Renault Triber: Budget Practicality

This is how we figure the meeting at the Renault headquarters must have gone when they came up with the Renault Triber. “Here is what this car has to achieve,” someone at the meeting must have said, “it has to be able to seat 7 people comfortably. It also has to be an MPV that comes in the price bracket of a b-segment hatchback, we can’t skimp out on the equipment and features, and it has to be under the 4-meter mark. Good luck.” Surely, a stunned silence must have followed as the fellow walked out of the room, leaving the rest to figure out a way of achieving this task of boiling the ocean.As impossible as it seems, Renault has achieved more or less everything they set out to with the Renault Triber… at least on paper. We thought it sounded too good to be true, so we asked the good folks at Advanced Automobiles Pvt Ltd (distributors of Renault Cars in Nepal) to give us the keys so we could test it out for ourselves.IT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE AN ABOMINATIONConsider for a while, the task the designers had at hand with the Renault Triber. Creating an MPV that seats 7 people while staying under the 4-meter mark and still making an aesthetically appealing car could not have been easy. Let’s give credit where credit is due, Renault has done a great job with the Triber in achieving good design. This car was created for Indian families who want to travel with the grandparents, parents, and all the children piled into the car, complete with packed lunches and thermoses of hot tea while they head out to a picnic or the Satsang.Renault India collaborated with Renault France to develop this modern, practical and value for money people carrier. The French carmaker also plans to launch a sub4m compact sedan as well as a compact SUV based on the same platform. The Triber is based on a modified version of the CMF-A platform which underpins the Kwid. The design is simple and purposeful. You won’t find many fancy frills as the Triber has been kept pretty straight forward in terms of the design elements. A raised stance, plastic bumper, and faux skid plates work to give the Renault Triber a crossover look.When you view its profile, you will notice two things. The first being the steeped roof that adds headroom for the rear passengers. You will also notice that the wheels have been pushed as far out towards the bumper as possible in order to extend the wheelbase, thereby improving the legroom for the occupants of the car. And the side cladding, well, those are just stickers. You get projector headlamps as standard across all variants. You don’t get fog lamps though, not even as an accessory. On the contrary, you get DRLs in place of where you’d expect the fog lamps to be.Other things that you get with the Triber are roof rails that can withhold the weight of up to 50kgs (available only in the RXT and RXZ models), 15” tires on the RXZ and 14” tires on lower variants, steel wheels that look like alloy, plastic wheel arches that get indicators (none on the ORVMs), and cool wraparound tail lamps that Renault calls ‘eagle beak’ tail lamps.ONCE YOU DECIDE TO GET INTO THE CAR, THE CAR UNLOCKS AUTOMATICALLY.That’s provided you approach it with the keys in your pockets. It also locks itself when you walk away from the car after you’ve parked it. The good thing about the cabin is that it’s spacious. There is plenty of legroom and headroom. We reckon there will be slightly less usable space in the third row (the seats weren’t provided), however, Renault promises that it will be usable for adults. The cabin is practical, but it isn’t fancy. You will find plenty of scratchy plastic with a straightforward design.Some elements like the pull/push door locks and the pull-type doorknob to open the bonnet, seem a little primitive. But we understand why it’s so, considering the price point of the Triber. What we did not like was the digital instrument console that looked a little too tacky. It is clear that the Renault Triber is built to be practical.The second row is very comfortable for two adults and you can slide them forwards or backward to your liking as well as fold them individually. However, the third passenger seated in the middle will be less comfortable and only gets a lap belt and an extremely flat seat. You also get aircon vents on the B-pillars which will be very welcome once summer comes along in full swing. You can control the rear aircon vents via a nob that’s placed behind the handbrakes. Even the third-row gets roof mounted a/c vents.To further the cause of practicality, there are plenty of storage spaces that are very useful. You get a storage bin under the front seat that can hold up to 1kg. Also very useful is a deep 4.3L storage space in the center console that gets cooling. You also get 2 gloveboxes, the upper one is shallow and suitable for documents and such; while the lower glovebox is more accommodating with a 7liter space.This is also equipped with a cooling function. There is plenty of boot space on the Triber, 625 liters of it. But that’s because the Triber comes as a 5 seater in Nepal. You do, however, get the option to put in the third row yourself. With the third row installed, the boot space shrinks to 84 liters.In terms of the in-car entertainment system, the Triber is equipped with the MediaNav Evolution infotainment unit with an 8” touchscreen. The system supports Android Auto / Apple CarPlay and comes with 4 speakers + 2 tweeters. You get USB, Bluetooth, Aux-in connectivity, and USB Video Playback.It also features an Eco rating display, which shows you how economically you have been driving and also advises you on how to improve your efficiency. It gives you a score based on how efficient your driving style is via star ratings for acceleration, gear shifting, and braking which for some reason they have decided to call “anticipation”. The top-end variant gets a reversing camera with static guidelines.HERE IS HOW IT IS TO DRIVE.Powering the Triber is a 1.0L 3-cylinder petrol engine which is a tweaked version of the one that you get in the Kwid. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to tell that it isn’t a powerhouse. Nevertheless, the 71BHP@ 6250rpm and 96Nm@3500 rpm gets the job done. You’re not going to get anywhere fast, but it will get you there. If you really ask a lot from the engine you will be met with a lot of noise and vibrations.Driving in the city is adequate, but on the highway, you will be working the engine hard. The light clutch doesn’t make things a lot of fun, but the 5-speed gearshift is decent. You’ll make the best of it if you’re driving it at a passive speed like the MPV that it is, and not like a maniac. This will also help keep the body rolls in check.The ride quality is decent and the Triber soaks up minor bumps and potholes well. However, it isn’t always a cushy ride. The suspensions did better with passengers in the rear seat as compared to being vacant.The electric power steering is decent and is great for in-city driving or when you find yourself in a tight parking spot. Even on the highways, the steering wheel weighs up nicely. In terms of safety, all variants of the Triber get ABS + EBD as standard. You also get 4 airbags in higher variants, however, it is still far from the safest offering in the market. The brakes work as expected and will get the job done well.SO WHERE DOES THIS BRING US WITH THE RENAULT TRIBER?Once again, the Renault Triber is focusing on making the Triber as practically usable as possible. So we understand why the performance plays second fiddle to the utility factor. The seat positions alone have a number of settings that you can use to make the best use of the space inside the Triber.  You’ve got plenty of usable storage spaces throughout the cabin, the majority of which are extremely useful.The possibility of transporting 7 people from one place to another in relative comfort, with a bit of luggage will always win against corner carving and/or an exhilarating driving experience when it comes to the Renault Triber. But the experience you get when you’re driving is nothing to write home about.The Renault Triber does not feel like it’s trying to compete with any existing product; at least not directly. What Renault has done with the Triber is to create a differentiator and filled a void in the market that they discovered. A better engine would have been great but that’s true of almost any car in the market today. But the moment they fit in a better motor, the Triber will no longer be available at this price point.This car is for the average income level family that has to accommodate an above-average number of family members in a car that comes under a budget. The distributors in Nepal offer the Renault Triber as a 5 seater but we still see the Triber filling the unique needs of a large family.