Renault Captur Review 2026

As you'll read in this Renault Captur review, Renault's small SUV is like a bungalow with a loft conversion. Taking its Clio small car as a base, Renault knocks a few walls down, raises the floor and extends the roof to give you more interior space than you get in a Clio, but without the pay off of massive exterior dimensions and the inflated running cost that come with them.

Sharing a platform with the new Clio and Nissan Juke, the Renault Captur's dimensions sit at 4227mm long, 1797mm wide and 1576mm tall. That makes it an alternative to the Skoda Kamiq, Ford Puma and Peugeot 2008.

It takes a lot to stand out in this crowded small SUV segment, but the Captur offers cheerful looks and a feel-good interior that mean its still one of the better options.

Practicality has been a focus for the Captur's designers. It's slightly longer, wider and taller than its predecessor, giving it more interior space. Front-seat passengers won't feel cramped at all, and in the rear a sliding bench allows you to prioritise boot or passenger space. It's a handy feature that means you'll have no issues getting tall adults in the back but equally can slide the rear seats forward to free up boot space when needed.

Renault has also gone liberal with smaller storage space. We say 'small', the bin between the front seats is actually pretty big and so are the pockets in all four doors.

But we know Renault can do practical – this is the firm that brought as the Espace after all, the world's first people carrier – how about interior quality?

Well – take a seat – it's great, you get soft-touch plastics all over the place upfront and neat touches like knurled stalk caps. Naturally, the further up the range you go, the nicer it gets – R S Line models get Alcantara-look upholstery and splashes of aluminium trim. 

The infotainment is also pretty decent. All models get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – so you can mirror your phone's display and use its apps on the car's big screen – while top-of-the-range cars swap the standard standard seven-inch screen for a portrait-style 9.3-inch effort. It looks like someone has erected a tombstone on your dashboard top but, hey, it's easy to use making so putting this morbid comparison to one side isn't difficult. 

Link your phone to the infotainment screen, get on the move and you'll find there's very little to whinge about. The Renault's upright driving position and light controls make it easy to drive, but the weighty steering means it doesn't feel flighty at speed. It's not as direct as a Ford Puma, but then it is more comfortable. Swings and roundabouts, really. 

You'll find the Renault has an engine for everyone, too. You can choose from petrol, and plug-in hybrid petrol models but the 140PS TCe petrol does everything you need – it's plenty quick, has enough grunt for shifting the car when it's loaded and will return more than 40mpg all day long. We'd stick with the standard six-speed manual gearbox that's smooth action makes the seven-speed dual-clutch seem surplus to requirements. 

The Captur scores highly in the value-for-money stakes. Even entry-level models get full LED headlights and cruise control, auto lights and wipers, climate control, keyless entry and wireless phone charging. Prices range from £22,000 for a 90PS TCe Evolution model to nearly £33,000 for a R S Line 160PS PHEV. 

So, if you need more space for the family, forgo the umming and ahing that preceded the loft conversion and grab yourself the keys to a Renault Captur – it's the ideal choice for a growing family. 

Looking for a second opinion? Why not read heycar's Renault Captur review.

The Captur's soft set-up means it's neither as fun to drive as a Ford Puma, nor as comfortable on broken roads as a Citroen C3 Aircross. It rides well enough if you spec small wheels, but it does crash over potholes more than you'd expect.

Fortunately, its light steering and high driving position means it's easy to thread through congested city streets, and parking is easy - especially in test-spec S-Edition models with a reversing camera as standard.

The three-cylinder 1.0-litre TCe 90engine will be sufficient for the majority of buyers. It’s got plenty of power to keep up with traffic on open roads and is fairly refined. While there’s no noticeable vibration through the pedals - a trademark of older three-cylinder cars - we did notice a slight vibration through the front seats at a standstill.

It’s not as noticeable on the move and, apart from a slight three-cylinder thrum during heavy acceleration, it’s fairly refined - even at motorway speeds when a lack of a sixth gear means it’s running close to 3000rpm. This isn’t great for fuel economy, though - officially the 100 returns 54.3mpg, but we suspect it'd be considerably lower than that in the real world if you regularly drive on the motorway.

If you do want a car that's happier out of town, you'll probably be better opting for the bigger 130 engine or one of the diesel offerings.

The 130 engine is a four-cylinder 1.3-litre petrol which we've sampled with the automatic gearbox. The seven-speed dual-clutch automatic is quite sluggish, particularly hampering performance when pulling away - making smooth getaways from roundabouts tricky, for example.

The Renault Captur was awarded five stars for safety by Euro NCAP in 2019 so it is one of the safest cars of its type. All models come with automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, cruise control and rear parking sensors. 

Hybrid versions of the Renault Captur can tow a maximum of 750kg, while the conventional petrol models can both tow a braked trailer weighing up to 1200kg. 

The Captur is a practical small SUV with a useful sliding rear bench allowing you to prioritise boot or rear passenger space. While the Renault Captur has a 536-litre boot is pretty big on paper, it's worth noting that's with the bench all the way forward. With it moved back, it drops to 455 litres - exactly the same as a Volkswagen T-Cross. 

Access to the boot is wide and, while access is fairly high, there's no significant lip for hoisting heavy items over. There's also a useful amount of storage underneath the boot floor, and a spare wheel tucked away under that (an optional extra, unfortunately).

The interior feels bright and interesting, helped by the Orange Signature Pack fitted to our test car with its bright orange dash, door and centre console inserts. While it’s not a premium cabin, there are plenty of nice materials and well-thought-through features (we like the toggles on the dash for things like turning the lane assist off, for example).

If you go looking for them, there are some cheaper-feeling plastics. If you’ve tall, you might bang your leg on the chunky, plastic centre console, for example, and the glove box handle feels cheap.

Everything is fairly well laid out, with physical controls for the climate control. The audio controls tacked onto a stalk behind the steering wheel feel somewhat of an afterthought, but it’s not going to offend anyone.

The 7-inch infotainment system is clear and easy to use, if a little laggy in operation. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard across the range, allowing you to access features on your phone’s screen such as third-party navigation or music streaming apps. The car’s in-built navigation is a fairly clear Google Maps based system, plus all models get wireless phone charging.

Techno models tech it up still further giving you a larger TFT display in the instrument binnacle – up from 4.2 to 7 inches – and add the haloed glow of ambient interior lighting.

R.S. Line models get the tombstone-like, 9.3-inch infotainment screen which is pretty vast for a car like this.

The Renault Captur is priced from £22,195 for an Evolution model with a 90PS petrol engine, by comparison the basic Volkswagen T-Cross is £30 cheaper and has a more powerful 95PS petrol engine. 

PHEV versions of the Captur look pricy by comparison, you'll pay up to £32,895 for one of those in 160PS R.S. Line trim, however you can expect to pay about the same for a PHEV version of the new Kia Niro and there's the potential to make significant savings on fuel if you do lots of short trips and can charge the car at home. 

Making big saving on list prices are a thing of the past currently, but you'll save a few quid (and some time) by buying a preregistered car over one that's delivered direct from the factory. 

You're not going to be stung by high running costs no matter which Renault Captur you buy. The 90PS petrol returns up to 47.9mpg but interestingly, the more powerful 140PS version is a tad more economical, owing to it handling the Renault's weight better, it'll manage up to 48.7mpg. Trumping both, however, is the 145PS E-Tech Hybrid that'll get up to 56.5mpg. 

The 160PS E-Tech plug-in hybrid posts characteristically optimistic fuel economy figures of up to 217.3mpg – numbers that are skewed by the car's ability to run for up to 30 miles on battery power alone. Having said that, if you do lots of short journeys interspersed by the occasional long-haul trip and can charge the car at home – on a cheap electricity plan – large savings are there to be made. 

The entry-level Captur Evolution features kit such as 17-inch alloy wheels, full LED exterior lights and tinted rear windows. Inside, you get kit like a seven-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, wireless phone charging, four electric windows and climate control, plus rear parking sensors. 

Captur Techno models get 18-inch wheels and exterior chrome, while their kit list gets extras like front parking sensors and a rear-view camera. Inside, you get a fake leather interior, ambient lighting and a boot with adjustable floor. 

Captur R.S. Line models are the sportiest of the lot. They get diamond cut 18-inch alloy wheels and a body kit that makes them look more aggressive. They get a cabin that's padded in Alcantara-like upholstery, with fake carbon fibre trims and an upgraded 9.3-inch portrait-style infotainment screen.