Boarding and ‘Lodgy-ing’

The Toyota Innova has lorded over the multi-purpose vehicle segment for many years. It is one model the sale of which has grown year after year, despite hefty price hikes. And its image doesn’t seem to have been affected that much despite the wholesale adoption by the taxi operator segment.

Apparently Indian car buyers have this strong desire to travel together with their extended nuclear family during the weekends. So, while the average individual Innova buyer would be one who already owns a car, there have been many others looking for a more compact, less expensive alternative. No wonder, there has been such a proliferation of new compact MPVs, built on shared platforms.

But, in the ‘Innova Versus the others’ hearing, there is one aspect of the budget buyer’s mind that is clear – he is still looking for class and comfort, even though he is willing to make the space compromise. And the buyer is still swayed by the existing image of the brand’s image in terms of reliability and low maintenance. Those points partly explain the reason why the Nissan Evalia and the Chevrolet Enjoy didn’t sell very much, while the Maruti Ertiga did.

Joining this soirée soon is the Renault Lodgy with a ‘combo’ proposal – space, reliability and a compact footprint. The Lodgy is being officially launched next month, but we got behind its wheel for a test drive earlier this week.

The Renault Lodgy, also Dacia Lodgy in other markets, has been built on a new platform, though it still shares a number of parts with the previous Dacia models such as the Duster. Considerable development work has gone into making the Lodgy more India-friendly, with the ground clearance, the seating, air-conditioning and the suspension having been extensively reworked.

The Lodgy’s exterior design is neither too bland, nor too aggressive. In fact, the front design is very sedan-like, just with over-sized elements. The almond-shaped wrap-around headlamps, the chrome-slatted bonnet grille and an integrated airdam with fog lamps on either side present a clean, yet attractive introduction to the otherwise quite MPV-like design. From the side, the Lodgy’s MPV character is even more evident. Mild, dual wheel arch definition lines and a gradually rising shoulder-line mark the side-profile. Door handles look familiar and have been carried forward from the Duster. The 15-inch alloys look a bit small for the Lodgy, but that isn’t unusual for most India-spec vehicles across segments.

At the rear, the tail-lamps sport an arrow-like design. And unlike the puny units positioned low in the Evalia, the Lodgy’s lamps are proportionately large and merge seamlessly into the exterior design. However, hinged at the top, the tail-gate is a rather flat panel with a large rear glass. There is a lot of chrome in the Lodgy’s exterior design – at least in the trim variant we tested – and that is a good thing.

The general character of the exterior design is in a way carried into the Lodgy’s cabin too. There is an air of cleanliness to the dashboard design, seats and other trim that have been used. The first aspect of the cabin that hits you is the amount of space there is for all three rows of seats. The Lodgy is being offered in two configurations – 7-seater with captain seats in the middle row and 8-seater with a bench seat for the second row.

The dashboard is a simple, clean affair with an easy-on-the-eye design and plastic quality that doesn’t put you off. There are a few elements like the aircon vents and door trim that seems to have been carried over from the Duster. The Lodgy’s cabin sports a dual colour theme – light grey and creamy beige – which layers the dashboard trim and faux leather seats. The instruments are housed in a triple chrome ringed cluster and the centre console also sports a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment display.

The knobs and controls feel sturdy to touch and are easy to operate. Most of the switches are at the right places except for the cruise control button and unlike in the earlier Duster, the power window buttons have moved from the floor console to the driver’s side door. Only two cabin parts stick out like a sore thumb – the glossy black trim on the centre console and the heavy lid covering a storage binnacle at the top of the dash.

The seats are not heavily bolstered, but are fairly comfy. The captain seats with their cross-stitch pattern look neat and offered height adjustment too for the front two seats. With all three rows in use, the boot space is only 207 litres, but multiple seat combinations are possible to ensure that there is enough space for people and luggage. The third row bench seat actually looks like it can be used by adults though, with not enough thigh support, the middle spot where one’s legs can be stretched between the captain seats of the second row seems to be the best one for long drives.

Just like in the Duster, the Lodgy is also offered with the same powertrain and in the same state of tunes. So, like the Duster, the Lodgy too will be offered with the same, reliable K9K diesel engine in two power and torque ratings. The 1.5-litre dCi engine will be available with a peak power of 85PS or 110PS. There are expected to be three trim variants with both the engine rating options.

We only had the 110PS being offered to us for the test drive. The engine is familiar and its torquey performance straight away feels like the right match for the Lodgy. Both in city traffic and highway speeds, there is more than enough juice from the engine to make use of. There is a bit of lag, but once the needle passes the 1,400-1500rpm level, dollops of torque kick in. We are not sure, how responsive the engine would feel in its 85PS avatar, especially if the Lodgy would be fully loaded with people and luggage.

The best part about the powertrain in the Lodgy is the excellent NVH packaging that the engineers at Renault have done. The cabin is absolutely quiet all the way to a high 3,500rpm. The engine redline seems to have been set at about 5,000 rpm. Renault claims that together with the 6-speed manual gearbox, the engine is capable of delivering 21.04kmpl and 19.98kmpl of mileage in the two – 85PS and 110PS – variants.

Renault has tried to pack a lot of sedan-like features into the Lodgy. Reverse parking sensors and camera, steering mounted controls, navigation, touchscreen display, lots of storage options and a whole bunch of safety features. We would say that the Lodgy’s cabin quality is good, though the Innova’s is still a notch better. But with a compact footprint and maximised interior space, the Lodgy will have a lot going for it. If it is priced between the ₹ 10 lakh to ₹ 12 lakh range, this could be a really ‘Lodgy-cal’ buy.