A great value family SUV full of BabyDrive family friendly features!
By Tace Clifford
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BabyDrive Verdict
Having not driven the Renault Koleos Intens for three years I am keen to get back into it and see how it has changed and improved as a BabyDrive… let's find out!
The Renault Koleos Intens makes a very generous sized five-seater family SUV that has some FANTASTIC BabyDrive features! Like being able to adjust the volume of soooo many things in the car, like the indicators, lane departure warning and parking sensors etc. This makes it really practical for families with small children who don't want them disturbed and also for people with autism or for whom sound is disturbing.
The rear lights can be turned on and off from a button in the front ceiling, near the glasses case, which is another great feature for parents.
I have found my daughter does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it’s really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.
Also if I am travelling home and it is getting near to bedtime and I DEFINITELY DON’T want her to fall asleep in the car as even a five minute nap in the car means bed time is all over!!!! I lean back and pop the light on so it’s not dark and try to keep her awake!! Along with screaming/singing at the top of my voice!!!
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
The 2020 Renault Koleos does a lot of things well, including space throughout the car. We could fit three child seats across the second-row seats. I could just fit between two child seats with my shoulders compressed and I'm 162cm.
It's the legroom that makes this car impressive and very practical for families. With rear-facing child seats installed we could put the driver's seat in it's furthest back position and fit a 184cm driver in the front!
On first impressions, it seems space has not been borrowed from the boot either as it seems massive but in reality, it matches a Volkswagen Tiguan with room for 12 shopping bags from empty. This means it is slightly smaller than a Honda CR-V which holds thirteen or the Subaru Forester and Mitsubishi Outlander which both hold fifteen shopping bags. It will still easily take a big side-by-side twin stroller with a couple of bags beside it.
Storage throughout the Koleos is good too with some thoughtful touches like the heating and cooling front cup holders and a generous central console box and phone charging well in the front. There is a sunglasses case in the ceiling, which is great to see as most companies seem to be doing away with these which is a real shame!
In the back, there are also cup holders, map pockets and practical sized door bins.
The media system in the 2020 Renault Koleos is portrait rather than landscape and it took me a bit of getting used to!
The system is quite simple and easy to navigate and it does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto which is great.
The only way to adjust the aircon is through the media screen which I am really not a fan of. It is hard to use and alter while driving and takes your attention away from the road too much as you have to look at it carefully while using it.
The reversing camera image is good, you do only get half the screen as a visual though which is disappointing and you can mute the parking sensors with a button in the top left corner.
The Renault Koleos is a great mid-sized, five-seater family SUV in terms of practicality. I found it was still a bit ‘mooey' when accelerating up hills and has a bit of a lag when accelerating. I also found the front wing mirrors really affect the visibility when driving especially at junctions when looking left and right.
How good is the storage in the 2020 Renault Koleos Intens? How big is the boot of the 2020 Renault Koleos Intens?
The 2020Â Renault Koleos has two cup holders in the central console that are well sized to hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup and they have a little vent inside them that you can heat and cool the cups too!
Behind them, the central console box is a good size, with an armrest for a lid.
There is a phone charging well in front of the gear lever that has a 12V socket, an AUX and two USB ports.
There is a lined glasses case in the ceiling and the front visors both have lit vanity mirrors too.
The glovebox is a good size to hold my iPad and wallet with the manual.
The front door pockets will hold a large refillable water bottle and there is a good amount of space behind it too and there are little storage wells in the door handles.
In the back, there are net map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold but not conceal an iPad and a USB and a 12V socket on the back of the central console box.
There are two cup holders in a fold-down armrest in the central seatback. They will hold either a reusable or a disposable coffee cup.
The door bins in the back will hold a large refillable water bottle and there are also little storage wells in the handles too.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
A twin side-by-side twin pram fits in the boot with two shopping bags.
The tandem pram fits with three shopping bags.
The single pram fits with four shopping bags around it.
The compact stroller fits with seven shopping bags beside it.
You could fit a medium/large size dog in the boot.
The boot opening is nice and wide, it's easy for lifting prams in and out of and the floor is nice and flat and even, except for storage wells behind the wheel arches on both sides. Good for dogs and for an emergency nappy change on the boot floor!
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the 2020 Renault Koleos Intens? How good is the media system in the 2020 Renault Koleos Intens?
The 2020 Renault Koleos has a portrait orientated media screen, like in the Volvo XC40, which takes me a bit of getting used to. The system menu is simple and easy to navigate and it does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well.
The split home screen makes it easy to select the function you want while driving.
I didn't like this however in the reversing camera screen and although the camera image is nice and clear I would have prefered to have the screen rotated to landscape and a larger camera image.
You can mute the parking sensors with the button on the top left of the screen. You can also adjust the volume of the parking sensors and nearly every other sound the car makes within the media screen too! This is FANTASTIC for frazzled parents and little children that would be disturbed easily by these noises.
You can turn on and off a lot of other vehicle settings within the media screen that are usually buttons on your dash.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
The aircon is controlled through the media screen too, which I am not a fan of. It takes your eyes and attention away from the road for too long to use it while driving.
You can lock the windows from the driver's door control panel.
And lock the doors from the central dash.
The indicator volume can be adjusted so it would not disturb a sleeping baby in the Koleos.
The windows and doors in the Renault Koleos close relatively quietly and are not baby waking.
With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.
With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!
An alarm did not sound when I came to a stop, took off my seatbelt and opened the door with the engine still running.
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the 2020 Renault Koleos?
The 2020 Renault Koleos can fit three child seats in the back!
It has ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats, they are not within plastic guides and are easy to connect to. This is a MASSIVE improvement over the previous Koleos I tested, in which the ISOFix was so difficult to connect that I reported it to Renault and they investigated the matter!
There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three backrests, they are within plastic guides and are nice and easy to access through the boot and connect to.
Fitting child seats in the Renault Koleos is relatively easy. I could fit three child seats in the back
Or I could just squeeze into the back between two child seats but my shoulders where squashed and I'm 162cm.
Legroom is great in the Koleos. With a rear-facing child seat and the driver's seat in its furthest back position, we found a 184cm driver could fit in front.
Posting bub into their child seat is fine from inside and outside the car and there is room to feed bub in the back with only one child seat installed.
Australia being a country of weather extremes blazing sun and torrential rain means you may find it easier to put bub into their seat from inside the car. If it’s hot you can get the aircon going, cool the car down and not stand out in the heat with the door open while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether bub can be easily installed from either direction.
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is a 2020 Renault Koleos?
The front seats of the 2020 Renault Koleos are comfortable.
I found I could wear a ponytail while driving because the headrests are adjustable!
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get it just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down.
The cruise controls are a little confusing, you do use the +/- and R/O buttons on the left on the steering wheel, but not before turning it on down in the central console, which is not exactly where you'd expect to find the switch?! The cruise control was quite accurate on motorways and slower undulating roads.
There are four air-con vents across the front dash. One large one either side of the media screen, and one smaller at either end.
There are air vents in the back of the central console box which is great for keeping rear passengers cool in the Australian climate. The driver can reach these from the front which is great.
The controls for the air-con are located within the media screen rather than on the dashboard. I find this really difficult to use while driving and it takes too much precise pressing taking your eyes away from the road.
Visibility is a bit tricky out of the front of the Renault Koleos especially at roundabouts and junctions because the side wing mirrors really obstructed my view.
The reversing camera image is very helpful out of the back and is quite a clear image. I found the sensors to be very sensitive and you can mute them pressing the button in the top left of the screen.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we drive big cars and utes as they tend to take longer to park in our tight apartment block carpark, the Renault Koleos was quite easy to reverse park!
Visibility is good for rear passengers, the rear windows are large allowing them to see out and there is a lot of light inside the car especially with such a spacious interior.
In the back, the ceiling lights can be turned on and off with a button in the front central ceiling near the glasses case.
I often will reach back to turn on the interior light if I am driving at night time, I find my little girl gets less distressed travelling at night that way. It helps if I can reach the interior light from the driver's seat so I can turn it on and off whilst driving. I often find my daughter will need it on as we start our journey in the dark but once she falls asleep I can turn it off.
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
Handles above the rear doors on either side are perfect for hanging a baby toy from.
For adult occupancy testing it scored 32/38 or 84%, broken down into 6.49/8 for the full-width crash test, 7.02/8 for the frontal offset test and full marks for side-impact and pole testing.
It was awarded a total score of 38.9/49 or 79% for Child Occupancy testing.
ANCAP said of the Child Occupancy testing:
In the frontal offset test, protection of the neck of the 10 year dummy was POOR, while protection of the chest of the 6 year dummy was WEAK. For all other critical body regions, protection of the child dummies was GOOD or ADEQUATE.
In the side impact test, protection of both child dummies was GOOD for all critical parts of the body.
The Renault Koleos has six airbags as standard. Driver and front passenger frontal airbags, front side airbags and side head curtain airbags.
Automatic high beam and blind-spot monitoring (BSM) is not available on the base variants but are standard or optional on higher variants.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound.
I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!
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About Tace Clifford
Tace Clifford founded BabyDrive in 2017 after discovering a huge information gap in mainstream car reviews that left new parents and expanding families in the dark when it came to one of the biggest purchasing decisions of their lives.
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