The latest Kia car, the Kia Syros compact SUV, has turned out to be a runaway success, thanks to its extensive features list, rich volumes of space and practicality, and solid safety. What adds the cherry on top is the attractive price tags that Kia has managed to put on such a high-value package. All the same, as we focus on value in the compact SUV segment, one car that immediately comes to mind is the Renault Kiger. The stylish French compact SUV has its value quotient as its most attractive quality and can be a worthy alternative to the Kia Syros, especially for someone not willing to spend much on their next car. Therefore, in this comparison of Kia Syros vs Renault Kiger, we weigh the two against each other and determine which one is better for your needs.
Kia Syros vs Renault Kiger: Dimensions & Design
Kia Syros | Renault Kiger | |
Length | 3,995 mm | 3,991 mm |
Width | 1,805 mm | 1,750 mm |
Height | 1,680 mm | 1,605 mm |
Wheelbase | 2,550 mm | 2,500 mm |
Ground Clearance | 190 mm | 205 mm |
Boot Space | 390 - 465 litres | 405 litres |
As far as size is concerned, the Kia Syros is longer, taller, wider, and has a longer wheelbase than the Renault Kiger. This means that, compared to the Renault Kiger, the Kia Syros packs more room for five adults inside. Moreover, the Syros gets a flexibility add-on with the slidable rear seat. When the rear seat is in its most forward position, the Kia Syros offers a hefty 465 litres of boot space, and in the rear-most position of the rear seat, it offers 390 litres of boot space and a lot of legroom for the rear seat passengers. In comparison, the Renault Kiger does pack less space for passengers, but overall, it is sufficiently spacious for five passengers and offers one of the largest boots in the segment. Meanwhile, its 205 mm ground clearance makes it more capable than the Kia Syros to drive over bumps and potholes without getting the underbody scraped.
In terms of looks, both Kia Syros and Renault Kiger are attractive but vastly differ in their overall appeal. The Kia Syros looks like a more practical SUV. It also looks more futuristic, especially due to its rather minimal and digital appeal, which comes from clean surfaces, neat triple ice cube headlights bracketed by slim vertical LED DRLS fixed in the black cladding, and a concealed grille area that is in a nod to its electric-powered version to be launched soon. For air intake, there is a blacked-out section lower down the bumper, which is split by the number plate. Below that is silver embellishment, which is repeated at the sides and on the rear bumper, too. Over to the side, the Kia Syros highlights a tall-boy silhouette with a steeply raked windscreen, squarish housing of the dual-tone alloy wheels, chunky black cladding covering the SUV’s bottom, adding some muscle. Like the front end, the rear end looks futuristic, especially due to the chic L-shaped DRLS that flank the rear windshield, while the tail lights are integrated into the black cladding near the rear fenders.
On the other hand, the Renault Kiger looks sporty and more fashionable. Its stylish face features a sculpted bonnet with power bulges and aerodynamic scoops. The slim chrome-treated grille neatly merges into slim inverted L-shaped LED DRLs, while the triple-cube headlights are lower down in a pentagonal housing. At the side, like the Kia Syros, the Renault Kiger gets a silver garnish at the doors and chunky black cladding that covers the bottom of the SUV. The rear is adorned by C-shaped LED tail lamps with gloss black elements, plenty of cuts and creases at the boot lid, a chunky rear bumper, prominent body cladding, and a muscular faux skid plate.
The Kia Syros is larger than the Renault Kiger, and as far as looks are concerned, the Renault Kiger looks sporty, while the Kia Syros, with its boxy design, looks more practical and futuristic.
Kia Syros vs Renault Kiger: Engine & Transmission
Kia Syros | Renault Kiger | |
Engine | 1-litre turbo petrol engine 1.5-litre turbo diesel engine | 1 litre turbo petrol engine 1 litre naturally aspirated petrol |
Power | 120 PS 116 PS | 100 PS 72 PS |
Torque | 172 Nm 250 Nm | 160 Nm 96 Nm |
Transmission | 6-speed manual transmission with both engines 7-speed DCT automatic with the petrol engine 6-speed torque converter automatic with the diesel engine | 5-speed manual gearbox for both engines CVT automatic for turbo petrol engine 5-speed AMT gearbox NA engine |
Mileage | 17.68 to 18.2 km/l (petrol) 17.65 to 20.75 km/l (diesel) | 19.1 km/l from NA petrol 20.5 km/l from turbo petrol |
For the engine options, the Renault Kiger lacks a diesel engine, which puts it at a disadvantage not only against the Kia Syros but also many other compact SUVs such as the Tata Nexon and Kia Sonet. As for the petrol options, the Kiger offers a naturally aspirated petrol engine, which produces 72 PS of power. While this engine can meet your day-to-day driving needs, it does make the Kiger feel underpowered when you need to quickly accelerate and while driving on highways. For reference, even the Maruti Swift hatchback produces 82 PS power.
While the Renault Kiger misses a diesel engine, it offers an optional retrofitted CNG kit on all its variants. With CNG models on offer, the Renault Kiger comes across as a more economical option of the two.
Coming to the turbo engines, while the 1-litre turbo petrol engine of the Renault Kiger is slightly weaker than the 1-litre turbo petrol engine of the Kia Syros, it does feel sprightlier on the go. Due to this engine, the Renault Kiger should feel sportier to drive, and complementing its sporty character is its more planted and curvier design, which gives it better aerodynamics. Moreover, coming from a car brand known for making some of the best suspension systems, the Renault Kiger delivers commendable ride comfort and fantastic ride balance even at high speeds.
On the other hand, the Kia Syros delivers its power in a less urgent manner. This is reasonable as the Korean compact SUV has been engineered for a comfortable and smooth family-friendly drive rather than a sporty performance. Meanwhile, the Kia Syros delivers a ride comfort, which can be best described as ‘acceptable,’ if not fantastic. All the same, due to the high-set driver seat, the driver gets a commanding view of the road, and the large windscreen adds to that.
Overall, the Kia Syros is more powerful than the Renault Kiger, however, it is the Renault Kiger, which feels more exciting to drive. At the same time, the Kia Syros has the advantage of diesel-powered models, while the Renault Kiger has the advantage of CNG-powered models.
Kia Syros vs Renault Kiger: Features & Comfort
Kia Syros | Renault Kiger | |
Infotainment system | 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment | 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system |
Music system | 8-speaker Harman Kardon music system | 6-speaker Arkamys sound system |
Climate control | Automatic | Automatic |
Ventilated seats | Front ventilated seats and thigh-only ventilation for the rear seats | Not available |
Adjustable steering | Tilt | Tilt |
Drive modes | Eco, Normal, Sport | Eco, Normal, & Sport |
Instrument cluster | 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster | 7-inch digital instrument cluster |
Sunroof | Panoramic sunroof | Not available |
Adjustable seats (manual or electric) | 4-way powered driver seat | Height adjustable driver seat (manual) |
Rear AC vents | Available | Available |
60:40 rear seat split | Available | Available |
Cruise control | Available | Available |
On the inside, the Kia Syros and Renault Kiger offer vastly different experiences. Being the latest of the two, the Kia Syros feels more upmarket and modern on the inside. With a neatly laid-out interior, the Syros features a clean dual-tone dashboard. On the dashboard, there is a 30-inch glass panel integrating a 12.3-inch central touchscreen for infotainment, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster with customisable displays, and a 5-inch HVAC touchscreen in the middle. Apart from the digital HVAC control on the touchscreen, the Kia Syros has more convenient physical buttons on the centre console for the same controls. Making the interiors look futuristic is a niftily styled cube-like gear knob with an illuminated P-R-N-D indicator, and the squarish two-spoke steering wheel. Moreover, due to the light colour theme and a panoramic sunroof, the Kia Syros feels airier on the inside.
In comparison, the Renault Kiger looks and feels more traditional. Much like most other cars in its segment, the Renault Kiger gets a layered dashboard, a 3-spoke steering wheel, and a touchscreen at the centre of the dashboard with trapezoidal central AC vents below it. Moreover, like the Kia Syros, the Renault Kiger features physical knobs for HVAC controls. While the cabin is spacious enough for five passengers, due to the darker colour theme, one can feel boxed in.
As for the feature wealth, while both SUVs offer ample features to offer a comfortable and convenient ride experience, the Kia Syros is generations superior to the Renault Kiger. Some of the main advantages of the Kia Syros over the Renault Kiger include such as ventilation for front and rear seats (for thighs only), a 4-way powered driver seat, a panoramic sunroof, a better-sounding Bose sound system, and a dual-camera dashcam.
Compared to the Renault Kiger, the Kia Syros feels more modern, premium, and airier on the inside, and excels in the feature department.
Kia Syros vs Renault Kiger: Safety Features
Kia Syros | Renault Kiger | |
NCAP Safety Rating | 5-stars in Bharat NCAP | 4-star in Global NCAP |
Airbags | Six airbags as standard | Up to four |
ABS with EBD | Yes | Yes |
ESC | Yes | Yes |
Traction Control | Yes | Yes |
Automatic headlamps | Yes | Yes |
Rain-sensing Wipers | Yes | No |
Hill hold assist | Yes | Yes |
Hill descent control | No | No |
Rear sensors | Yes | Yes |
Rear parking camera | 360-degree camera | Yes |
ISOFIX Child seat anchor points | Yes | Yes |
ADAS | Level-2 ADAS features | No |
When it comes to passenger safety, the Kia Syros is the stronger of the two. The Korean compact SUV has scored a full 5-star safety rating in the Bharat NCAP safety test, while the Renault Kiger has secured a 4-star rating in the Global NCAP safety test. In addition to a strong body, the Kia Syros offers a host of safety features. While it offers six airbags as standard across the variants, the top variants also get the coveted Level-2 ADAS safety suite, which wards off accidents. This suite consists of front collision warning and avoidance assist, leading vehicle departure alert, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, lane follow assist, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, high-beam alert, driver attention warning, and parking collision avoidance assist.
The Kia Syros is safer than the Renault Kiger and is one of the safest cars in India. Moreover, the Kia Syros offers more safety features, including the Level-2 ADAS safety suite.
Kia Syros vs Renault Kiger: Price comparison
Kia Syros | Renault Kiger | |
Base variants (Ex-Showroom) | Rs. 9 - 11 lakh | Rs. 6.15 - 6.89 lakhs |
Mid variants (Ex-Showroom) | Rs. 11.5 – 12.8 lakh | Rs. 6.90 – 7.64 lakhs |
Upper mid variants (Ex-Showroom) | Rs. 13.3 – 14.6 lakh | Rs. 8 – 8.79 lakhs |
Top variant | Rs. 16 – 17.80 lakh | Rs. 8.80 – 11.23 lakhs |
As can be seen, the Kia Syros is significantly more expensive than the Renault Kiger. However, as far as value is concerned, both SUVs are nearly equivalent to each other. For a few more lakhs, the Kia Syros offers more space, more features, a more premium cabin experience, and stronger safety. Meanwhile, the Renault Kiger offers stylish looks, satisfactory space, good safety, a decent feature list, and a comfortable ride at a price which undercuts all its rivals by a big margin.
Kia Syros vs Renault Kiger: Summary
Taking everything into account, the Renault Kiger is one of the most value-for-money cars in the market. While its smaller engine is not as powerful as it should be, it does a decent job in city driving conditions. Moreover, it packs ample space, offers strong enough safety and fantastic ride comfort, and is equipped with a decent number of modern-day essentials such as automatic AC and cruise control. For such a package, the Renault Kiger’s affordable price makes it an appealing value-oriented compact SUV.
All the same, as per the sales statistics, buyers today are happy to pay a few extra lakhs if what they get in return is free of any quality compromises. This is why the Kia Syros has quickly become one of the best-selling compact SUVs. By no means is the price of the Korean compact SUV unreasonable, and as a matter of fact, the package it offers poses a great challenge to cars in the segment above. In this comparison, while the Kia Syros is the costlier option, it offers a great deal of perks and a high-value package, considering its price gap from the Renault Kiger.
All said and done, between these two, if you want a CNG-powered compact SUV, then the Renault Kiger is the only option, and if you want a diesel-powered compact SUV, then the Kia Syros is the only option.
Kia Syros vs Renault Kiger: FAQs
Among the Kia Syros and Renault Kiger, which is larger?
Kia Syros is 3,995 mm long, 1,805 mm wide, 1,680 mm tall, and has a wheelbase of 2,550 mm. Renault Kiger is 3,991 mm long, 1,750 mm wide, 1,605 mm tall, and has a wheelbase of 2,500 mm. Therefore, the Kia Syros is considerably larger than the Renault Kiger.
Among the Kia Syros and Renault Kiger, which car is more powerful?
The 1-litre turbo petrol engine and 1.5-litre turbo diesel engine of the Kia Syros produce 120 PS and 116 PS, respectively. Whereas, the 1-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine and 1-litre turbo petrol engine of the Renault Kiger produce 72 and 100 PS respectively. This makes the Kia Syros more powerful than the Renault Kiger.
Among the Kia Syros and the Renault Kiger, which has better sound quality?
The Kia Syros’s 8-speaker Harman Kardon sound system offers a better and more premium music experience than the Renault Kiger’s 6-speaker ARKAMYS system.
Which safety features are available in the base variant of the Kia Syros?
The safety features of the base HTK variant of the Kia Syros include 6 airbags, rear parking sensors, electronic stability control, front parking sensors, ABS with EBD, hill-assist, ISOFIX anchorages, and 3-point ELR seat belts for all passengers.
What types of automatic transmission systems are available in the Kia Syros and the Renault Kiger?
The Renault Kiger offers a 5-speed AMT and a CVT automatic. The Kia Syros also offers a 6-speed torque converter automatic and a 7-speed DCT automatic.
