The Renault Modus is a

mini MPV Mini MPV— an abbreviation for mini multi-purpose vehicle— is a vehicle size class for the smallest size of minivans/MPVs. The mini MPV size class sits below the compact MPV size class and the vehicles are often built on the platforms of B- ...

produced by the French manufacturer

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

from August 2004 to December 2012, in

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. The production version is very similar to the

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

of the same name, which was presented at the 2004 Geneva Motor Show. It is essentially a taller version of the

Clio In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; el, Κλειώ), also spelled Kleio, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre playing. Etymology Clio's name is etymologically derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλε ...

III and, as such, shared its platform and much of its engine range with the third generation of the Clio. A larger wheelbase version was produced as the Renault Grand Modus. Originally marketed as "a higher-range alternative to the Twingo and Clio", it aimed to provide the practicality and versatility of the larger

Renault Scénic The Renault Scénic () is a car which was produced by French car manufacturer Renault, the first to be labelled as a small multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) in Europe. The first generation was based on the chassis of the Mégane, a small family car ...

in a smaller footprint. The Clio platform that spawned the Modus also gave rise to the current Nissan Micra and its monospace relative, the Nissan Note.

Design features

Marketed as the ''Triptic System,'' the Modus' rear seats are mounted on sliding rails with four preset positions. When in the rearmost two positions the seats are configured for two people with increased leg, hip, and shoulder room. When in the forward positions they are configured for three passengers, increasing cargo capacity. Another seat-based feature of Modus is the "Stay Put" system. The base of the front passenger seat flips up to reveal a storage compartment. An optional feature of the Modus is a boot chute, a drop-down opening in the centre of the tailgate below the rear window. The facelifted Modus was launched in Europe in 2007, featuring colour coded bumpers on all versions, clear Perspex 'glass' indicator bezels, revised side door mouldings and updated interior trim on all specification levels.

Restyle

left, Renault Grand Modus, launched in 2008, has a larger wheelbase than the Modus (front) Renault Grand Modus rear-1

Soon after, in February 2008, a restyled Modus and the new Grand Modus were launched. Also that year, the Grand Modus replaced the Modus in Spain. The Grand Modus has an extended length of and a boot volume of 410 litres () below the parcel shelf. This restyle saw changes made to the front and rear of the standard model to match the styling of the newer Grand variant. The boot chute has been removed from the options list. In February 2012,

discontinued the Modus, Espace, Kangoo, Laguna, and

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lines in the United Kingdom.

Safety

The Modus was the first small car to receive the full 5 Euro NCAP stars for passenger safety due in part to its six

airbag An airbag is a vehicle occupant-restraint system using a bag designed to inflate extremely quickly, then quickly deflate during a collision. It consists of the airbag cushion, a flexible fabric bag, an inflation module, and an impact sensor. T ...

system, front and rear side impact bars and ISOFIX child seat fixing points. It was also one of the first cars in its class to have such features as automatic headlamps and windscreen wipers on its options list. The Modus was offered with a cornering lamp function. Concealed in the main headlamp unit and operating at speeds less than , the lights gave the driver a wider field of vision when going round bends. On Privilège and Initiale models, Renault offered the Modus with "double distance"

Xenon Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

headlamps.

Mechanicals

Phase I

Phase II

*QS5 = QuickShift5 In terms of reliability, according to the 2006 breakdown survey from the German Automobile Club, the Modus ranks 3rd in its class with an average 5.8 breakdowns per 1,000 vehicles after three years. This is behind the Audi A2 (1st) and the BMW Mini (2nd) and ahead of the Lupo (4th) &

Polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small ha ...

(5th),

Toyota Yaris The is a supermini/ subcompact car sold by Toyota since 1999, replacing the Starlet and Tercel. Up to 2019, Toyota had used the Yaris nameplate on export versions of various Japanese-market models, with some markets receiving the same vehi ...

(6th) and Honda Jazz (7th).

References

External links

Renault Modus official worldwide website
{{Renault Modus Mini MPVs Euro NCAP superminis Front-wheel-drive vehicles 2010s cars Cars introduced in 2004