Renault Captur Review 2025

Renault’s small SUV is like a bungalow with a loft conversion. Taking its Clio small car as a base, Renault has knocked a few walls down and extended the roof to give you more interior space than you get in a Clio, but without massive increases in exterior dimensions, and the inflated running costs that come with them. Read on for our Renault Captur review.

Sharing a platform with the popular Renault Clio and also the Nissan Juke, the Renault Captur has dimensions that sit at 4227mm long, 1797mm wide and 1576mm tall. That makes it an alternative to the Skoda Kamiq, the big-selling Ford Puma and another French challenger, the Peugeot 2008.

It takes a lot to stand out in this crowded small SUV segment, but the Captur offers sharp looks and a feelgood interior that mean it’s one of the better options.

Practicality was a focus for the Captur’s designers, and the current model is 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 increase boot capacity when needed.

Renault has also been generous with storage space, with a large bin between the front seats and decent-sized pockets in all four doors.

Interior quality is great, with soft-touch plastics up front and neat touches such as knurled stalk caps. Naturally, the further up the range you go, the nicer things get: Esprit Alpine models feature a frameless rear-view mirror and a heated synthetic leather steering wheel.

The infotainment is also pretty impressive, particularly since the new Google-based system was introduced in 2024. All models get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, too, so you can mirror your phone’s display and use its apps on the car’s big screen.

Link your phone to the infotainment screen, get on the move, and you’ll find there’s very little to complain 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 it’s more comfortable.

There’s an engine for all requirements, too, or at least, there has been during the car's time on sale. Currently, only turbocharged petrol and hybrid powertrains are available to new-car buyers, but in the past, the Captur has been offered with other petrol, diesel, and plug-in hybrid options. Although these have now been dropped from the range, you can seek one out on the new-car market if you want one.

The Captur scores very highly in the value-for-money stakes. Even entry-level models get a reversing camera, the impressive infotainment system and a range of advanced driver-assist systems. With prices starting from around £22,000, it significantly undercuts rivals on price, too.

The Renault Captur is an easy car to drive, helped by decent visibility and light controls. It ticks the 'fit for purpose' box nicely, with little in the way of character or excitement, but that's fine in a small SUV like this.

Revisions to the suspension in 2024 mean it now feels slightly more agile than it did before. That comes at the expense of comfort, though: a Skoda Kamiq copes better with bumpy road surfaces.

Captur Techno models and above get switchable drive modes, allowing you to increase the responsiveness of the engine or the dartiness of the steering when the mood takes you. To be honest, there's not a lot to be gained by switching through them: we'd recommend just leaving it in the regular mode.

The Captur's engine line-up is now quite simple: it's available with a 1.0-litre petrol engine (paired with a manual gearbox) or a 1.8-litre hybrid (with an automatic transmission).

The 1.0-litre is fine around town but, with a power output of just 90PS, it soon starts to feel strained on the open road. It'll accelerate to 62mph in 14.3 seconds, making it one of the slowest cars in its class. At least a six-speed gearbox is now standard, which helps refinement, but you will notice a bit of noise from the thrummy three-cylinder engine.

We haven't driven the latest version of the 1.8 Captur E-Tech 1.8 self-charging hybrid yet, which replaced the previous self-charging hybrid option that used a 1.6-litre petrol engine. The new powertrain boosts power from 145PS to 160PS and fuel economy from 60.1mpg to 64.2mpg. However, we can't yet tell you whether it's an improvement in any other area.

We'd hope so, because the old hybrid arrangement did get flustered quite easily, not knowing immediately which gear it wants or how many revs are required. We reckon the hybrid setup in the Toyota Yaris Cross is a more refined system. Still, at least it provided a decent amount of power and performance.

Earlier Renault Captur models were offered with a wider array of engines, including a punchy 1.3-litre petrol, a plug-in hybrid, and even a couple of diesels. The latter fuel type is very much out of fashion, now, but might make sense if you cover a lot of out-of-town miles.

The Renault Captur was awarded five stars (out of five) for safety by Euro NCAP in 2019, but times have moved on a testing standards have become more stringent, so don't expect it to be quite as safe as a five-star car of today. All models come with automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, cruise control and rear parking sensors. 

The latest hybrid versions of the Renault Captur can tow a maximum of 1000kg, up from 750kg with the previous hybrid powertrain, while the petrol Captur can 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 616-litre luggage capacity looks huge on paper, it’s worth noting that that’s with the sliding bench all the way forward, which leaves you with very tight rear legroom. With it moved back, it drops to 484 litres. The Renault Captur E-Tech loses out on some underfloor stowage space, too, dropping its carrying capacity to just 348 litres. The opening is wide, but high. There’s no significant lip that you'll need to hoist heavy items over, though.

In the front, you sit higher than you would in some small SUVs. That gives it the edge over the Renault Clio hatchback, should you want to see over hedgerows. There's a decent amount of space in the back, too, provided the bench is slid back. Like way say, with it in the forward position, there's very little knee room for rear-seat passengers.

While you wouldn’t describe the cabin as premium, there are plenty of nice materials and well-thought-through features. We like the toggles on the dashbaord to turn the lane assist tech off, for example.

If you go looking for them, there are some cheaper-feeling plastics to be found, though. The glovebox handle feels low-rent, and tall occupants might bang their leg on the chunky, plastic centre console.

Everything is fairly well laid out, and there are physical controls for the climate control. The audio controls tacked on to a stalk behind the steering wheel feel something of an afterthought, but that’s unlikely to be a dealbreaker.

All Capturs have a central touchscreen infotainment display. In early cars, this was either a 7.0-inch landscape-orientated screen with navigation, Bluetooth DAB, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, while higher-spec cars got a 9.3-inch portrait oriented screen with a 7.0-inch TFT digital driver display and a wireless phone charger.

The latter arrangement looks a bit posher than the former, but there's not much real difference in how the two systems work. Both are reasonably easy to find your way around most of the time, but one or two of the functions you need to control are buried a little too deeply within the menu structure.

A facelift in 2024 brought a new Google-powered 10.4-inch touchscreen media system. It's portrait-orientated and angled slightly towards the driver for better access. We like it a lot: it's easy to use, fast to respond and has sharp graphics. Buy a Techno or Esprit Alpine model and you'll even get access to Google services (such as Google Maps).

As mentioned, all Renault Captur models come with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, meaning you can connect your phone for easy access to your favourite apps.

With prices starting at around £22,000, the Renault Captur appears to offer excellent value for money against competitors. For comparison, you'll pay more than £26,000 for the cheapest Ford Puma, while the Toyota Yaris Cross starts from around £25,500.

You will need to live with the slightly weedy petrol engine for that price, though. The much more desirable hybrid Renault Captur is priced from a little over £25,000, while the range tops out at around £29,000 for a top-spec Captur Esprit Alpine. That's still pretty good value for money, especially when you consider the extensive amount of kit that comes as standard.

If you're not worried about having the latest, facelifted Renault Captur, you can save a lot of money by looking for a secondhand example. A budget of just £11,000 will get you a three-year-old example on the used market.

You’re not going to be stung by high running costs, no matter which Renault Captur you buy.

The 90PS petrol claims an official return of up to 47.9mpg, while the 145PS E-Tech hybrid manages 60.1mpg. This impressive figure ought to be fairly achievable in the real world, too. Indeed, we saw an average of around 60.0mpg during our rural test drive of the hybrid model.

That 145PS hybrid has now been replaced by a different hybrid powertrain that delivers a more muscular 160PS, yet extends fuel economy up to 64.2mpg.

Although it's now been dropped from the range, the Renault Captur was also available as a plug-in hybrid. Take its 217.3mpg fuel economy figure with a pinch of salt, but its 30-mile electric range will be ideal for those with short commutes.

You could also - briefly - get the Captur with diesel power. Its 58.9mpg efficiency wasn't that impressive, though, and is only worthwhile if you cover a lot of motorway miles.

The Renault Captur has been on sale for a long old while, and during that time, there has seen plenty of change with its trim structure. In total, we've counted 16 different trim versions of the car, and these reflect periodic incremental upgrades in equipment, and one one massive facelift, not to mention a variety of special editions offered along the way.

Obviously, 16 is way too many to talk about in detail here, but the incremental nature of the upgrades tells us that for the most amount of kit for your money when buying a used Captur, buy the latest one you can afford to maximise your chances. If you can afford one from after the 2024 facelift, then so much the better.

Since that 2024 facelift, the Renault Captur line-up has consisted of Evolution, Techno and Esprit Alpine trim levels.

Standard equipment on the Renault Captur Evolution includes:

• 17-inch alloy wheels
• Dark tinted rear windows and tailgate
• LED automatic headlights with automatic high/low beam
• Metallic paint
• Automatic windscreen wipers
• Rear parking sensors
• Rear view camera
• 10.4-inch OpenR Link touchscreen
• Arkamys six-speaker audio system and wireless smartphone connectivity
• Wireless smartphone charger
• 7.0-inch digital driver display
• Automatic air conditioning
• Central console with sliding armrest
• Electronic parking brake with auto-hold function
• Hands-free keycard
• Synthetic leather steering wheel
• Cruise control and speed limiter
• Traffic sign recognition with overspeed prevention
• Active emergency braking system
• Driver attention alert
• Distance warning alert
• Emergency lane keep assist
• Oncoming traffic and road edge detection

On top of that, the Renault Captur Techno gains:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Longitudinal roof bars
• Front- and side parking sensors
• Electrically folding door mirrors
• Modular boot floor
• Height-adjustable front passenger seat
• MULTI-SENSE driving modes
• Google services built-in
• 10.25-inch digital driver display
• Two rear USB-C ports
• Adaptive cruise control (hybrid only)

Crowning the range, the Renault Captur Esprit Alpine adds:

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• Two-tone paint with contrasting black roof colour
• Gloss black window frames
• Aluminium sports pedals
• Auto-dimming frameless rear view mirror
• Electrically adjustable and heated front seats
• Heated steering wheel
• Adaptive cruise control with lane centring
• Blind spot monitoring
• Emergency lane keep assist
• Rear cross traffic alert