Renault Arkana review

The Arkana’s association with the Renault Captur is most apparent inside, where the dashboard looks very similar. However, even in the mid-spec S-Edition of our test car, the Arkana loses some of the quirky features that make the Captur stand out. Instead of the soft-touch inserts in the dashboard, it gets a taller trim panel that looks like engine-turned aluminium at a glance but is just glossy plastic. The Arkana doesn’t have the Captur’s floating centre console, either, even though its auto-only gearbox layout doesn’t need the space underneath for a gear linkage.

There’s some evidence of cost-cutting around the interior, too. For example, the gear selector’s ‘PRNDB’ icons aren’t backlit, which means you occasionally find yourself in the wrong gear when driving after dark. Some areas, such as the centre armrest cubby, feel particularly cheap. Most of the touchpoints are covered in leather, though, and the design is contemporary, making the Arkana’s perceived quality at least respectable by crossover standards. Even so, you don’t expect a car that’s bigger and more expensive than the Captur to feel like a step down in quality, however slight.

Physical heating and ventilation controls work great, but blank switches are a missed opportunity for some infotainment shortcuts

Illya Verpraet

Road Tester

At least it is a good deal more spacious. The cabin doesn’t feel much wider than a Captur’s, but rear leg room is generous even by the standards of bigger crossover SUVs, with the Arkana offering more than both the Nissan Qashqai and the Hyundai Tucson.

The abundance of space continues in the boot, which not only has a square shape and a flat floor with a low loading lip, but is also very roomy, easily beating some mid-sized SUVs for length and width. Outright boot volume is about the same as that of a Qashqai, and although the load space isn’t as high as in other SUVs, forgoing the optional spacesaver spare wheel that our test car had will liberate extra storage under the floor.

The sloping tailgate eats into rear head room a bit, but its steepest drop starts just behind the rear headrests, so head room is not a big issue. That roofline does make rear visibility quite poor, though: the rear headrests easily block most of your view through the rear-view mirror when they’re up. To make matters worse, Renault has also decided not to give the Arkana a rear wiper, so rainwater can just sit on the rear screen.

Infotainment and sat-nav

The cheapest Arkana, in Iconic trim, comes with a 7.0in touchscreen and Renault’s latest Easy Link system, as well as wired Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. RS Line and S-Edition trims, like our test car, get a 9.3in display. Renault has never been a leader in in-car digital tech, but once you get used to some of the latest system’s quirks, it works quite well.

The volume is adjusted by touchscreen buttons so, as a driver, you default to the media stalk behind the steering wheel that has been common on Renaults since the 1990s. Some more physical shortcut buttons would have been welcome, but you can switch between smartphone mirroring and the native interface on the fly by using a button that pops up on top of the main screen.

There are plenty of device charging ports, with a 12V socket and two USB-A ports in front, and two more in the back. There is no option for wireless charging, though.