What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

4th Report

During the past several months I have come to appreciate the Trafic Passenger’s versatility as both a people carrier and a surprisingly effective load lugger.

By opening the tailgate and pulling a red strap located behind the third row of seats to collapse the seat backs before releasing the levers to fold the whole seat unit forward, you can create a decent-sized load space of 2.5m³.

I have used this to carry everything from ‘the big shop’ to camping gear to chests of drawers to boxes of books and clothes for charity shops.

It is extremely important to remember, however, that, as a van designed primarily for transporting people, the Trafic Passenger does not possess a bulkhead to protect the occupants from the load area. It is vital that cargo, particularly anything heavy or potentially dangerous, is well secured and cannot break loose as a result of sharp braking, for example.

With the side doors reserved for passenger access (getting into the back row of seats when they are in use is a bit of a squeeze), access to the loading bay is via the tailgate only, which can be locked and unlocked separately to the passenger doors for added security.

Bearing in mind that my Trafic Passenger is in the short-wheelbase, low-roof bodystyle, I have been impressed by the job Renault’s designers have done on the layout
of the interior.

All of the seats in the rear two rows offer a reasonably generous amount of legroom and there have been few complaints from the occupants of these berths even after long journeys. It should be said, however, that aside from the driver’s seat, they are fixed bolt upright and cannot be moved up and down or backwards and forwards to suit different body shapes. Ventilation for rear-seat passengers is provided by large sliding windows in both side doors.

The passenger drawing the shortest straw though, is the piggy in the middle in the front row of seats where legroom (specifically right-knee room) is severely restricted by the bulging gear stick casement. This also serves to make it difficult to move across the cab, which would arguably be more of a problem in a panel van engaged in delivery work where the driver may prefer to pull up at the kerb and hop in and out of the nearside door, rather than stepping out into traffic.

On the plus side, pulling up the middle seat reveals a large storage compartment, which can be used to discreetly stow away valuable equipment such as tools, boots or laptops.

Report card: Versatility = 4/5

Overall, the Passenger does a decent job at transporting both people and cargo.