Renault Fluence is The Heir of Renault India
The Renault Fluence was pitted against the Toyota Corolla Altis and the Skoda Laura. The car was surely a step ahead in terms of the style compared to its competition. The car also had better quality interiors, space and comfort. The petrol version however failed to live up to the expectations as its competitors were all equipped with better power trains. However the Fluence does fill the void with its efficiency. The car is also well loaded with four airbags and ESP. The petrol was just about okay and it was just that Renault was expected to deliver a lot more.
On the exteriors the petrol and diesel variants have nothing unique that separates them, apart from the diesel badge at the rear. However once you are inside of the car it gives you a completely different experience. The diesel variant of the car is void of all the unnecessary items and is trimmed down heavily and might even come as rude shock to most of us. The difference is so huge that the diesel for some reason seems to have beared the brunt for the failure of the petrol version. The diesel version has interiors in black and grey plastics, no leather wrapped steering, no climate control, no AUX, no USB, no Bluetooth connectivity, no leather seats, no rear sun blinds and no rear air-conditioning vents that were in the earlier petrol variant. The engine is the same 1.5-litre, in-line four cylinder dCi motor that runs the Logan and the Nissan Micra diesel. The Logan diesel hit the sales chart and the engine was the main star behind this huge success. The Logan was also popular due its entry level positioning and highly efficient qualities. The success of the engine has buoyed Renault so much that the company plans to use the same engine even for the upcoming cars like the Duster with the exception of Koleos which will get a 2.0-litre diesel.
The Renault Fluence is being positioned as a D-segment sedan. The 1.5-litre engine coughs up 106PS at 4000rpm and is quite decent for a car in this range. This figure is in fact better compared to the Corolla diesel which has only 88PS. The maximum torque produced is 240Nm at 2000rpm. The engine has already a lot of experience as it has been tried and tested. The engine is pretty quiet and the vibrating is also quite low. The Fluence diesel will look to hook those people looking for a frugal D-segment sedan. The car has a six-speed manual gearbox with long gear ratios. The gearbox feels good as the gears strut in the proper place however the shifts kind of feel stuck at times. The car is frugal as told earlier and focuses on returning fuel efficiency rather than performance. So think before you rev it up its limits.
The car heavily lags below 2000rpm to begin with and to stay on the high you need to keep the yellow tachometer needle above it. The lag in fact becomes prominent with the tall gear ratios and comes across a major disappointment when it comes to some free way driving. Know more about Renault Fluence and Renault Fluence Specifications
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