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NEW KANGOO VAN
Kangoo Van, known in Europe as Kangoo Express, has been a phenomenal sales success, with more than 1.4 million having found homes since its original launch in 1997.
Retaining all of the previous version's inimitable character, but adding even greater comfort, modernity, quality and versatility, the New Kangoo Van goes further than ever before to meet the needs of its users. The newcomer is the fruit of an extensive development programme and in the realms of design, practicality and environmental-friendliness, represents a significant step forward when it comes to providing professionals with an economical and reliable van.
New Kangoo Van’s design is modern and expressive, featuring a short, robust front end, with a spacious interior and a large, practical cargo area. Meanwhile, the forward-positioned, panoramic, MPV-style windscreen ensures an airy, bright cabin.
Inside, the accent is on space, comfort and practicality thanks to an array of features and functions that are unprecedented in the compact van segment. The high seating position ensures a broad view of the road and combines with the dashboard-mounted gearlever to deliver a standard of driving comfort on a par with that of a passenger car.
New Kangoo Van is equipped with several practical storage solutions, including dashboard storage for an A4 document, an overhead parcel shelf and a large, 15-litre lidded glovebox. Multi-media and Bluetooth connectivity mean that New Kangoo Van can also double easily as a travelling office.
New Kangoo Van’s length of 4.21m frees up an optimised load capacity of 3m³, while its interior width (1.21m between wheelarches) makes it possible to accept a Euro pallet. Hinged, asymmetrical rear doors and the sliding side loading doors (depending on version) give easy access to the cargo area.
New Kangoo Van adapts to meet the needs of all professional uses. Moreover, the design of New Kangoo Van enables a long list of specific conversions to be performed thanks to the numerous specialist partnerships that have been established.
New Kangoo Van comes with a choice of economical, environmentally-friendly engines that are inexpensive to service. The range includes three diesel powerplants based on the 1.5 dCi block (68hp, 86hp and 106hp), plus two petrol engines (1.6 8V 86hp and 1.6 16V 106hp). Powered by the 86hp version of the diesel engine, New Kangoo Van returns combined cycle fuel consumption of 54.3 mpg, equivalent to CO2 emissions of just 137 grams per kilometre.
Indeed, the first two versions of the 1.5 dCi both emit 140g or less of CO2/km, making them eligible for the Renault eco² programme.
New Kangoo Van is based on the same running gear as Scénic – a model acclaimed for its dynamic performance, comfort and safety – and consequently delivers a level of performance unprecedented in the LCV market. Its wheelbase dimension of 2.7m ensures balanced, reassuring handling. Depending on version, New Kangoo Van is equipped with driver aids more commonly associated with the world of passenger cars (speed limiter, rear parking proximity sensors, automatic headlamp and windscreen wiper activation).
Its active and passive safety equipment surpasses the norm for an LCV and is also similar to that of a family car. Features include latest-generation ABS, plus MSR engine torque overrun regulation and Emergency Brake Assist (EBA). New Kangoo Van can also be ordered with ESP (Electronic Stability Programme), CSV understeer control and ASR traction control.
New Kangoo Van boasts a market-leading stopping distance of 40 metres (measured after 10 consecutive stops from 62 mph to rest).
The cabin of New Kangoo Van has been designed to ensure leading safety for all occupants, including a driver's side airbag, seatbelt pretensioners with load limiters and an anti-submarining hump in the seats. A passenger side airbag and driver's side thorax airbags are also available as options.
NEW KANGOO COMPACT
Renault is strengthening its number one status in the European LCV segment with the launch of its New Kangoo Compact, a new concept in the commercial vehicles sector, designed for urban driving.
Unveiled alongside its standard wheelbase sibling at the European Road Transport Show in Amsterdam, this agile, compact and stylish compact van shares the key strengths of its larger New Kangoo Van sibling, as well as its distinctive personality. It uses space particularly efficiently, with a maximum load capacity of 2.3m³ from an overall length of just 3.83m.
New Kangoo Compact is aimed at those whose jobs take them frequently into city centres, where parking and ease of manoeuvrability are critical, as well as those who just require a more compact van to meet their needs, regardless of location.
Setting unprecedented standards of comfort, with carefully thought-out ergonomics, its dashboard is worthy of an MPV and the high-up driving position combines with the panoramic windscreen for a broad view of the road ahead. The cabin is exceptionally spacious for such a compact vehicle, with front elbow room of 1.51m.
New Kangoo Compact’s 3.83m length is 38cm shorter than New Kangoo Van by reducing its wheelbase by an equivalent amount. The shortened wheelbase also reduces the turning circle, making it ideal for inner-city driving, as New Kangoo Van Compact needs just 9.4 metres between kerbs to complete a U-turn.
In spite of its diminuitive dimensions, New Kangoo Compact boasts a load capacity of 2.3m³. It also features an interior width of 1.21m, enabling it to accommodate standard Euro pallets.
New Kangoo Compact has many clever storage spaces, such as the A4-document dashboard stowage, overhead parcel shelf and a large, lidded 15-litre glovebox. New Kangoo Compact can also serve as a travelling office thanks to its many multimedia and navigation features.
Renault also offers a mobile navigation device holder, which is positioned near to the driver’s seat for easy visibility. The Multi-functional TunePoint system is also available with the New Kangoo Van range. Located in the glovebox, this device enables occupants to listen to their own music collection, via three ports for connecting USB keys, MP3 players and iPods™. For safe driving and ease of use, the music can be controlled via the fingertip remote controls on the steering wheel. A hands-free Bluetooth function is also available.
New Kangoo Compact has a range of engines ideally suited to motoring in built-up areas. The 1.5 dCi diesel engine is available with an output of either 68hp or 86hp, while the 1.6 8V petrol unit delivers 86hp. All of the engines drive through a five-speed manual gearbox. The availability of maximum torque from low engine speeds and a lighter weight than the standard version combine to give the 1.5 dCi New Kangoo Compact brisk acceleration and genuine driving pleasure in and about town.
With CO2 emission levels of less than 140g/km, both diesel models are particularly economical and environmentally-friendly. The dCi 86 returns combined cycle fuel consumption of 55.4 mpg (equivalent to 135 grams of CO2/km). Both 1.5 dCi versions of New Kangoo
Compact comply with the criteria for Renault’s eco² symbol. Post-launch a version offering emissions of just 129 g/km is planned. The 1.5 dCi 68 returns combined fuel consumption of 53.3, while the petrol 1.6 8V offers 35.3 mpg.
Derived from the Scénic platform, which is acclaimed for its dynamic performance, comfort and safety, New Kangoo Compact boasts handling worthy of a family saloon. It is equipped with latest-generation ABS which combines with Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) and engine torque overrun regulation. Depending on version and market, New Kangoo Compact benefits from driver aids traditionally associated with family cars (e.g. speed limiter, automatic headlamp activation and rear parking proximity sensors).
Its cabin is designed to ensure the highest levels of safety for all occupants. Both
seatbelts are equipped with pyrotechnic pretensioners which hold occupants firmly in their seats, plus load limiters which afford more effective protection for the thorax. New Kangoo Van comes with a driver’s airbag as standard, while some trim levels are equipped with both passenger and driver’s side thorax airbags. To limit damage to the pelvis in head-on collisions, the front seats have anti-submarining humps.
Because all van users seek well-designed vehicles that can adapt to their needs, Renault offers a full range of complementary conversions and accessories. The cost of mechanical work and repairs has also been minimised to ensure that New Kangoo Compact remains an economical and reliable vehicle.
Ever since it was first released, Kangoo has proved highly successful, with over 2.2 million units sold worldwide, over half of them in LCV versions. With attractive products backed by efficient services, Renault’s LCV offering is very well matched to the needs of its business customers.
The New Kangoo models, made at the MCA plant in Maubeuge, France, set new standards for quality in this vehicle segment, further improving on the best-in-class quality achievements of the previous-generation Kangoo vans.-Renault
Posted May 19th, 2008 by harminka
