Renault Modus 1.5 dCi86 Quickshift : THE SHIFT HITS THE FANS

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If You Want A Small Car With A Great Diesel Engine And An Automatic Gearbox, The Choice Isnt Wide. Its Just As Well That The Renault Modus dCi86 Quickshift5 Is Part Of That Selection. Andy Enright Reports

I think Ive lost count of the number of times Ive been driving in a small, diesel car and paused to consider how much better the car would be if offered with an automatic gearbox. Unfortunately, many manufacturers seem to think small, automatic and diesel are mutually exclusive concepts and continue to foist manual boxes on us. When most of these cars are used for city duties, that just makes no sense whatsoever. Therefore, my curiosity was piqued when Renault announced that they were plumbing their clever Quickshift5 gearbox into one of my favourite tots, the Modus dCi86.

At this point, I should correct a small, but important issue. The Quickshift5 gearbox isnt an automatic at all, but then nor is it a conventional manual. A proper automatic car has a torque converter which is a hydraulic fluid coupling that replaces the clutch in a manual car. Its what makes the shifts in an automatic butter-smooth but its inherent inefficiency makes automatic cars rather thirsty not great for a small car.

The Holy Grail that transmission manufacturers have been striving towards is a system that offers the smoothness and convenience of a decent automatic with the efficiency, response and when the mood takes you the good old fashioned fun of a manual gearbox. Some have come closer than others to achieving this end. You may remember the rather terrible sequential manual gearboxes fitted to Ferrari and BMW models. Alfas Selespeed improved things and the latter BMW SMG gearboxes were really rather good but it took Audi and their revolutionary twin clutch DSG gearbox to really show the way forward.

The problem with these systems is that they were all designed for rather expensive cars. City car users had to content themselves with monstrosities like the transmission in the smart fortwo, a car that changed gears so jerkily that owners built up neck muscles like Iron Mike Tyson. Renaults Quickshift5 is a step in the right direction.

"This Modus clever robotised gearshift certainly takes the strain out of city driving"

Whats more, it only costs £500 over the manual alternative which, given that most automatic options in this class tend to be priced at around £1,000, looks good value. So what do you get? Basically a conventional five-speed gearbox with a robotised clutch system, thats what. Should you wish, you can flip the gear shifter across to A to access an automated mode, the gearbox software taking care of shifting duties. Itll take into account vehicle speed, rate of acceleration or deceleration, road gradient and even factor in the drivers style changing gear when necessary.

Its still not quite as seamless as a full auto but its very close. Switch to M and you have a semi-automatic mode where you change gear manually, knocking the lever back and forward to change up and down the box. Rather annoyingly, the shift pattern is the wrong way round insofar as you push the lever forward to change up. It works better the other way round.

The semi automatic mode protects against under or over-revving the engine, the system preventing the driver knocking it down too many gears at speed and will also intervene if you run the revs too high or too low. A particularly welcome aspect of the set-up is that it will creep forward at idle if the brakes are released, a feature that is particularly useful in traffic. Theres even a snow mode for slippery conditions that always keeps the car in the highest possible gear for any given road speed, so as to inhibit wheelspin. The dCi86 diesel powerplant offers a reasonable slug of poke and the Quickshift5 box exacts no penalty when it comes to fuel consumption.

In fact, its 62.8mpg fuel economy figure is even more economical than its manual sibling and the acceleration to 60 of 13.2 seconds and the top speed of 104mpg are both usefully quick. With emissions pitched at just 119g/km, this is one clean character.

Prices kick off at £11,795 for the Expression, with Dynamique, Privilege and range-topping Initiale models spanning prices up to £14,695. Theres a lot to like about the Modus. The sunroof system for example, is unusual. The rear panel is fixed while the forward one can be operated by a one-touch switch.

In addition to the usual tilt position, there are also three possible slide positions. The manual roof offers two side-by-side panels which can be tilted or removed completely and stowed in a bag behind the rear bench seat. Renault dubs this sliding rear bench the Triptic and it features a folding centre section. With a sliding range of 170mm, the rear of the car can be optimised for passengers, luggage or a compromise between the two.

In two seat configuration, it can be set to any one of four positions, whilst in three-seat mode, two positions are available. It can also be folded down to form a completely flat floor area. The novelties dont stop there either. The Modus rear hatch can open much like a conventional hatchback (that is, hinged at the top) or the lower section can open using hinges at the bottom, thus making it easy to access the luggage bay in cramped conditions.

Should you ever get a puncture in the Modus, youll appreciate the sheer amount of design ingenuity in the way Renault have engineered the spare wheel system. This Quickshift5 version of the Modus dCi86 offers a lot for a modest outlay. If most of your driving is a suburban grind but you still want to retain the right to have a little fun, this is one thats well worth checking out.

FACTS AT A GLANCE

CAR: Renault Modus dCi86 Quickshift5
PRICES: £11,795-£14,695 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 3E-4E
CO2 EMISSIONS: 119g/km
PERFORMANCE: Max Speed 104mph / 0-60mph 13.2s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (Combined) 62.8mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front/side airbags, ABS, brakeforce distribution, ESP WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE ?: Length/Width/Height: 3792/1960/1589mm