Renault Kwid: 11,000 miles in a £4,000 car

Is this the most ridiculous car journey anyone has ever undertaken? An 11,000-mile overland winter drive in the new Renault Kwid, from its Indian manufacturing point to the place where it was designed, in France. With a starting price of £3000, this is one of the cheapest new motors you can buy anywhere, and we’ve joined Rahul Kakar, Autocar India’s chief road tester, for the final leg of the journey from Tallinn to Paris.

Rahul and his crew are driving across two continents from India Gate in Delhi to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to put the Kwid through the toughest possible test of endurance. Sounds daft, doesn’t it; tackling such a feat in a bargain-basement car that costs the same as a set of 20in wheels on a Ferrari 488 Spider. And by the time we hook up with the Autocar India team in Tallinn, Estonia, the journey is undeniably taking its toll. Our new travel companions have been on the road for more than a month, covering 9500 miles so far, and they are weary and quiet. The enormity of the trip – both physically and mechanically – is writ large.

After a 6am breakfast, we’re soon Lithuania bound, hurtling through Arctic-like Estonia. The violently shaking car, incredibly loud engine and road noise, and manic single wiper are fighting the sleet, and all bely the fact that we’re travelling at a mere 55mph on the single-carriageway road.

We’re in a convoy of two cars: the 1.0-litre, three-cylinder Kwid, and the Duster support vehicle. The Autocar India team consists of videographer Mritunjay Chakraborty, who’s been with the crew since the start, photographer Ashley Baxter, who took over from Kuldeep Chaudhari in Kazakhstan around a month in, and 22-year-old Jay Patil in the support car. Jay compares the standard of driving in Europe to that in India: “The most difficult thing has been getting used to other people being good drivers. People are polite and everyone signals. It’s very different.”

That doesn’t detract from the toughness of the test. We’re already a little drained and uncomfortable, and bitterly cold, as the Kwid’s heater is barely able to fight the near-freezing temperature. Rahul says that at Aralsk in Kazakhstan this got to minus-23 degrees C – rather different to the humid, sweltering 30 degrees C at their send-off in Delhi.

We’re heading for Kaunas in Lithuania. I drive the Duster for a stretch. Relieved to have a break, Jay says of his adventure: “It’s amazing, but extremely tiring, to see the world like this. It’s been the most incredible trip, but I have 1200 songs on my phone and I’m bored of every single one of them.”

Hotel reached, our battered and bruised crew have an early night. A 6am breakfast precedes car preps and a short photoshoot in Kaunas old town. Many miles later, we’re handed the Kwid’s keys to drive into Poland. This is a slightly daunting prospect, as the car has behaved faultlessly so far and we don’t want to be behind the wheel if and when it goes wrong.

The Hyundai i10-sized car is eye catching, and also comes with a 0.8-litre engine. With 67bhp and 67lb ft, our £4000 1.0-litre is peppier but not what you’d call gutsy, but it’s perfectly pitched at the Indian market. There, most cars are dangerously poor, so the Kwid has become a top-seller in a huge market that’s proved impossible for some makers to crack.

The cabin belies the Kwid’s bargain price, with plenty of space, air-con and touchscreen infotainment. The costcutting is more evident in the Renault’s light, vague steering, jerky low-speed ride and noisy, vibratory engine. At least the five-speed gearbox is fairly slick.

Warsaw-bound, the snowy weather worsens and crosswinds shake the 700kg Kwid alarmingly, constantly knocking us away from the straight-ahead. Yet the Kwid doesn’t miss a beat. A planned service in Kazakhstan had included an oil change, coolant top-up and a new air filter and oil filter, but the mechanic didn’t need to do anything else. Amazing.

Another overnight stop, but although we’re already exhausted, the trip’s tough conditions and relentless pace haven’t dented the Indian team’s spirits. Crossing the German border brings an unwelcome police escort. Pulling us over, the cop reveals his confusion at being confronted with an unrecognisable car with Indian registration plates in Europe, but he ultimately lets us carry on. Rahul tells us they were pulled over and searched countless times before they even reached Europe.