New Renault Rafale on sale now: price and specs

• New Renault Rafale on sale now
• Prices start from £38,195
• Stylish coupe SUV
• Similar interior to the Megane E-Tech
• 300hp plug-in hybrid version available

This is the new Renault Rafale, and it’s a slightly left-field alternative to coupe SUVs like the Audi Q3 Sportback and BMW X2.

It features flamboyant French styling, a high-tech interior and the option of an all-wheel-drive model with 300hp. You can order your Rafale now, with prices starting from just over £38,000.

New Renault Rafale price and specs

You can place your order for a new Renault Rafale now, with the first cars hitting the road in July this year.

Prices start from £38,195, making it around £2,000 more expensive than an Audi Q3 Sportback. It does undercut the BMW X2 by a few thousand pounds though.

You have three trim levels to choose from: Techno, Techno Esprit Alpine and Iconic Esprit Alpine.

Renault Rafale Iconic: from £38,195

You get plenty of kit as standard with the Renault Rafale, with even basic versions getting plenty of desirable toys including:

• 20-inch alloy wheels
• Interior ambient lighting
• Keyless entry and start
• 12.3-inch digital driver’s display
• 12.0-inch touchscreen infotainment with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Adaptive cruise control

Renault Rafale Techno Esprit Alpine: from £42,195

Spend an extra £4,000 on the Techno Esprit Alpine and you get some sporty styling upgrades, as well as some added equipment such as:

• Heated front seats
• Electrically adjustable seats
• Heated steering wheel
• Power tailgate
• Head-up display
• Four-wheel steering

Renault Rafale Iconic Esprit Alpine: from £44,695

The Iconic Esprit Alpine is the top-of-the-range model, and it gets:

• Power-folding mirrors
• Panoramic sunroof
• 12-speaker premium sound system
• Automatic parking
• 360-degree parking camera
• Front puddle lamps

New Renault Rafale design

The new Renault Rafale shares a lot of its parts with the new Renault Austral, however the design is unique to this model.

Up front, you have a similar funky-looking grille design to the recently-updated Renault Clio, and you have some slim LED headlights with the daytime running lights incorporated into some black trim lower down the bumper.

The sporty sloping roofline separates this from the slightly more boxy Austral, and there’s some glossy black cladding around the wheel arches.

At the rear you have a spoiler which looks similar to the one found on the Peugeot 408. The LED tail lights have been pushed to the outer corners of the car to give it a wider stance, and the lower bumper is finished in contrasting gloss black.

New Renault Rafale interior and infotainment

Those who have spent any time around the new Renault Megane E-Tech will find the cabin of the Rafale quite familiar.

You get a similar infotainment system to that car, with a 12.3-inch digital driver’s display and a 12.0-inch portrait infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. These screens are wrapped around the driver, just like you have in the Megane.

When you go for the Esprit Alpine trim then you get alcantara sports seats with an Alpine logo which lights up, and there’s a sunroof which can darken at the touch of a button.

New Renault Rafale engine and driving

The Renault Rafale is available as a self-charging hybrid from launch, and a plug-in hybrid will join the range later on. Both use a 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine with 130hp.

The self-charging hybrid uses an electric motor on the front axle and a smaller one in the gearbox to boost efficiency, and it has a combined 200hp. The E-Tech can drive on pure electric power at low speeds in traffic.

See what Mat makes of the Renault Megane E-Tech…

The other option is a plug-in hybrid. It adds another motor powering the rear wheels, giving it all-wheel-drive, and it has a combined 300hp. Being a plug-in hybrid, it can drive using just the motors at higher speeds and for longer periods, although Renault hasn’t confirmed exact details for this model yet in terms of electric range.

The Rafale is available with rear-wheel-steering as well. This can turn the rear wheels in the same direction as the front for added agility on a back road, or it can turn them in the opposite direction for better manoeuvrability in town.

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