Sure to 'Captur' your heart

Motoring editor ROSIE ALLSOPP drives the new Renault Captur.

I THINK I loved the Captur before I even pushed the ignition button.

In a world where innovation and individuality in cars is king, the Captur has one of the most useful advancements ever created for a family vehicle.

I'm not talking about the superb 1.5-litre turbodiesel engine, or the ability to personalise the car to suit your every specification. Or the rear-view parking assist camera that seems to be able to see round corners.

I'm talking about the seat covers.

The Captur is the second Renault to be designed by their new director of industrial design, Laurens van den Acker.

While he can clearly make a car look beautiful and run very efficiently, Mr van den Acker is also a practical sort. Because he has made the Captur's seat covers removable and washable.

I'll say it again in case you didn't catch it the first time. Removable. Washable. Seat. Covers.

This innovation speaks to me. It makes me want to climb on the bonnet and shout to the wider world: 'why did no-one think of this before?'

But enough of that. Onto the rest of the Captur. It is billed as a compact crossover, or as Paul Joly, Renault specialist at Freelance Motors likes to call it, a 'baby SUV'. I like the sound of that.

It is a little bit higher than your usual vehicle, but not too big. Like a car wearing platform soles. It has plenty of cabin space, a great boot and it looks really stylish.

Cars no longer come in boring old colours, these days they come in 'collections', like haute couture. The Captur has three collections which means three base colours with lots of different combinations to personalise the car to suit you. There is the Arizona collection which takes a sort of bronze umber as its base note. There is the Miami collection, with either bright Tahoe blue or a darker Boston blue on which to build and finally the monochromatic uber-stylish Manhattan collection which features ivories, blacks, stones and oyster greys in its palette.

And it isn't just the exterior paint job that can be personalised, there are different decal designs, interior touch packs which offer a variety of trims on the central console, speakers and air vents and style packs with different detailing on seat upholstery and the steering wheel. Add to that a choice of alloys, gloss pack and a range of accessory levels and it is possible that you won't find another Captur that is finished just like yours.

The one I'm driving is the top of the range Dynamique S dCi which has a fabulous 1.5-litre turbodiesel engine. I was really impressed with its quietness and its acceleration.

The stop/start technology is unobtrusive and after a while you hardly notice, but what will be noticeable is the great fuel economy.

Another useful innovation for diesel models is its DPF filter. Instead of having to drive at 42mph in order to clear the filter, as is the case in some other diesel models, the Captur's filter is superheated and cleared behind the scenes so it is something the driver barely has to worry about.

Add to that the four-year warranty, four-year roadside cover and up to four years servicing and the Captur looks even more attractive.