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The What Van? Road Test: Renault Trafic (2021)
Date: Thursday, May 26, 2022
Interior and equipment
There is no denying that the Trafic Sport comes well-equipped.
For your money you benefit from front fog-lights, sat-nav (with a rather slow 8in EASY LINK touch-screen in our case), a DAB radio with remote controls on a steering column stalk, and Bluetooth. Smartphone integration with Android Auto and Apple Carplay are included in the deal and we were grateful for our demonstrator’s extra-cost wireless smartphone charger.
The sat-nav package comes with connected navigation services for three years, and includes Google search for places of interest, live traffic information and weather forecasts.
Other features include cruise control with a speed limiter, a driver’s airbag, electric windows, and heated, power-adjustable and power-folding exterior mirrors complete with a wide-angle section. The heating and ventilation system is controlled by chunky, easy-
to-use controls, and includes air-conditioning.
Mention should also be made of the instrument panel’s 4.2in TFT (Thin Film Transistor) colour display.
Storage facilities include a pair of bins in each of the three-seater cab’s doors, a lidded but not lockable glove-box, a cubby hole below and to the right of the steering wheel, a lidded compartment above the instrument panel and a big shelf in the middle of the fascia with two USB points.
Another USB point sits close to the touch-screen and a 12v power socket isn’t far away. There is an additional one in the load area.
A further shelf sits next to a moulding that projects from the front of the dashboard and plays host to the gearlever. Unfortunately it robs the middle passenger of sufficient legroom in their seat, with knee-room in particular at a premium.
Pull the passenger seat cushions forwards and you can gain access tothe compartment underneath them. Flip down the back of the middle seat and it turns into a handy desk with a detachable A4 clipboard.
The dashboard features a cup-holder at each extremity with a novel flexible grip, which holds the cup firmly; a sensible idea. Rather less sensible is the failure to provide grab handles either above the doors or on the A-pillars; an annoying omission.
Both the steering wheel, which is trimmed in faux leather, and the driver’s seat are height-adjustable, and the latter comes with an armrest and lumbar adjustment.
An array of buttons can be used to switch the Stop & Start, Traction Control and Lane Departure Warning systems on and off. The last-named is an optional extra, and should be standard.
Disc brakes are fitted to all four wheels. Standard safety features include ABS with electronic brakeforce distribution, electronic stability control with hill start assist and AEBS; active emergency braking system.
The windscreen wipers start working automatically when it begins to rain and the headlights dip automatically as and when required at night.
Sensors all around the vehicle plus a reversing camera included in the optional parking pack should minimise the risk of damage during low-speed manoeuvring. Rear parking sensors come as standard anyway.
Side rubbing strips help protect the optional metallic paint finish, and the front bumper and mirror casings are finished in the same colour as the body.
So far as safety is concerned, however, the cleverest feature on the vehicle is one of the simplest.
Renault has positioned a wide-angle mirror on the inside of the passenger sun visor. Fold the visor down, and the driver can see if there is anything in the van’s nearside blind spot; a vulnerable cyclist, for example.
On our van it was complemented by an optional blind spot warning device.
Our test van’s 17in alloy wheels were shod with Goodyear Efficient Grip Cargo 215/60 R17 tyres. Power-assisted steering delivers a 12.8m turning circle between walls shrinking
to 12.4m between kerbs.
Turning to the suspension, MacPherson struts with an anti-roll bar are fitted at the front. A twist-beam suspension set-up, with hydraulic dampers and a Panhard rod to aid lateral location of the axle, helps to support the rear.
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