Under the hood is a brand-new engine developed specially for the Kwid. It's a three-pot unit that displaces 799cc. Power output is 53bhp, and torque is rated at 72Nm. But, despite the numbers seeming low on paper, there's adequate power. Power delivery is linear, and short gearing on the five-speeder makes things sweeter while driving in the city. Throws on the gear are short, and shift quality is decently smooth.
The Kwid rides well. Renault has taken into account horrible Indian road conditions and set up the car rather well. Potholes are tackled with ease and bumps are filtered out well, unless they're really deep ones. The rear suspension is softly-sprung. The downside of the soft suspension and high ground clearance of 180mm is the body roll. There's plenty of it, more than what you'd expect from a car this size.
The steering is ultra-light. That helps manoeuvre it through tight city spaces and while parking, but when you're doing highway speeds, you need to keep correcting it constantly. It gets a bit tiring. That said, at higher speeds, the Kwid feels much more stable than the Alto.
