the Focus, it may be because the back seat is located a bit far away rearwards thanks to the space behind them.

According to our road test meter, typical of rear leg room in the Renault was 720mm and 660mm it in Focus.

boot is a decent size, too, with 472 liters with the rear seats and 1478 with them down (to this Focus 316/1107 liters).

I've never come close to filling and, to date, the adjustable floor has lived in raised position, which minimizes the loading lip.

Meanwhile, and exciting for the sake of something to write about, there may be something wrong with the car: the alarm had gone off, seemingly at random, which has hardly endeared the Kadjar to my neighbors.

I'll look into it and report back.

Read our first report

Kadjar Renault dCi 110 Dynamique S Nav Auto EDC

Mileage 1730 price of £ 23 595 Price as tested £ 24 220 Options Metallic paint £ 625 Economy 56.5mpg Alarm Not Load Error

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