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I'm Thinking Of Buying A New 2016/17 Koleos Intens.


Frozzeenort

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G'day everyone.

                    Before I travel 400 klms to test drive an Intens, can anyone tell me exactly what type of Cruise Control the Intens is equipped with.

Is it the same as, or equal to Subaru Foresters Adaptive Cruise Control.

If you own an Intens, please let me know how it stacks up to other makes that have ACC. Or Radar Cruise Control.

I've seen the Koleos brochures and talked to Renault web chat and I still can't tell exactly, or how good the Intens CC is.

In fact, when I asked the web chat bloke if the the Intens CC was as good as ACC he only said, and I quote....."I would say so,yes".

Subaru has a video of its Forester's ACC automatically bringing the car to a halt from highway speed.

I'm only carting me self around so I only need a mid sized SUV.

I've decided to only buy an SUV that has a type of CC comparable to ACC or RCC.

I've had no luck in getting a video view of the Intens CC being used.

The rest of its features and equipment seems very good and sufficient for me.

 

     Eeeeeeerz cheeeeerz to your ears and thanks for any help

Edited by Frozzeenort
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My lady has a previous version Bose Koleos. Bargain price, high spec, very very low K's etc. I chat about this car on Aussie Frogs forum. Albeit a slow moving forum.

 

I'm super curious as to why one would be buying a car based on its cruise control and posting this concept on a forum where as most people don't use their cruise control :wink:

 

 

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Maybe take one from a Dealership for a test drive one on the freeway perhaps and see if it does what you like?

 

Link->: http://www.renault.com.au/book-a-test_drive/

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G'day everyone.

                    Before I travel 400 klms to test drive an Intens, can anyone tell me exactly what type of Cruise Control the Intens is equipped with.

Is it the same as, or equal to Subaru Foresters Adaptive Cruise Control...

Subaru has a video of its Forester's ACC automatically bringing the car to a halt from highway speed.

 

I think I can help here. And the answer is no, it doesn't look like Renault matches Subaru's EyeSight system in the Forester, Liberty etc.

 

The Koleos' online brochures* etc don't seem to mention active or adaptive cruise control - only an "advanced emergency braking system" with forward collision warning. As the name suggests, this type of braking system is for emergency use - these systems generally work by sounding a warning alarm then ramming on the brakes at the last possible moment to avoid (or reduce the effects of) a crash.

Not something you want to use every day!

 

The Subaru system, on the other hand, is an impressive smart cruise control feature that easily handles stop-start traffic. I've got plenty of first-hand experience with this (and rival systems), and it really is a cool feature.

 

In any case, I'm driving the new Koleos for work this week, getting into it on Wednesday. Will check it all out and report back, if you're happy to wait a couple of days.

 

*http://renbr-edms.s3.amazonaws.com/REN0035/Koleos-Brochure-Mobile.pdf

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Personally I wonder how much people need or should even have these features.

I've been one to love gadgets like this, so don't get me wrong, I totally sympathise.

But if you're going to choose between cars based on that, then just choose on paper by the specs, don't test drive.

Respect to those that like their eye sight and what not, but surely your own eyes can do just as good a job?

I've used Radar guided cruise once and hated it. It's personal though, and if you're traveling hours on end then it could be of use if your eyes are prone to closing. However a safer alternative is to stop regularly.

In regards to choice, I stopped looking at Subaru when I saw the ridiculous service schedule. And price of servicing. Shame, because I think they're great cars.

If you don't need an SUV but need space have you looked at a Skoda superb or ford Mondeo wagon? They'd be much more engaging than any SUV (apart from a macan s maybe)

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Goodonya DaveMc

              Your reply was exactly the info I was seeking. Cept I was hoping to be wrong about Koleos Intens lack of ACC.

What an pity Renault hasn't included or optioned in an Adaptive or Radar type CC in at least the top specced Intens variant. It seems to have everything else you'd expect for an SUV that hovers around the $50k mark with on roads.

 

To other people who are off track with replies. I'd like to cordially add this.

As I stated in my OP, it'd be a 400 klm round trip to my nearest Renault Dealership. That aint including the test drive and inspection time.

What I didn't say is this.

I suffer 24/7 from excruciating, eye watering pain due to Chronic Pancreatitis and the subsequent operation because of it.

I had the non dead part of my pancreas resectioned to my stomach and guts.

It's a no option life saving operation called a Whipple Procedure, or a Pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Unfortunately it's left me in worse pain than the pain of the always deadly Chronic Pancreatitis.

M pain is as though I've got boiling liquid in my guts while being sliced open with an electrified razor blade. Extremely nasty.

By the time I get to a test vehicle 200 kays away after a near 3 hour drive I'd be in monstrous agony and in no way capable of concentrating on inspecting and driving a strange vehicle around the busy traffic of Wollongong.

A few weeks ago I tried it. I drove to the Gong and tested a Merc GLA. I nearly collided with a cyclist.

Scared the sh*t out of me.......and the Merc Agent passenger. I reckon that near accident was partly due to the incredible level of pain after driving up there.

Anyhow the GLA is too small and the larger GLC I'd prefer is on a 6 month delivery time.

50 klm is my limit. Shop locally once a month and visit me GP.

But I want to do it as safely as I can.

My Elite i30 Hatch is a top car for its class and I've been happy to own it. But it doesn't have the drive assist safety technology that a specced up SUV has.

Regardless of what other people think of driver assist technology I'll take all the help available to me.

I haven't written all this to get sympathy, but to show you mostly don't know all the persons circumstances when handing out opinions with replies. However well intentioned you think they are.

Fully read a post and reply on the subjective topic as DaveMc has done.

It's been excruciatingly painful to sit here and stab out this post with my one finger a time key board style.......epic!

 

That's enuff from me, eeeeeeerz cheeeeeerz to all your ears.

 

And yes a Skoda has been on me radar. I haven't stuck one on my top list simply because of their shape. I reckon they don't look enough SUVish.

But I have noticed how superbly equipped they are and might get one.

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Sorry Froz, I was off topic and have offended you. You're right it certainly wasn't my intention.

I really wish I was given this advice around 10yrs ago. I bought the wrong car (lots of $) in the past based on my love of gadgetry. Now I'm in a car which I couldn't care less if it didn't have automatic lights, but love every second in the car (when I'm not in traffic).

If you're driving short distances if you can buy something that's going to much more fun to drive it will give you plenty to smile about. But I take your point about the pain being a distraction and you don't want to be knocking cyclists down.

If you're still set on looking at the Koleos, and pretty set on buying it, ask the dealer to drive one out to you. You may be surprised what lengths sales people can go to if you're serious about buying.

Good luck buying and I hope a sales person can help you out.

 

A few other points - will you be getting a diesel? I'd advise against it if you only drive short distances due to the DPF. Have a search about the CVT in the Koleos too - Nissan's had a lot of rubbish ones out there in the Pathfinder. The New X trail shares much the same mechanicals so have a look around at any issues it may have. 5 year warranty will reassure though.

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If the road rules prevent us using a mobile phone, based on the distraction it presents to to the driver, then some may question if your condition presents a similar distraction.

If so, and I say this with all due respect, should someone be at the reins of a 2 tonne SUV if not fully committed to their responsibilities?

I say this as a father with kids walking on the street and soon to drive, and as a husband of someone with chronic pain and the respective treatment

Hope you find a solution and I'm sorry to hear about your condition.

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If the road rules prevent us using a mobile phone, based on the distraction it presents to to the driver, then some may question if your condition presents a similar distraction.

If so, and I say this with all due respect, should someone be at the reins of a 2 tonne SUV if not fully committed to their responsibilities?

I say this as a father with kids walking on the street and soon to drive, and as a husband of someone with chronic pain and the respective treatment

Hope you find a solution and I'm sorry to hear about your condition.

His point I think was that a 4hr trip does that to him, which he is wanting to avoid, otherwise short trips (I imagine) are much less of a problem and the pain doesn't distract as much which means he's usually safe - he's also keen to utilise safety equipment to even further reduce risk
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Ok, can confirm now that the 2017 Koleos doesn't have active cruise - just emergency braking and a few passive aids such as blind spot monitoring in the top-end Intens. Have a look at the Foz, for sure. And maybe hang out for the new VW Tiguan in a month or so - it should have a very similar level of driver aids and safety kit to the latest Audis etc.

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  • 1 month later...

My father in law is in the market for one, he liked what he saw but thinks the 2.2 litre NA engine wont have the grunt to tow his caravan, even though it's rated for 2 tonne.

 

I tend to agree, why didn't they release it with a turbo/diesel engine? Seems silly to not give people an option to upgrade the engine.

Edited by portal
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My father in law is in the market for one, he liked what he saw but thinks the 2.2 litre NA engine wont have the grunt to tow his caravan, even though it's rated for 2 tonne.

 

I tend to agree, why didn't they release it with a turbo/diesel engine? Seems silly to not give people an option to upgrade the engine.

Diesel is coming next year. 

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  • 1 month later...

Petrol engine is a 2.5L, not a 2.2. I've towed the Clio track car with one - out to Moe and back. No rocket ship, but coped fine. I reckon about 1,400kg all up including the trailer. The diesel is supposed to arrive mid next year. If it's the same spec as the old one, it'll only be rated to 1,350kg braked towing. Due to transmission cooler limitation for our 'hot' climate. Saying that, at 1,350kg I'd prefer the torque and economy of the DCi for towing.

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Current T32 X-Trail has a CVT for the 1.6L diesel FWD, and manual only for the AWD. 

 

Depends.

 

Renault have a 160ps Diesel somewhere, http://www.carscoops.com/2014/02/renault-unveils-160ps-twin-turbocharged.html - compared to the Clio-II's which had 172/182ps, that's pretty impressive.

 

You can always increase the size of a turbo-charger on a diesel to get more - many do.

 

The new Koleos don't look too bad on the road. As a traffic-crawler they seem like a nice shiny bit of kit.

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Depends on what?

 

The 160ps diesel is the same engine as the current 130ps (96kW) X-Trail, but it has an extra turbo. 

 

Whether or not it gets tweaked.

 

Some people believe the factory hp figure is the maximum that you can get out of the engine.

 

Others just take that as the minimum figure :popcorn:

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Downside to the diesel is the dpf as with most current and new models. If the majority of your driving is town, stop/start or short distances any half decent salesman will advise you against. Plus the diesel always carries a premium over a petrol, unless you knock up big K's your not really saving on fuel costs or servicing.

 

 

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Only diesels that still work for short distance/lower k's run ad-blue (another cost...) or are older models still running egr valves but they're getting rare now. Once a model gets replaced it has to comply with the current emission laws.

 

 

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The current pajero doesn't have a DPF, and I'm sure the current Hyundai and Kia SUVs don't either. Don't know how they get away with it!
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Plus the diesel always carries a premium over a petrol, unless you knock up big K's your not really saving on fuel costs or servicing.

 

 

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Except that the diesel variants often retain a higher residual value compared to petrol versions. So you pay more but you often get that back at resale time. If you're salary packaging / fully maintained leasing, I'd be guessing that the monthly lease payment for the (more expensive) diesel might be lower due to higher residual and lower fuel consumption.

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So they had a Zen at cricks today down at the service department. I've got to say from the brief look I had the interior is nice. Will definitely take one for a spin.

 

Cheers,

- Sent via TapaTalk

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  • 1 month later...

Well I have now driven a Koleos intens 3 times and given the conflicting media reviews and my scepticism (to downright writing off) of the drive train all I can say is that I'm impressed and take most of it back.

 

Yes the cvt is a cvt and it's unnatural and seems like it's running away from you but if you put it in the perspective of the car and it's role as a would be family hack it does the job. The petrol engine needs a few revs but it gets the job done with minimal fuss and given how relative old tech it is it must be pretty well bullet proof by now. It's not quick but at the same time it's not a glacier either. Gets up to speed from 60-100 on the highway with no worries.

 

The steering is a bit too light for my tastes and doesn't feel that connected. But then compared to my Clio what does. The cx5 we drove has a better drive train and steering but it's not leaps and bounds.

 

The interior and value, and that extra something though is where the Koleos shined. The features and kit you get is great. A lot of the French quirkiness is gone but it still just had that little glint that the Mazda doesn't.

 

Ride quality well getting out of a Clio lowered on coilovers, solid top mounts, solid rubber engine mounts and 18" 225/40 profile tyres, yes the ride is good in comparison. So is the Mazda and so is probably almost every other car. Mazda vs Koleos? I think the Koleos is a more comfort oriented but that said it's on 18s vs the Mazda on 19s. NVH is a similar proposition. I really don't think I'm in a position to judge given what I daily drive.

 

I think a diesel would be a good proposition for those that can use it. Swmbo drives 5k-7.5k a year tops. Work is less than 10k away. DPF would not go well.

 

So basically I actually quite like this car. There's enough Frenchness there still for my liking and it's a good value proposition. Swmbo liked it too.

 

Cheers,

- Sent via TapaTalk

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Be keen to see what kind of DPF the diesel will have; mind you the conventional one the older model had resulted in surprisingly few complaints.

How do you mean what kind??

 

The older one suffers the same as 90% of dpf do.....if you don't reach the parameters required to carry out a regeneration it will clog up.

 

 

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How do you mean what kind??

 

The older one suffers the same as 90% of dpf do.....if you don't reach the parameters required to carry out a regeneration it will clog up.

 

 

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Eg adblue/catalyst vs traditional temperature dependent dpfs.

There must be a difference between the Renault/Nissan vs Mazda which I thought were both temperature dependent but Mazda ones are well known to have lots of issues; unless it's a simple numbers game and Mazda just sells more and they get more issues

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  • 1 month later...

Got a Koleos loan car. Its nice enough but two things:

 

Foot operated park brake. Really?

 

Glare from morning sun on the centre display is appalling! It rendered me temporarily blind whilst negotiating a roundabout. I was wearing decent polarised ray bans too

Edited by Dave200
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  • 3 months later...

Bumping this back up, how is the interior leather? Reviews say it is "real". We're looking at a new 4wd for the family and had a look on the weekend at a few and only the Jaguar f pace impressed me (just the interior, didn't test drive) - it felt luxurious with real leather whilst BMW, Merc, Audi, Lexus, Skoda, land rover, felt cheap

 

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Only intens is real leather. Its nice. Better than cloth. It's by no means super soft super expensive car leather. Oh and with Dave's comment above, intens has electronic park brake not foot brake.

 

Being an existing owner and assuming you're keeping your existing RS you should be able to get decent discount and free servicing for 3 years instead of capped.

 

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