2024 Renault Rafale Lands As Marque’s Flagship Coupe SUV

2024 Renault Rafale Coupe SUV

French automotive giant Renault has finally got a new flagship model, and this time it’s a coupe SUV, cordially known as Renault Rafale. This sporty D-segment SUV gets its name from a famous racing plane that made its debut back in 1934 Paris Air Show.

Being a new halo car from Renault, the Rafale features a fresh look that will set a new design language for upcoming Renault models to follow. Highlights include the new front grille design featuring diamond-style patterns as seen on the Renault’s badge, flanked by stylish LED headlights with its DRLs extended to the lower part of the bumper, a la Peugeot 2008. Said Peugeot ‘homage’ is no surprise, as the Rafale is designed by former Peugeot design head Gilles Vidal, who is now the Design Director of Renaut.

In spite of having the same wheelbase length as the new Espace SUV (2,740 MM), the Rafale is the sportier version of the two, thanks to its sloping coupe roofline that inclines exactly at 17-degrees. Other side profile highlights include the slightly flared-out wheel arches, gloss black lower door trims, as well as the stylish 20-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels it rides on.

The rear part of the Rafale features Y-shaped LED taillights that are placed just below the integrated tailgate spoiler, while the roof gets its own rear wing. While the top half of the Rafale’s rear profile seemed a bit minimalistic and simple, the lower half is quite rugged instead, featuring aggressive lower bumper garnish finished in gloss black, as well as the metal-finished skid plate. Surprisingly, the car’s tailpipes are not in sight.

On board, the Rafale is primed with Renault’s latest OpenR digital cockpit layout that is carried over from the Espace. At the centre lies a portrait-oriented 12-inch infotainment display with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support, powered by the latest Android Automotive 12 operating system. Drivers get a larger 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster alongside the sizable 9.3-inch head-up display (HUD).

Other cabin amenities include the Alcantara-wrapped sporty seats with French tri-colour flag contrasting stitchings and Alpine logo embroidery, contrasting blue stitchings on the central console and door cards, smart ambient lighting system, as well as the Solarbay panoramic glass roof that can be darkened or lightened up according to passenger preferences.

Unlike its three-row twin, the Rafale boasts a two-row, five-seater layout that grants it a sizable 647-litre of cargo space. While headroom is a bit of a premium on this coupe SUV, the aforementioned panoramic glass roof at least will help in alleviating any claustrophobic feelings for the rear passengers.

As for the powertrain, the Rafale is exclusively powered by a slew of electrified powertrain flavours. The standard hybrid variant employs a 1.2-litre 3-cyl turbocharged petrol engine that is mated to a hybrid setup consisting of an electric motor, high-voltage starter-generator and a small 2-kWh lithium-ion battery pack. This hybrid system is capable of producing a total system output of 197 HP and 205 NM.

This will be followed by a peppier e-Tech plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant that boasts a combined system output of 296 HP. While the engine itself drives the front wheel, the addition of the PHEV electric motor on its rear axle grants the e-Tech variant an all-wheel drive (AWD) drivetrain.

Underpinning the same CMF-CD architecture as the Espace with a slight performance-bias tuning, the Rafale promises a much more agile and fun driving dynamics, in spite of its rather bulky facade. Further complementing this chassis tune-up is the multi-link rear suspension setup, Renault’s proprietary ‘4Control Advanced’ all-wheel steering system, as well as a special calibration for the electric steering system.

The new Renault Rafale coupe SUV is slated for European market entry as early as Spring 2024, with its production taking place at Renault’s Palencia facility in Spain. While pricings for the Rafale has yet to be unveiled, we can expect it to be much cheaper than the usual suspects like the BMW X4, Mercedes-Benz GLC Coupe, as well as the Audi Q5 Sportback.