Renault 4 long-term test

The car Renault 4 Techno+ Run by Allan Muir, managing editor

Why we’re running it To see whether this keenly priced small electric SUV can prove to be better value than more expensive alternatives and offer more than just charming retro looks

Needs to Be comfortable and easy to live with, nippy around town, reasonably practical and efficient enough to deliver a respectable range for occasional longer journeys

Mileage 1666 List price £25,945 (with £3750 grant) Best price £25,945 Price as tested £26,695 Official range 245 miles Test range 186 miles 

27 May 2026 – The ins and outs of a Renault 4

One of the most frustrating things about the Volvo EX30 I ran previously was that the doors were very slow to unlock automatically as I approached the car. Thankfully, there’s no such delay with the Renault 4 (R4) I’ve got now; all I have to do when I reach the car is tug on the chunky door handle to open the door. This might not seem like anything worth celebrating, but after six months of faffing around every time I got into the EX30, I’m just grateful that the R4’s keyless entry doesn’t make me wait or have to fumble for the keyfob. 

As someone with dodgy hearing, I also appreciate the fact that the R4 can be set to give a clear two-tone chirp to attest to the fact that the doors have locked as I’m walking away from the car. That’s in addition to the indicators flashing to provide visual confirmation. With some cars, I can struggle to tell whether the doors have actually locked, but that’s definitely not a problem here.

Getting into or out of the driver’s seat involves more contact between parts of my body and the car than I’d like, though. I can’t avoid my right calf scraping over the sill (which sticks out below the door aperture), while my right hip grazes the door pillar on the way past. And if I’m not careful, I can bump my head on the roof, despite the fact that I’ve got the driver’s seat set almost as low at it'll go. The door openings simply don’t seem to be quite generous enough for someone my size (6ft 1in tall and hardly slender). It’s just as well I don’t bruise too easily, I suppose.

Once I’m behind the wheel, though, there’s plenty of space around me, and the driving environment is mostly very agreeable. True, the seat lacks adjustable lumbar support, but I haven’t found this to be a problem so far, and it’s broad, well bolstered and comfortable. 

What’s more, the R4’s physical switches for the air-con and related functions are a godsend after the touchscreen-based equivalents in my previous two cars; they’re easy to find and operate with barely a glance away from the road. And because they’re angled towards the driver, the single temperature adjustment switch is still easy to reach, despite the fact that it’s on the far end of the row in right-hand-drive models. 

I do wish the R4 had the same portrait-oriented infotainment touchscreen as the Renault Scenic I ran a year or two ago, though; the landscape one in the R4 is smaller than I’d consider ideal. Still, the Google-based system itself is excellent.

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