Check out Renault Kwid RXT 1 litre variant specifications
New Delhi August 19The Kwid’s existing 0.8 litre engine has been reworked – by expanding its bore and stroke – to produce more capacity and indeed an extra 200 cc.
The power bumps up to 67 bhp and the torque is an impressive 91 Nm. Hold on to that figure. The first immediate impression you get when you begin driving the car is one of more apparent power. It could very easily have chased the ‘best-in-class-mileage’ tag and erred on power or driveability. But even as the Alto K10 retains the segment-best mileage crown (24.07 kmpl) the Kwid 1.0 still manages a very healthy 23.01 kmpl.
The second thing you realise almost instantly is that the car’s engine is undoubtedly a 3 cylinder – given away by its wheezy, whistley note. While on the subject of noise, overall NVH levels do seem to have improved. I probed the engineers on this in a post-drive interaction to find that the timing chain has been reworked, so has the clutch, and the engine mounts too – all making the car seem slightly quieter than the 0.8 Kwid.
The final thing you notice soon enough is how much torque the engine has. Now I was so curious about this, that I actually pulled over to look at the specs again. Peak torque kicks in only at 4250 rpm. But it feels like you are getting a lot of it early on. Again the engineers let me into why. Almost 20 Nm of torque is in fact available almost at word go, with a generous percentage then being available as low down as 1500 rpm.
The new 1.0 variant is also backed by a 2-year, 50,000 kms warranty like its sibling. I would have liked to see the Kwid start to offer dual airbags as optional at least – and on not just the RXT trim (where currently its an optional driver side airbag only). Renault has introduced a new pretensioner system seatbelt on both engine variants – but again this is only optional on the RXT sadly. And there is no talk still of optional ABS. All of these things could propel the Kwid into another league altogether – and allow it to truly take on the likes of the Celerio, Wagon R and even the Tata Tiago perhaps. The top end RXT retains its MediaNAV touchscreen interface. And all variants do still get the digital instrument cluster that remains very appealing to younger buyers.
