Renault Rafale review

Cars inspired by planes are nothing new but the Renault Rafale we're reviewing here has one of the best claims to fame. It’s named after the Caudron-Renault Rafale – a 1934 racing plane that resulted from Louis Renault’s fascination with speed and flying.

The winged Rafale broke records and won awards, and we imagine Renault would love to replicate its success with this coupé SUV. That’s probably why the Rafale is equipped with hybrid engines and underpinnings part-developed by sports-car manufacturer Alpine.

The thing is though, the Rafale is entering a competitive market and is up against the similarly sleek Citroën C5 X and Peugeot 408 as well as premium models including the Audi Q3 Sportback and BMW X2. You might also be tempted by sporty family SUVs such as the Cupra Formentor. So does it have what it takes to stand out?

That’s what we’ll tell you in this review as we compare the Renault Rafale with the best coupé SUVs in key areas including performance, comfort, practicality and costs. Read on to find out how we rate it...

The entry-level Renault Rafale is the Hybrid 200, which combines a 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol engine with two electric motors (one’s 50kW, the other is a tiny 25kW one on the engine starter) and a 2kWh electric battery.

You’ll almost always set off in electric mode and continue to drive on electricity until you put your foot down or the battery runs out of charge. The engine and hybrid system together produce 197bhp, and thanks to the instant electrically assisted power off the line, the 0-62mph time is a brisk 8.9 seconds. It’s really easy to make good progress, and you have more than enough oomph for bursts of acceleration when overtaking or getting up to motorway speeds.

The only thing that lets down that feeling of good progress is a slight pause between you putting your foot down and the automatic gearbox flicking down a couple of gears. That said, the gearbox is fine when you’re just driving normally, switching through the gears smoothly.

The other – faster – option is a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with four-wheel drive and a lot more power (296bhp), cutting the 0-62mph time to 6.4 seconds. That’s quicker than the Cupra Formentor eHybrid (7.2 seconds) and the Peugeot 408 Hybrid 225 (7.8 seconds).

The Rafale PHEV’s extra power comes from a slightly more powerful petrol engine (with a bigger turbocharger) and a third electric motor producing 136bhp driving the rear wheels.

Sport mode brings full power and a rear-biased power delivery to help it feel more balanced. It’s quick, although with the car weighing nearly two tonnes, it doesn’t shove you into the back of your seat as hard as you may expect.

In electric mode, the PHEV feels lively enough at keeping up with low-speed traffic, with the petrol engine kicking to lend a hand only when you pin the accelerator pedal to the floor. The Rafale PHEV's official electric-only range is 65 miles, which is longer than for a PHEV Peugeot 408. The facelifted Cupra Formentor is expected to manage more than 70 miles officially.

Things aren’t so promising when it comes to the Rafale’s steering. So far, we’ve driven the car in higher-spec Alpine trims, which include 4Control four-wheel steering. The system is great for parking and navigating tight bends while on a twisting country road it only requires small steering inputs to make it feel more effortless. The quick turn-in response takes some time to get used to, but it’s well suited to roads with fast-sweeping bends.

Even so, the steering doesn’t provide a strong sense of grip, so it doesn’t inspire as much confidence as you’d hope when turning in to a bend. The fact that the Rafale leans more through corners than the sportier Cupra Formentor means it's not that much fun to drive.

The Rafale PHEV in Atelier Alpine trim comes with adaptive suspension as standard, which adjusts its softness depending on the drive mode. Even in its firmest Dynamic setting, body lean could still be kept in tighter control. We wouldn't go as far as to say it's bad to drive but for fun on a country road you'll be better off with the Formentor – or, indeed, a BMW X2.

In the Hybrid 200, the ride is less brittle than it is in the closely-related Renault Austral but still feels firm, and there’s a thump as you drive over imperfections. The impressively-cushioned Citroën C5 X deals with imperfections far better and is generally comfier.

Even with adaptive suspension fitted, the Rafale PHEV’s low-speed ride is firm and amplifies minor lumps and bumps. The car also pogos slightly (pitching back and forth) before settling down again when dealing with larger speed bumps. That smoothes out once you drive above town speeds, but overall the Peugeot 408 has a more comfortable ride.

In better news, the Rafale is impressively refined as you drive along, especially when it comes to engine noise. Of course, when running on battery power alone, there’s very little noise, but even when the engine is running, you’ll likely not notice it unless you floor the throttle.

Wind and road noise are well contained, but there is a bit of suspension noise as you drive over larger road imperfections. The brake pedal response blends the car’s regenerative braking system with the car’s conventional braking system so it’s easy to bring the car to a stop smoothly. It could do with more bite at higher speeds, but it’s much better than the 408’s grabby response.

“I like that in pure-electric mode the Rafale PHEV still feels like it can easily keep up with traffic. Some rivals feel sluggish when running on electricity alone, especially when going uphill.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

No matter which trim level you go for, the Renault Rafale’s sports seats are comfortable and offer plenty of back and side support.

What’s more, six-way adjustable seats (which include lumbar support) come as standard, making it really easy to find your perfect driving position. All versions except entry-level Iconic come with electric adjustment as standard, and you can save the setting through the infotainment touchscreen.

Despite being a coupé SUV, the Rafale doesn't give you the kind of raised driving position you get in proper SUVs including the Audi Q3. Even so, it’s easy to see out over the bonnet and the narrow front windscreen pillars ensure you have good visibility at junctions. 

The view over your shoulder is reduced by wide rear pillars, while the very small rear window really limits your view straight out of the back. Parking is made easier by standard-fit front and rear parking sensors, and a rear-view camera on all trim levels – or if you go for the top trims, an upgraded 360-degree camera and a system that’ll park the car for you.

When it comes to screens, you’ll find a 12.3in digital driver's display behind the steering wheel and a 12.0in portrait-oriented touchscreen, which is tilted slightly towards the driver. Both look crisp and the Google-based infotainment system responds to prods quickly. 

You get plenty of features, including standard DAB radio, Bluetooth, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring, a voice-control function and built-in Google Maps sat-nav. 

As with many of the Rafale’s rivals, you operate the infotainment features through the touchscreen. However, you also get a row of physical buttons along the bottom of the screen, which are a welcome addition and allow you to make changes to the climate-control settings with far less distraction than if they were buried in the screen’s menus.

Interior quality is impressive, with soft-touch fabrics covering pretty much every surface and any harder plastics hidden low down and out of sight. All the seats have Alcantara inserts that add to the high-quality feel and give the interior a touch of sportiness. True, it doesn’t feel as fancy as the BMW X2 interior but it’s a step up from a Citroën C5 X or Peugeot 408. 

It’s worth noting that we’ve only examined the higher-spec Esprit Alpine and Atelier Alpine trims so far – we can't tell you whether the quality feel will extend to cheaper Rafales.

“I find it takes some time to get used to all the stalks on the steering column, including one for the gear selector, one for the windscreen wipers and one for the media controls on the right hand side.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

Up front, two six-footers will have no trouble getting comfortable in the Renault Rafale thanks to the generous amounts of head and leg room on offer. Even if they’re both quite broad, the wide interior means they won’t be rubbing shoulders.

There’s generous storage in the front interior, including door cubbies that’ll each fit a large bottle of water. There are two sections in the centre console – one with two cupholders, the other with a deep well for odds and ends. You can only access one at a time because the other will be covered by the sliding armrest, which doubles as a wireless phone-charging pad. 

As with the front, there’s plenty of leg room in the rear and more than enough head room for your 6ft friends. There’s not much space for feet under the seats though. More positively, the central transmission tunnel may be wide but it’s very low and won’t leave your middle-seat passenger uncomfortably trying to find space for their feet.

We really like that the middle seat contains has a fold-out armrest with two small storage cubbies and two fold-out phone or tablet holders to keep back-seat passengers entertained on long drives. You get that as standard on all versions except entry-level Techno.

Handily, the rear seat backs can be folded down in a 40/20/40 split, making it really easy to load long items through while still having occupants on the outer rear seats. That’s better than the 60/40 split you’ll find in the Citroën C5 X and Peugeot 408.

There are no levers in the boot to fold down the seats from the back of the car, as there are on some models. With the seats folded in the PHEV, there's a step from the boot floor to the folded backrest so it’s not particularly easy to slide in longer items.

With its floor in the highest position, the regular hybrid Rafale has 535 litres of boot space, meaning it matches the Citroën C5 X and Peugeot 408, and will easily swallow a family’s weekly shopping or a couple of buggies. Dropping the boot floor increases that number to 627 litres but gives you a long drop down to the boot floor.

Meanwhile, the PHEV has a fixed height boot floor and a maximum capacity of 539 litres. There is a small storage area under the boot floor to store the charge cable, although it will need to be wound up and packaged away with some care.

“Unlike in the Audi Q3 Sportback, in the Rafale I had plenty of clearance above my head when sitting in the rear seats. There’s plenty of leg room too.” – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

In entry-level Techno trim, the Renault Rafale’s list price is slightly more than the cheapest Audi Q3 Sportback or Cupra Formentor while a Citroën C5 X or Peugeot 408 will cost significantly less. The BMW X2 costs more than all of them.

The Rafale is predicted to hold its value quite well, depreciating at the same rate as the X2 and slower than its other rivals. That’s good news because it should keep PCP rates competitive. To make sure you get the best price, take a look at our new Renault deals page. 

The regular hybrid should keep running costs low for private buyers, with up to 60.1mpg possible according to official figures. The Rafale PHEV has an official figure of 564.9mpg. You'll need to charge it up a lot to get close to that, but when the battery runs low, it retains a small amount of charge to function as a regular hybrid to be more efficient than rivals that switch to solely running on the petrol engine.

The PHEV is the one to go for as a company car because, with CO2 emissions of 12g/km, it's in a lower BIK tax bracket than the regular hybrid.

Three trim levels are available for the Rafale Hybrid: Techno, Techno Esprit Alpine and Iconic Esprit Alpine. The PHEV is available in Techno Esprit Alpine and Atelier Alpine.

Techno comes with 20in alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, matrix LED headlights, ambient lighting and fabric upholstery.

Techno Esprit Alpine gets a heated steering wheel, four-wheel steering, heated front seats, a heated windscreen and a powered tailgate.

Range-topping Iconic Esprit Alpine has styling tweaks, a Solarbay panoramic glass roof, an upgraded 12-speaker Harman Kardon stereo system, puddle lamps and a park-assist system.

Atelier Alpine is essentially the same, but adds adaptive suspension, a gesture-controlled powered tailgate, a black rear spoiler and a Snow driving mode to make the most of the four-wheel-drive system.

The safety experts at Euro NCAP awarded the Rafale the full five-star rating when it was crash-tested in 2022. Safety equipment includes emergency lane-keeping assist, traffic-sign recognition, automatic emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring and a system that measures driver awareness. 

In terms of reliability, Renault finished high up in ninth place out of 31 car makers in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey. That’s below Toyota and Citroen but above Skoda, Volvo and Mazda. The standard Renault warranty of five years or 100,000 miles is one of the longest out there, but you can get seven and 10 years respectively from Kia and Toyota.

“There aren’t many options available at all, but I quite like the Style Pack, which adds a small boot-lid spoiler and underbody lighting down the side of the car. The lighting switches on briefly when you unlock the car and reminds me modified cars.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

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