Back in February, we had a Zoom with Renaults LCV Sales manager Stephen Whitcombe, where we were presented with details on the brands re vamped best selling Trafic model. Fast forward to late March & the new Trafic arrived at CCV Towers for our appraisal & here’s how we got on.
Quite a lot actually. Trafic features a refreshed exterior, a more upmarket interior, loads of new safety features & improvements in tech & connectivity.
The Trafic has a redesigned front end, which is squarer & markedly different than before. It also comes with C-shaped daytime running lights as standard. Move up the model range & you’ll now get chrome trim & alloys. In effect, the revamp moves it away from the look of the previous Trafic & old Vauxhall Vivaro, which is now built under the Stellantis umbrella.
There’s more good news inside, with a far more modern & relaxing environment greeting you. Some switchgear has been carried over from the Renault car range, which is a good thing, plus there’s a new dashboard. You alos get the new Renault EasyLink infotainment system, with an 8.0″ central touchscreen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, DAB & Bluetooth. Our test van also included a wireless phone charger, 3X USB’s & a 4.2″ colour display in the instrument cluster.
Other improvements include, accessing the cruise control via the steering wheel, better quality door panels with wider armrests, a new gear lever & improved seat fabric & surface finishes.
The range kicks of with the Business model, then you have Business +, Sport & finally Sport +.
Spec
Trafic Business standard equipment includes, cruise control with speed limiter, a 3.5″ monochrome infotainment display, DAB, Bluetooth, aux-in & single USB socket. Aiding driver comfort you get a lumbar-adjustable driver’s seat with arm rest, a reach & rake adjustable steering wheel & electric front windows. On the outside, the Business includes 16″ steel wheels & LED headlights. Practicality comes in the form of a two passenger bench seat, a full steel bulkhead, twin rear doors that open to 180 degrees & remote locking with an immobiliser.
Step up to the Trafic Business & you’ll enjoy air-con, the EasyLink 8.0″ infotainment system with Apple CarPlay &Android Auto, a fold-down middle passenger seat with detachable A4 clipboard & laptop storage, under seat storage beneath the passenger bench, a load-through flap in the bulkhead, rear parking sensors, a wide view mirror in the passenger sun visor & body coloured door rails.
Next up is Sport, which addsEasyLink with SatNav, 3 years connected services, a 4.2″ colour display in the instrument cluster, LED interior lighting, 17″ alloys, front fogs, electric folding mirrors & Autonomous Emergency Braking.
Range topping Sport + finishes things off by adding keyless entry, climate control, metallic paint, 17″ alloys with black inserts, a rear parking camera & additional active safety including, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane-Departure Warning, Blindspot Warning, Traffic Sign Recognition, Driver Attention Alert & automatic high & low beam headlights.
All models are fitted with Electronic Stability Control with a Grip Xtend function to help keep you moving in incremental road conditions. Simply engage this by pushing a button on the dashboard.
Two lengths & two roof heights. L1 has a length of 5,080mm, whilst L2 increases this to 5,480mm. L1 also offers 5.2 cubic metres of cargo volume in the back, so Renault tell us that you can fit three Euro pallets or 11 standard sheets of plasterboard into your L1 Trafic panel van.
As well as the panel vans in two wheelbases and two roof heights, you can also have a six-seater crew van, a nine-seater minibus & a platform cab suitable for a myriad of conversions.
New Trafic offers a total capacity of up to 8.9 cubic metres a & a payload of as much as 1166kg. If you select a LWB model with the load through bulkhead, the maximum load length is a class-leading 4.15m. In addition, there are 16 anchorage points found in the L1 Trafic’s cargo area, while the L2 version has 18 anchors. Renault also fits a clever catch on the asymmetrically-split rear doors. This allows the left hand door that carries the Trafic’s rear numberplate to be locked in place so very long items can extend out of the right hand door & are carried with the vans rear lights & number plate still visible. Renault’s Ready4Work range of fully warrantied internal racking & storage solutions can also be added. An Extra Security Lock is also available- two were fitted to our test van, on the rear & side doors. There are further lock upgrades offered via Renault Pro+ dealerships. And LED lighting makes the load are five time brighter than with halogen bulbs.
Customers are able to choose from dCi 110, dCi 130, dCi 150 & dCi 170 variants. All versions are front-wheel drive & meet Euro 6D-Full emissions regulations.
The dCi 110 is new to the range & produces 110hp & 300Nm of torque. This engine is paired to a six-speed manual gearbox and is available solely in Business trim.
The dCi 130 is now 10hp more powerful than its equivalent engine in the previous Trafic. It comes paired to a six-speed manual transmission with peak power of 130hp & is available in Business, Business+ & Sport trim levels.
The dCi 150 engine is available with the six-speed manual or six-speed EDC dual-clutch automatic transmissions.
The dCi 170 engine is reserved for Sport & Sport+ versions, offering the option of both manual & automatic transmission.
Stop-start technology comes on nearly every version & there’s an ECO button on the dash that you can push which helps with economy too. The Blue dCi 110 will go from 0-62 mph in 16.8 seconds, & will reach a top speed of 103mph. Emissions are 182-186g/km with combined economy of 39.8-40.9 mpg.
The Blue dCi 130, has a top speed of 109 mph & a 0-62mph time of 14.3 seconds & comes with emissions of 182-187g/km & economy of 39.8-40.9 mpg.
The 150 auto is quicker, with 0-62mph taking 11.6 seconds, top speed is also 109 mph. Economy falls to 39.2-39.8 mpg in the the manual & 34.5-40.9 mpg in the auto.
The dCi 170 auto has a top speed of 115 mph & will hit 62 mph in 10.6 seconds. In auto form, it offers fuel economy of 39.2-39.8 mpg, whilst the manual version comes with 39.8-40.4 mpg.
All Trafic vans come with an 80-litre fuel tank, so 600 miles is possible between fills. In fact, when we took delivery ours showed a driving range of 745 miles. Oh happy days ! There’s also a 25-litre tank of AdBlue, that need’s to be filled every few thousand miles or so. The van’s trip computer will let you know when it requires topping up.
The Trafic comes with 84 litres of cabin storage, including two decent door pockets, three drinks holders & 54 litres of space located under the passenger bench. Furthermore, the centre seat back folds down to reveal a desk & there’s also covered storage on the dash-top.
The gear lever is set slightly right of the centre front seat so there’s actually more passenger leg room in the Trafic cab than in the Stellantis competition. And, don’t forget the flaps located in the bulkhead for longer loads & sensible rear door catches, making opening the rear doors to 180 degrees simple as well as safe.
You get a three-year / 100,000-mile warranty with road-side assistance on all versions. The Trafic can travel up to 25,000 miles or 2 years between servicing, whichever comes first. Renault also offers EasyLife service plans to customers allowing you to spread the cost of maintenance, which is a good idea.
We were testing the LL30 Blue dCi 130 Sport Panel Van & the first thing to say, is that it offers a very decent drive. The six-speed manual gear box is smooth & combined with a light clutch, the Traffic’s easy to live with. In town you will notice the heavy-ish power steering, but otherwise it’s simple to manoeuvre & straight forward to park using the rear parking sensors.
The inclusion of the passenger sun visor mirror is a cracking idea, allowing the driver to see more of the road when pulling out. On the road, the 130 dCi engine is extremely quiet & feels quicker than the claimed, especially when accelerating to join the motorway. At motorway speeds, some road & wind noise do enter the cabin, but overall it’s one of the quieter medium van cabs we’ve experienced.
Ride comforts excellent too, as the Trafic doesn’t feel bouncy when driven unladen. On the motorway, simply select cruise control & away you go, adjusting your speed on the steering wheel with your left thumb.
The adjustable drivers seat & reach & rake steering wheel, mean its easy to get comfortable & if you have three up-front, there’s decent leg room for both passengers. Our only issue was, that thanks to the location of the gear lever, which makes more room for the centre front seat passengers leg, there’s not much room for the drivers left foot, which was especially noticeable on longer motorway journeys.
As far as the vans switchgear goes, it all falls easily to hand & connecting my iPhone via Bluetooth was quick & simple. The Apple CarPlay connection via the front USB, initially disconnected & re-connected all on it’s own as we drove around, which proved mightily frustrating. I tied a different cable & hey presto, problem solved .
Whilst the touchscreen menus were straightforward, the SatNav & general graphics are distinctly average, except when Apple CarPlay was used & we could utilise Waze or Google Maps. CarPlay takes over the entire screen so you need to use the stubby steering wheel stalk controls to adjust the entertainment volume.
In a week where we drove 250 miles, on a combination of urban & motorway roads, we averaged a pretty decent 38.7 mpg, whilst only using up a third of a tank of diesel. I’m confident that 650-700 miles is achievable on one 80 litre tank. Put that in your electric van pipe & smoke it !
Pros
Excellent load lengths put it at the top of the sector. The updated cabin is both comfortable & practical & the addition of improved safety & tech lifts the Trafic closer to the competition. The range of Euro 6 friendly engines all offer decent fuel economy & the 80 litre tank will take you a very long way. Above average front passenger leg room is good news as are little touches like the user-friendly door catches.
It doesn’t have the highest load volume in the class. Easylink is a bit fiddly to use. On longer journeys, the lack of left leg room when driving is noticeable. Nissan’s Primastar, offers a 5 year warranty.
Overall
Improvements on cabin quality, safety & tech on the latest Trafic, have definitely improved it. It also looks better from the outside as well. All of this has been done to help push it much higher up the van food chain & to that end, it’s worked. We feel that it’s now on equal footing with the competition & well worth your time
4/5
Van tested. LL30 Blue dCi 130 Sport Panel Van costing from £30,800 + vat
Van dimensions
Body style Height Width
SWB Low roof 1,971mm 1,956mm
SWB High roof 2,465mm 1,956mm
LWB Low roof 1,967mm 1,956mm
LWB High roof 2,498mm 1,956mm
Width including door mirrors 2,283mm
Load area dimensions
Body style Height Width Length Volume Height Width Length Volume
SWB Low roof 1,387mm 1,662mm 2,537mm 5.8m3 1,387mm 1,662mm 2,537mm 5.8m3
SWB High roof 1,898mm 1,662mm 2,537mm 7.8m3 1,898mm 1,662mm 2,537mm 7.8m3
LWB Low roof 1,387mm 1,662mm 2,937mm 6.7m3 1,387mm 1,662mm 2,937mm 6.7m3
LWB High roof 1,898mm 1,662mm 2,937mm 8.9m3 1,898mm 1,662mm 2,937mm 8.9m3