Captain seats in the 7-seater variants are a very comfortable place to be in
The Renault Lodgy Stepway is offered in RxL and RxZ trims. Both the trims are offered with the 85 PS and 110 PS engine tunes with the 8-seater configuration while the RxZ 110 PS tune also gets the 7-seater configuration. The 85 PS tune gets a 5-speed manual gearbox while the higher tune gets a 6-speed manual transmission. Our test car was a 7-seater RxZ 110. The Lodgy is based on the same platform as the Duster and it is known to be pretty robust and durable.
Even the engine is very punchy and a reliable unit, taking 14.33 seconds to do the 0-100 km/hr sprint. We started driving the Renault Lodgy from Gateway of India and headed towards Marine Drive. Experienced some traffic on the way since it was a Saturday and got to experience the clutch which is neither light nor heavy. The steering, though, feels pretty light at city speeds and it continuously gives good feedback. Even though the Lodgy is a long car, manoeuvring it isn’t that cumbersome once you get used to its length.
After a quick stopover for some photos, we headed towards the Bandra-Worli Sea Link where we got to experience the Lodgy Stepway at speeds up to 80 km/hr (speed limit!!). Must say, the engine is really well tuned and Renault has done a good job of reducing the effect of the turbo lag. The oil-burner feels punchy 2000 RPM onwards and there is grunt till 4000 RPM. I can easily say that the Lodgy can effortlessly munch miles for hours without any fuss. I’m sure you want to know the fuel efficiency, which is a claimed figure of 19.98 km/l, and ideally, should give you 13-14 km/l under mixed driving conditions.
