If you love the boring Nissan Sylphy, then naturally the Renault Fluence could be your second lover. Tan Chong decided to bring in the 3-year-old Fluence to Malaysia, under their CKD program, hoping this could be the mass market Renault model for everyone. But before you think this is a fantastic move, this Fluence is not the latest facelifted model available, and it uses the old Nissan Sylphy powertrain, which is a 2.0-litre with 143hp/195Nm of juice mated to the Nissan's X-Tronic CVT gearbox. So, who would want to buy a new, yet old generation car? Tan Chong could be making a big mistake here, but with its OTR price of RM118k for this C-segment, it could be the cheapest continental make. The Renault Fluence will go head-on with the emerging market Peugeot 408, especially it has a proven and reliable engine. So when a French meets a Japanese, it is like a seductive girl with an old lady heart, and when this meet our local distributor, the end result is this boring Fluence.
Taking a deeper look at the engine bay, one could notice Nissan word is printed on most of the parts. Renault does not need to hide this partnership as it know the family man that want a Fluence in his garage would be happy that the heart is a Japanese, and it shall not stall like others while driving!
The interior is very Renault in the making though, and nothing here emulate the Japanese. It is simple, with nothing fancy, and the in-built 7" R-Link infotainment touchscreen include navigation feature. Some could feel a touchscreen is not as intuitive when the location is not ergonomically suited to the driver and is a distraction to lean your hand to the top of the dashboard, and could be a distraction while driving. In this setup, a menu driven from a steering wheel mounted control could be the best solution. Renault love digital speedometer, and this Fluence has a huge central speedo, with the fuel and temperature gauges. The worst of this design is the brightly lid blue-white background, which immediately lower the luxury feel of the car. However, the southward pointing RPM meter is nice here, but the overall cluster is too toy-ish!
As a continental car, the Fluence has no lacking in the safety and features department, which include full round of 6-airbag, ABS (front and rear disc), EBA, ESP, ASR, cruise control, auto headlight and wipers, rear view camera, bluetooth, follow-me-home lighting, and a huge boot to fit at least 4 golfbags. To make the Fluence stand out from the Sylphy, Tan Chong is throwing in 5-Years Unlimited Mileage warranty, 2 Years Free Maintenance and will pick up your Fluence to the service centre and vice versa, providing a more personal touch in the customer service. Renault is not a mass market car here, with very limited service centres, thus the service is like throwing candy at the customer, attempting to increase the sales.
If I were you, I would not give the Fluence any chance to my garage. Go get a Nissan Sylphy instead! Both are as boring anyhow!
