Your car says a lot about you — and Renault’s Captur 2 shouts Mr Sensible

WHAT your car says about you:

Bentley Continental ­— Premier League footballer. Mazda MX-5 — midlife crisis. Ford Focus — solid geezer. Anything German — badge snob. Renault Captur — Mr Sensible. You’ll back me up, right?

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Captur buyers wear cagoules and comfy shoes and have a travel mug to save £4 on a Costa.

They’re not really fussed about how a car drives.

It’s all about price and practicality.

Fun? Try next door.

Well, my friends, The Sun is a broad church and for all you sensible people out there, I have news.

If you want a small-but-tall crossover that’s easy on the eye and does good numbers, you won’t go far wrong with this second-gen Captur.

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It’s basically a Clio that’s been left overnight in a growbag. And we like the Clio a lot.

Let’s start inside because this cabin is different gravy compared to the old car — as you can see from the “new” and “old” pictures.

Captur 2 uses all the best bits from Clio: upended iPad, the digital instrument cluster, soft-touch panels and adds lots of clever stowage.

Best in class at 27 litres, according to Renault.

But it’s the small things that please most.

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Like the shelf for your phone.

Big cup holders for your travel mug.

Chunky air con dials. Big door bins.

Rear-seat USBs. And a sliding rear bench.

That last one means you can increase boot space for stock-piling toilet roll or make it smaller to give gangly teens more leg room.

Sadly, Renault has ditched the zip-off seat covers from before.

You could bung them in the wash.

But the new slimmer front seats do add extra millimetres of space in all directions.

Now let’s talk about what you can’t see.

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Captur 2 is built on a new lightweight production platform shared with Clio (and the Nissan Juke) which ultimately, er, improves handling.

I know you don’t really care about that but it’s true.

It also means that Captur 2 is stronger and safer and more efficient and armed with all sorts of driver-assistance tech.

There you go, that’s more like it. And it allows for electrification.

The first petrol/ electric plug-in hybrid is due this summer, promising up to 28 miles on battery power alone.

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For now, though, you can choose from old-school petrol or diesel.

The range kicks off with the 100hp 1-litre three-cylinder petrol, which is fine but only comes with a five-speed manual.

I’d nudge you towards the 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol with 130hp and the option of a six-speed manual or seven-speed auto.

Note. You’ll find the same sweet engine in a Mercedes A-Class.

So you’re getting Merc refinement in a cut-price Captur. Now that is sensible.

To sum up, then. Captur 2 is a handsome all-rounder but it won’t rock your world.

No one will ever walk in to a pub and say, “F***ing hell, lads. Look what I’ve just bought. A Renault Captur”.

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You would with a Megane Trophy R.

Captur 2 is a car for geography teachers and district nurses and people who’ve done their homework.

Finance from £219 a month.

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