If, during a pub quiz or some such piece of frivolity, you were asked the nationality of Renault, you would probably answer, "French," and in doing so you would equally probably gain a further two points in your quest for the evening's big prize. But there is surprisingly little that is French about the Koleos.For a start, it's built in Korea by Renault-owned Samsung Motors. And several of the important bits are Japanese. This is a legacy of the days, towards the end of last century, when Renault sent Carlos Ghosn over to Tokyo to reach his arm round the U-bend and drag Nissan back into profitability. The alliance which has existed between the two manufacturers ever since explains why the Koleos is built on the same platform as the X-Trail and the Qashqai, and why Nissan also supplied the four-wheel drive system which is available in all but the cheapest model.The car tested here is the very opposite of that one. With its 175bhp two-litre turbo diesel engine (all others have a 150bhp version of the same unit) and range-topping Privilege trim level (the lower-spec ones being called Dynamique and Dynamique S), it's substantially the most expensive Koleos at over £24,000, though you can dip below £18,000 if you don't mind missing out on the 4x4 system.However Oriental the underpinnings may be, there is still a lot of French influence. The Koleos looks much, much better than the X-Trail and possibly, according to taste, a little better than the Qashqai. A lot of work has clearly gone into creating a smooth, friendly shape, though as Richard Dredge pointed out in his launch report this has sometimes been at the expense of practicality.Most notably, the sloping tail reduces the potential load volume quite significantly - boot space amounts to 450 litres with the rear seats up and 1380 litres when they're folded, but it could have been a lot more. And it's not as if luggage capacity has been sacrificed in favour of room for back-seat passengers, since there's not a great deal of that either; the Koleos is not a car that will comfortably carry four large adults.On the plus side, the horizontally-split tailgate (you open the top part, the bit with the window, first, and then the lower part afterwards if you need better access) is well-designed and easy to operate.I'm sure that the 150bhp turbo diesel is as much as anyone really needs, but I must say I liked the 175. Performance figures of 0-62mph in 9.9 seconds and a top speed of 119mph may not stir the blood to any great extent, but with this engine the Koleos pulls very well from low-ish revs, which makes swift overtaking a pleasant and fuss-free business.Officially, there's not much penalty in terms of fuel economy or CO2 emissions if you choose this engine rather than the 150, but if you use the power very often you'll widen that gap considerably. The combined economy figure is 35.8mpg, but I would have expected to see nearer 30 if I'd had the car for longer than I did.What impresses me most about the engine is that you can't hear it very much, even if you do happen to be accelerating hard. Renault has done a magnificent job of keeping noise from all sources down to a minimum as far as the occupants are concerned, and this goes a long way to making the Koleos feel like a quality product.The same goes for the ride. For decades, all the major French manufacturers appear to have worked on the basis that the only thing you need to do to give a car a comfortable ride is to suspend it as softly as possible. Body control be damned - if you can carry a basket of eggs across a ploughed field without breaking any, the suspension designers have done their job, and a shrug and a "pah!" to anyone who feels seasick.Quite recently, though, the French seem to have had a change of policy about this, and it's reflected in the Koleos. Oh, it's soft. Oh, the body lean you can achieve through corners is a thing to behold. But everything remains very well controlled, so that as well as having all the road bumps subdued before they become a cause for concern you also avoid any feeling of being hurled about inside the cabin.The softness also helps maintain high levels of grip, and as a result you can actually hustle the Koleos along in a manner that seems quite out of character for an SUV. Not that most owners are likely to do this, of course, but it does mean that there's a fun element waiting to be explored by a more adventurous customer.It's possibly even less likely that anyone who buys a Koleos will venture very far off-road with it, but just in case they do there's a decent amount of ground clearance, clever control of the four-wheel drive system, hill descent control and various other clevernesses to keep you out of the scenery.Finally, here's another French characteristic, or more specifically a Renault one. Renault has always done well in Euro NCAP crash tests, and the Koleos is a respectable performer, having scored 5/5 stars for adult occupant protection, 4/5 for child occupant protection and 2/4 for pedestrian protection. Overall this is about the same as the X-Trail (which is less safe for adults according to these tests, but safer for children) and behind the Ford Kuga and Volvo XC60 among leading compact SUVs.Euro NCAP's decision to create a new test for whiplash in rear impacts has added an extra dimension to all this. The XC60 is the current high scorer among all types of vehicle, while the Kuga is near the bottom. The Koleos is towards the Volvo end of the scale, confirming that although it's not the miracle of safety that Renault would like to think it is, it's still better than most. Engine 1995 cc, 4 cylinders Power 175 bhp @3750 rpm Torque 266 ib/ft @2000 rpm Transmission 6 speed manual Fuel/CO2 35.8 mpg / 209 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 9.9sec Top speed 117 mph Price From £24761.00 approx Release date 04/07/2008
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