Renault Symbioz 2024 preview: walkaround, specs and full details

Meet the brand-new Renault Symbioz: a family-focused mid-size SUV that’s looking to knock the Nissan Qashqai off its high horse. We’re told that the Symbioz has been conceived to continue Renault’s long lineage of ‘voitures à vivre’, or ‘cars for living’, which stretches all the way back to the Renault 16 from 1965.

That’s not all. The Symbioz is designed to plug the gap between the Captur compact SUV and the larger, more premium Austral in the French marque’s petrol and hybrid model range, and brings the number of offerings Renault has in the hugely competitive C-segment of the car market to five.

What powertrain options and performance can we expect?

The Renault Symbioz sits on a stretched version of the CMF-B platform used by the Renault Captur small SUV and the Clio supermini. Every model features a full-hybrid powertrain – the same E-Tech hybrid 145 setup also found in its siblings.

Under the bonnet is a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that works together with one electric motor to drive the front wheels, while a separate starter-generator motor helps fire up the engine when needed and recovers the energy it produces to top-up the car’s 1.2kWh battery. 

The combined power output is 143bhp. Renault hasn’t confirmed a 0-62mph time for the Symbioz yet, but it’ll probably be over 10 seconds based on how long it takes the smaller Captur E-Tech to complete the benchmark sprint.

What do we know about the efficiency and running costs? 

The two electric motors are powered by a 1.2kWh battery located under the boot floor, which allows the Renault Symbioz to always start in EV mode and spend up to 80 per cent of the time driving on pure-electric power when in town. It also features ‘predictive hybrid driving’ that uses data on your route, journey time and traffic from Google Maps to optimise use of the electric motor and the petrol engine. 

In addition to the clever efficiency tech, it helps that this family crossover weighs less than 1,500kg. Renault claims the Symbioz can return up to 61.4mpg, and has the potential to cover up to 1,000km (621 miles) on a single tank of petrol.

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You don’t have to worry about charging the battery in the Symbioz, as that’s taken care of by the starter generator motor and regenerative braking. There’s an extra ‘B’ mode for stronger regenerative braking when you lift off the accelerator, plus an E-Save function that maintains at least 40 per cent battery charge for use later in your journey to maximise fuel economy when needed.

What is the exterior and interior design like?

Renault’s Design Projects Director, Paula Fabregat, revealed to us that the brand wanted the Symbioz to be a “sexy box”. She also revealed that the new model was designed at exactly the same time as the facelifted Renault Captur, in the knowledge that the purposeful, chunky front end look would be worn by both cars. 

Of course, both models embrace Renault’s newest design language that was first seen on the all-electric Scenic E-Tech. Signature elements of this include the sharp vertical LED strakes, complex grille pattern, sculpted bonnet and generally very angular styling. 

It’s not all copy and paste. The Symbioz gets a unique, more heavily stylised rear end compared to the Captur, plus 3D ‘ice cube’ tail-lights and a large roof spoiler. 

The new 18 and 19-inch alloy wheels are all exclusive to the Symbioz, and buyers will have seven paint colours to choose from, including the new Mercury Blue shade seen here.

Inside, the Symbioz blends familiar elements from the interiors of the Clio and Captur with its latest Google-powered technology. Esprit Alpine trim adds a few special touches, including body-hugging bucket seats, French tricolore flags and a dashboard panel with a subtle blue gradient.

What do we know about the infotainment system? 

Every Renault Symbioz features a 10.3-inch customisable digital driver’s display and 10.4-inch touchscreen running the very latest version of Renault’s OpenR Link infotainment system. It’s the same software found in the facelifted Captur and fabulously funky Renault 5 EV, and is based on the Android Automotive operating system from Google. 

That means the menus are easy to navigate because they’re laid out like those on a smartphone and services like Google Maps and Google Assistant come built-in. There’s 50 additional apps available through the Google Play store too, such as Waze and Spotify, but wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto also come as standard if you prefer. 

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While cabin temperature is displayed on the touchscreen, the Symbioz does feature a bank of physical toggle switches for the climate controls, plus actual buttons on the steering wheel. We also like that the wireless charging pad, which we found can accommodate even the largest of today’s smartphones. It’s located out of sight under the housing for the gear selector so you shouldn’t get distracted by any incoming notifications.

How practical is the Renault Symbioz and how big is the boot space?

We got to play around with the Renault Symbioz ahead of its official reveal and were impressed by how spacious it felt in the back for a car this size. Even with six-foot tall adults sitting up front, there’s ample legroom for similarly tall rear passengers, who also get headroom to spare. There’s lots of space under the front seats for passengers’ feet too and only a small hump in the floor. 

The single-piece Solarbay glass roof fitted on the model we examined is very impressive, and certainly helps make the cabin feel more airy. Rather than using a mechanical blind, the opacity of the glass itself can be changed from fully transparent to fully opaque, or even half-and-half, at the push of a button.

The door bins up front are a decent size, while those in the back are good for a water bottle at most, but there are nets on the backs of the seats for some extra storage. Rear passengers also get a pair of USB-C charging ports.

Like the smaller Captur, the Renaut Symbioz features a sliding rear bench that can be pulled forward 16cm. It’s quick and simple to do this by pulling the handle underneath the middle seat.

The Symbioz offers 492 litres of boot space as standard – just shy of the 504-litre capacity in the Nissan Qashqai – but that figure expands to 624 litres with the rear seats slid all the way forwards. The rear bench also folds down in a 60:40 split, giving you 1,582 litres of space to play with.

What safety tech does the Renault Symbioz have? 

Up to 24 advanced driver assistance systems are available on the Symbioz, including ‘Active Driver Assist’ which offers Level 2 autonomous driving capabilities by combining adaptive cruise control with stop and go function, lane centering and traffic sign recognition. Rear automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning, lane departure warning and driver attention alert are among the other features on offer, as well as a 360-degree parking camera setup.

But Renault knows that some drivers don’t want these features active all the time, so it’s also fitted a ‘My Safety’ button that activates personalised settings for the ADAS suite. Drivers can decide if they want a function on, to what level, and if they want audible alerts. 

The Symbioz also gets a ‘Safety Coach’ that gives you advice on how to drive more safely in real-time and a score out of 100. It’ll even tell you to maintain more distance between the car in front or to be more attentive, if necessary.

What will the Renault Symbioz price be?

Prices for the Renault Symbioz will start from under £30,000 when order books open this July, and there will be three trim levels to choose from: Techno, Techno Esprit Alpine and Iconic Esprit Alpine.

The kit lists for each specification haven’t been finalised yet, but every Symbioz will come with the 10.4-inch touchscreen and Google apps built-in, wireless smartphone connectivity, wireless charging pad and a suite of safety systems. We also know that mid-range models will be equipped with a powered tailgate, and top-spec cars will come as standard with the Solarbay roof. 

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