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It is the designated heir of the famous Renault 16, the first car dedicated to families launched almost sixty years ago, and seeks to replace the super spacious Renault Espace, which became a best seller in the 80s thanks to its 7 seats, in the heart of families. We are talking about Symbioz, the new C-Suv of the transalpine brand, which as can be seen from the name, aims to be the perfect symbiosis of the two models that characterized the concept of “voiture à vivre”.
And to be “loved” by today’s families like its “ancestors”, Symbioz first and foremost offers a trunk and a modular passenger compartment, maintaining compact dimensions that also make it suitable for moving around the city. In Renault’s offer, Symbioz with its 4.71 meters in length fits between Megane (4.20 meters) and Scenic (4.47 metres) in size. It is built on the CMF-B platform, already used by Renault for the new Captur and the Arkana and in fact completes the offering of the French brand’s E-Tech hybrid range, which includes the aforementioned Arkana and the Austral.
Renault Symbioz, all official photos
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Returning to the spaces made available, the trunk specifically allows a maximum load of 624 liters with the rear seats advanced (if there are no adults seated). The “base” load volume is 492 liters with the rear seat in position, while with the rear seats fully folded it reaches 1,582 litres. In terms of design, the front and rear stand out with well-pronounced edges that make the C-Suv aggressive enough but without sacrificing refinement. The Renault logo is inevitable, clearly visible in the center of the grille and as a motif for the grille graphics. At the front there is space for the elongated headlights connected to each other by a black band which goes well with the lower band in the same color as the bodywork.
There is also the Solarbay roof inaugurated with the Rafale, based on AmpliSky technology, which opaques the segments of the glass surface of the roof as desired by the driver (or whoever occupies the front or rear seats).
Full Hybrid for 80% of city travel without consuming petrol
Under the bonnet is the E-Tech full hybrid 145 engine (already offered in the Capture) which includes two electric motors, one of which is used for starting, and a 1.6-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine with 69 kW (94 hp) . The transmission has 4 gears for the petrol engine and 2 gears for the main electric motor. According to Renault, thanks also to the brand’s experience in Formula 1, especially in terms of regeneration and energy recovery, Symbioz is able to travel up to 80% of the city route entirely on electric power. It also has the so-called “predictive hybrid driving” function. This allows you to maximize the use of electrical energy compared to thermal energy, to the benefit of consumption. It is based on data arriving from 0Google Maps and pays particular attention to topography (uphills, downhills, etc.), travel time and traffic. This data is processed in advance by the battery management system to make maximum use of the electric drive energy. Symbioz has a declared consumption in the WLTP cycle of 4.6 l/100 km.