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Renault Trafic Review

Sam Worth
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What's good?

– Wide range of engines
– Practical interior features
– Longest medium van loading length

What's bad?

– Not as safe as its rivals

What's the score?

7/10

Overview

The Renault Trafic has been in production since 1980 and this is the third generation. It’s the most practical model yet, over 200mm longer than its predecessor, it’s taller and wider, too. But it’s not just more practical, as the design has improved in many ways and so has the safety, although not quite as much as its main rivals. The Trafic gets 3.5 stars from Euro NCAP, whereas the VW Transporter and Ford Transit Custom get a better score overall.

The Trafic is also known as the Nissan NV300 (Primaster) and the Fiat Talento. It also wore an (Opel) Vauxhall Vivaro badge a few years ago, but that changed in late 2018 when the manufacturer decided to start building their own platform.

At the time I uploaded my review, the Trafic came with different trim levels, Business, Business +, Sport Nav, and the Premier Edition. The Premier Edition started at £26,150 when it was being produced. It was formerly known as the Formula Edition and is now known as the Black Edition, which now starts at £27,950, with the base model starting at £23,450. The Premier Edition design was to celebrate Renault’s partnership with the Sky Sports coverage of the Premier League. It’s not just the Trafic which received this special trim, the Kangoo and Master got it as well.

The Premier Edition is the top-of-the-range trim, and it’s based on the Sport Nav. You have the option of having either black or white stripes decals which flow down each side of van, with an offset bonnet stripe. There’s also the 17-inch Cyclade alloys wheels in bespoke black. It also has body coloured side mouldings to suit the metallic paintwork. In the interior, there’s auto lights and wipers, front fog lights, cruise control, a leather steering wheel, a rear-view camera, and a dash cam which is made by Kenwood. In the centre dash there’s Renault’s R-LINK infotainment system, which I’ll get into shortly.

Rear

It’s a van, right? Let’s move onto the size. The Trafic offers a choice of two wheelbase lengths, 5000mm and 5400mm. The short wheelbase is 1971mm tall and is available as a panel or crew van body style.

Renault has added a new feature to the Trafic. The clever feature allows you to drive the van with the offside rear door open, while the rear nearside door is locked into place by a latch at the top of the door. Meaning you can chuck even more B&Q wooden panels in the back, which can hang out the back of the van (providing it’s secure, of course) while you’re driving, as the number plate is still shown, making it road legal.

From the Business + trim, you’ll get a 54-litre storage unit under both passenger seats, although you get this storage space in most modern vans. But here’s a few more tricks up Renault’s sleeve. The short wheelbase Trafic offers 2537mm of useable floor length, but up near the bulkhead in the back, there’s a flap which can open up into the same 54-litre storage space – giving you an extra 413mm of room to play with. Nah-ah-ah, that’s not the end of it. Down the front, below the nearside passenger seats, there’s another flap to open. Open it up and you’ll get a further 800mm of space, giving you a total amount of 3750mm to use up. Impressive.

Drive

The Trafic offers a range of 1.6-litre turbocharged diesel engines, the dCi 95 (94bhp), dCi 120 (118bhp), ENERGY dCi 125 (123bhp), and the ENERGY dCi 145 (143bhp). All of which come with a six-speed manual gearbox. At the time of my review there was only a six-speed manual gearbox available, but there’s now the option of a six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

I tested the ENERGY dCi 125, which seemed enough power for the job, although the back was completely empty. Like I said in my review, I wouldn’t recommend going for the dCi 95, as I can see the engine struggling under heavy load. The ENERGY dCi 125 has a top speed of 109mph, 0-62mph in 11.9 seconds and 236lb-ft. All the power is sent through the front wheels and you’ll expect to get around 50mpg combined from its 80-litre fuel tank. The only thing I would say I wasn’t keen on, was the gearbox. That’s not to say the gear changes were bad, they just felt a bit notchy and didn’t feel quite as positive as the Ford Transit Custom or VW Transporter.

The steering feels precise, not too heavy, nor too light. The steering wheel is reasonably comfortable on the hand, not the best in the class, but does the job fine. The ride is comfortable for both driver and passenger. One thing I did like about the Trafic was the seating position. There’s an arm rest that folds up to my left (as a driver perspective). And on the door trim, there seemed to be what felt like another arm rest, only it’s plastic of course – but still surprisingly comfortable. It just made me feel cocooned in the driving area and it made the driving position a good place to sit in. I must admit, I did feel ‘cool’ driving a blacked-out van, with gloss black wheels and white stripes, it’s a smart-looking van. Fair play to Renault.

Interior

Inside there are 14 storage compartments scattered round the cabin, including 3 cupholders. The one that really grabbed my attention is hidden, well, not entirely. Next to the middle seat, there’s a lever, pull it down and the middle seat falls flat. On top of it looks like a mini office. There’s a place to put a laptop, paper, and pens. If you release the black plastic lever near the top, you’ll get a detachable clip board, which you can also attach onto your mini office. Finally, underneath where the clipboard is stored, is another storage compartment which looks the place to store A4 pieces of paper and other notes. Handy.

Let’s talk tech. Right, the 7-inch infotainment system called R-LINK isn’t the best if I’m honest. It can often seem laggy, out-dated and a bit of a pig to use. I system comes with DAB, Bluetooth, Aux, USB, and a Sat Nav which is powered by TomTom which has live traffic updates. The rear-view camera for a van is bearable. Still, not the best. I suppose for a van the infotainment system isn’t bad overall, but compared to it’s rivals, it’s not as user-friendly.

Verdict

The Trafic has come a long way over the past 40 years. It’s had many design changes and it’s recently got a facelift which comes with LED headlights, which do look smart, I have to say. The interior has changed slightly too, with an infotainment system that is now compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. But let’s go back to the pre-facelift model I reviewed before we get carried away with the new design.

The third generation is a good van. It’s comfortable and more practical than the previous generation. The inside has a better, up-lifted interior with a load more storage room. One thing I will say is, and you’re gonna laugh at me at saying this, but I prefer the look of the Trafic MK2 facelift at the front. I don’t know why, I just do. The new front headlights look way too large on this new model, it’s almost as if it’s wearing the sort of specs that humans wear to make their eyes look bigger. The rear end looks smarter though, I won’t deny that.

If you’re looking at a new or used van, I’d recommend testing out the Ford Transit and the VW Transporter, as they’re brilliant vans as well.