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Renault 4 E-Tech UK review
5 months ago
The 4 is further proof of Renault's recent renaissance
The comparison to the Five, however, is an important one. The point of this car is to be the more versatile of the new and very closely related duo. It has a bigger boot (420 litres compared to 326 litres) and it’s physically larger too – longer, taller and with a higher ride height, though no wider. I was expecting to find more space in the rear cabin (one of the Five’s few weaknesses) and there is, but it’s hardly night and day.
The larger car’s weight penalty is 90kg, which you can feel – that and its higher centre of gravity. Whereas the Five is a wonderfully agile and responsive little hatchback, one that’s genuinely fun to punt along a road, the Four is more reserved. It handles, steers and rides as well as you could reasonably expect of such a car, but it has nothing to teach the lower, lighter R5.
"While I know many people are fond of the quirky original Renault 4 of 1961, I don’t think any would say it was an effortlessly handsome machine"
Nor does it look as good. The designers of the smaller car clearly had far better raw material with which to work, and while I know many people are fond of the quirky original Renault 4 of 1961, I don’t think any would say it was an effortlessly handsome machine. So its modern day recreation isn’t as attractive as its sibling, not quite as good to drive, more expensive and only a little bit more practical.
If you simply cannot squeeze your life into the R5 then this is a worthwhile substitute. But every time you saw a Five and the ear-to-ear grin on its driver’s face, you’d wonder if you shouldn’t have slimmed down your life a little rather than accept the less brilliant car of the pair.
A word about range and performance. All Fours get the 52kWh battery and 148bhp motor. Fully charged, the R4’s range readout was indicating around 200 miles, which you’ll get in mixed driving. On the motorway you should subtract a fair chunk – perhaps 40 miles. Officially this car’s 0-62mph time is 8.2 seconds, which looks pretty unspecial on the page. But that’s an unflattering performance metric for this car – and who does a standing start to 62mph anyway? In everyday use the R4 feels far more brisk than that figure suggests. We need a more real-world measure of a city car’s performance, like 10-40mph. In that arena, the R4 would punch far above its weight.
As Andrew English put it after driving the Four on the international media launch in Portugal in May Renault is on a roll right now. And if I worked at Peugeot or Citroën, I’d be wondering on how on earth we were going to hit back.
Renault 4 E-Tech UK review
Engine:
single electric motor, 52kWh battery
Transmission:
single speed, FWD
Power:
148bhp
Torque:
181lb ft
Weight:
1462kg (DIN)
Power-to-weight:
101bhp/tonne
0-62mph:
8.2sec
Top speed:
93mph
Range:
241-247 miles
Price:
from £30,995
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