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How many people can you stuff into a small car under 4-metres in length? Well, Renault says you can fit seven in the Triber – an MPV based on the Renault Kwid’s platform.
The Triber is based on the CMF-A platform (common modular family platform) on which even the Renault Kwid and Datsun Redigo are built. What Renault is offering with the Triber is flexible seating for five to seven people, with a removable last row.
It is likely to be positioned in the B-segment hatchback category (Maruti Baleno, Hyundai i20 segment), and will go up against the Maruti Ertiga in terms of pricing between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 8 lakh. It will also compete with its cousin, the Datsun Go Plus.
Here’s more on the Renault Triber.
The Renault Triber looks a lot like a larger version of the Renault Kwid when viewed from the front, with the large Renault logo dominating the grille. It gets projector headlamps and LED daytime running lamps. It is under 4 metres in length and therefore qualifies as a “small” car in India.
When viewed from the side the Renault Triber has a typical MPV styling with a tall roofline and three sets of windows. At the rear, it gets tail-lamps that wrap on to the bootlid.
The RXZ version displayed at the unveiling came with 15-inch alloy wheels, rear wiper, matte-black cladding, roof rails and a rear spoiler. It comes with 185 mm of ground clearance and a 2,636 mm wheelbase.
The thing with this design is how Renault has utilised the space.
It offers three-row seating, where you get only 84-litres of luggage space with all-rows in use. If you remove one of the last-row seats (it can be taken out of the vehicle), you get 320 litres of boot space.
If you take the third row out entirely Renault claims it can stow up to 625 litres of luggage.
That said, legroom in the last row is tight, but headroom is a generous 834 mm. The last row also gets its own set of AC vents.
The Renault Triber appears to be pretty well kitted-out in terms of features. The instrument panel is all digital, with the tachometer using a digital rendition of an analog gauge, while the MID has the speedometer, odometer, fuel consumption information etc.
The variant displayed also had a full touch-screen infotainment system, which supports Android Auto and Apple Car Play and can also play videos when the vehicle is stationary. It has reverse parking sensors and a reverse camera integrated in it. Full keyless entry and push-button ignition are part of the RXZ variant.
It gets cooled cup-holders and twin glove boxes. It also gets four airbags in the top-spec version, which should hopefully see it pass India’s upcoming crash tests.
The engine though is a 1-litre, three-cylinder petrol motor that puts out 72 PS of power and 96 Nm of torque. It will have a choice of 5-speed manual and 5-speed automated manual (AMT) transmissions. How does this perform? You will have to wait a bit to find out.
The Renault Triber goes on sale in the second half of 2019. We will get you a full driving impression of the vehicle and tell you how it compares to other three-row vehicles as well.
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