Renault Rafale Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

If you want an SUV that's big on style without unduly compromising practicality, quite possibly. Ideally, you won't be a badge snob, as such folk might baulk at the idea of paying nearly £50,000 for a Renault, as you'll be doing for the top-spec version of the plug-in hybrid. If you're not hung up on that sort of thing, you'll appreciate getting hold of something the size of a Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe with a similar level of plushness for a lot less.

You only have two powertrains to choose from - a self-charging hybrid or a plug-in hybrid, both of which are built around the same 1.2-litre inline-three-cylinder engine. The PHEV seems almost pointlessly powerful, putting out 300PS, so we reckon you're better off saving some money and opting for the 200PS hybrid, which will be more than quick enough for most. 

With that choice sorted, you'll need to pick between one of three trim levels. The mid-spec Techno Alpine trim strikes a good balance between cost and equipment, although it's not a massive jump from there to the top-spec trims of each powertrain, which as we'll explain later, aren't quite the same.

From a technical standpoint, the Rafale is very similar to the Renault Austral and Espace, with which it shares a platform and the majority of its components. Each is a very different proposition, though, with one being a conventional SUV and the other a three-row behemoth.

Conceptually, the Peugeot 408 is a lot closer to the Rafale, while the Citroen C5 X could also be considered a rival, although the latter is a cheaper, less premium offering. Speaking of 'premium', the Rafale also competes with more expensive coupe SUVs from the German 'big three' - we're talking about the Audi Q5 Sportback, BMW X4 and Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe. 

In terms of how posh the Rafale feels inside, the gap between it and that trio is closer than you might think, and yet it's a whole lot cheaper. Whether or not it'll tempt people away from those cars is another matter. 

Much like the Austral and Espace, the Rafale is not a cheap-feeling Renault of old. The fit and finish looks to be very solid on the whole, and there's an interesting blend of materials, including the first use of dyed cork in a car, which is employed as a textured layer cladding parts of the inner door panels.

We're less keen on the abundance of piano black plastic, which is a finish that tends to pick up scratches easily. The whole OpenR panel is surrounded in it. 

The infotainment portion of the L-shaped 'OpenR' cockpit features a 12 inch, 1,250x1562 pixel touchscreen. Pleasingly, Renault has realised that Google Maps is better than every OEM navigation setup and decided to run the whole thing on Android Automotive and use Google Maps as the Rafale's method of navigation.

You can still wirelessly hook your phone up via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto if preferred, which is easy to do. It's also very simple to switch between phone connectivity and the rest of the infotainment system's functions, which is good to see when some manufacturers make this needlessly fiddly. You may decide you don't need to, though, as there are 50 apps on the Google Play store that are compatible with the car.

You're well sorted in terms of USB ports in the Rafale, with a pair in the front, two in the rear at the back of the centre console, and on some models, another pair in the 'ingenious' rear armrest, which also includes fold-out phone/tablet holders.

We're yet to try a Rafale with the standard-fit six-speaker audio system. Our test car was the top-spec Iconic Esprit Alpine version with the 12-speaker Harman Kardon system, which is superb.

The new Renault Rafale’s extra-long wheelbase means there’s more than 300mm of kneeroom in the rear. Rear seat passengers also have a clever rear 'ingenious' armrest with two USB outlets, space for smartphones and tablets, plus snazzy fold-out screen stands.

The new Renault Rafale has an extra-large boot offering up to 647 litres of space even with the seats up, and over 1,700 litres with the rear bench folded, although in the latter configuration, you don't get a flat load space, with the boot floor sitting much lower than the backs of the rear seats. The Austral, for comparison, has 555 litres or 1,525 with the rear seats folded.

There's also a fairly deep storage area under the weird hand rest thing, although accessing it requires covering the cupholders.

There's a choice of two powertrains. The one we've tried is a 200PS full hybrid, which combines a 130PS, 1.2-litre turbocharged inline-three petrol engine with two motors and a 2kWh battery pack. The bigger one can power the front wheels, while the smaller one is what's known as a starter generator. It can start the engine and power the gearchanges of the gearbox, which doesn't use a clutch. Also, of the six gears, only four are of the conventional variety, with two described by Renault as being 'electric'. Confused? We don't blame you. 

All you need to know is this combines to provide a decent amount of electric-only running. At times, the car will also use the motors for propulsion while the engine runs at a constant RPM to keep the battery topped up, but if you ask for more performance, the combustion and electrical sides of the equation will both turn the wheels. Performance is more than adequate for most, with a 0-62mph time of 8.9 seconds. 

We never felt like the 200PS Rafale was underpowered, but if you are of that persuasion, there's a 300PS plug-in hybrid to consider. This adds an extra motor for the rear axle, and a 22kWh battery pack to give an impressive 65 miles of electric-only running. 

We haven't driven the PHEV, but what we can report is that the full hybrid is a mixed bag in terms of its execution. During more gentle driving the switches between power sources are usually imperceptible, but if you suddenly decide you want to get somewhere in a hurry, the transition can be quite jerky. 

Again, our expectations in this area for Renault vehicles have generally been low, but the Rafale is a very well-refined car. Despite having big 20-inch wheels shod in 245mm wide tyres, road noise is well contained, as is wind noise. Meanwhile, you're kept reasonably well isolated from the 1.2-litre engine, which is a good thing since it's far from the most refined triple out there.

The Rafale was awarded the full five stars by Euro NCAP in 2022, scoring well in most of the individual categories - 87% for adult occupants, 83% for children and 87% for the effectiveness of its safety assistance systems. As is common for NCAP scores, vulnerable road users get a rougher deal of it, with the Rafale scoring a more modest 69% here.

You get seven airbags, and all the usual pieces of safety tech including lane-keeping assistance, front and rear autonomous emergency braking and blind spot monitoring.

Being a new model, it's hard to say how reliable the Rafale will prove in the long term, particularly with that complicated new hybrid system. Renault doesn't tend to do particularly well in the HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index ownership survey, but it seems the brand's cars have been improving in recent years.

It's certainly reassuring that Renault's warranty is better than most, with a five years/100,000 miles of cover offered as standard, when many rivals only offer three years and in some cases combining that with a 60,000-mile cap.

There's quite a bit jump between the full hybrid and PHEV versions of the Rafale when it comes to insurance groups. The entry-level Full Hybrid Techno is in 29, the Esprit Alpine of the same powertrain group 30, and the PHEV group 38. The Atelier Alpine PHEV will likely be the most expensive to insure of the lot, sitting in group 39. 

All versions of the Rafale are classed as alternatively fuelled vehicles, you save a whopping, erm, £10 on the annual car tax bill. 'Lucky' Rafale owners will get an annual bill of £180. That won't exactly soften the blow to Rafale buyers who've opted for anything other than the full hybrid Tecno, as every other version of the car is over £40,000 and thus liable for the government's premium car tax surcharge, which is an extra £410 per year from the second to fifth year of ownership.

The Rafale's available trims vary depending on the model you choose. If it's the Full Hybrid, there's a choice of Techno, Techno Esprit Alpine and Iconic Esprit Alpine. Techno is reasonably well equipped for an entry-grade model, coming with 20-inch wheels, matrix LED headlights, the OpenR infotainment system with a six-speaker Arkamys sound system, a parking camera and various safety systems including traffic sign recognition and lane-keeping assistance. 

Techno Esprit Alpine adds the rear-wheel steering system, powered tailgate, heated steering wheel, heated windscreen, the ingenious rear armrest, adaptive cruise control, a head-up display electrically adjustable and heated front seats, plus some Alpine-themed exterior and interior tweaks.

Iconic Esprit Alpine adds a hands-free parking system, a 360-degree parking camera, the Solarbay panoramic roof, puddle lights, the Harman Kardon 12-speaker sound system, and further exterior tweaks.

The PHEV is only available in two trims - Techno Esprit Alpine and the PHEV-exclusive Atelier Alpine trim ('atelier' meaning an artist's workshop or studio, in case you're wondering). The latter is broadly the same as Iconic Esprit Alpine, but includes some unspecified "Alpine tuning" and some aesthetic differences including 21-inch wheels.