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Kangoo joins the party

Kangoo joins the party

The New Renault Kangoo is among a whole new range of vans that go on sale this year

This is proving to be the year of the small van, with new offerings already on sale in the form of the Volkswagen Caddy Maxi, Citroën Nemo, Peugeot Bipper and Fiat Fiorino. To follow shortly are the new Citroën Berlingo and Peugeot Partner.

Renault joins the fray in September with the brand new Kangoo which will, for the first time, be offered in two formats, the smaller of which is being labelled the Kangoo Compact...

New Kangoo is based on the Scenic platform and offers a fresh design inside and out, more loadspace and better driveability.

In the cab, there’s a light airy MPV-style ambience and stowage space has been increased with a 15-litre glove compartment, side door bins and an overhead shelf, along with a shelf for A4-sized documents on top of the dash.

Multi-media connectivity with Bluetooth capabilities will be available along with a wealth of extras from the car world, such as cruise control, speed limiter, parking sensors and automatic headlamp and wiper activation.

In the rear of the Kangoo, there is 3.0 cubic metres of cargo space, up from 2.75 cu m in the old model, and this rises to 3.5 cu m when a special fold down passenger seat is specified. The width between the arches is 1.21 metres, which means a Europallet can be carried.

Renault has pulled off a neat trick with the Kangoo Compact insofar as width and height stay the same as with the longer model. Load volume reduces to 2.5 cu m but a Europallet can still be carried.

Under the bonnet, Kangoo has either a 1.5 dCi common rail turbodiesel unit offering 70bhp, 85bhp or 105bhp or a 1.6- litre petrol unit offering either 90bhp or 105bhp.

Meanwhile, Kangoo Compact has the 1.5 dCi unit offering 70bhp or 85bhp or the 1.6-litre petrol with 90bhp.

The Compact is very much built for urban use and has an amazing turning circle of 9.7 metres, which is less than for the petite Twingo car.

British specification has yet to be unveiled but expect ABS brakes and driver’s airbag as standard, while ESP traction control will be available as an added extra on higher-powered models.

A Kangoo car derivative is due to follow in 2009.

source - Fleet News

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