Renault Trafic Crew launched

Renault Light Commercial Vehicles has launched a new five or six-seat version of the Trafic with an auto to be available later

Renault has announced the launch of the Renault

Traffic Crew, a five-seat or six-seat version of the LWB van that is rapidly gaining popularity on the Australian market.

Last year, Renault sold 1730 Trafic vans

and with this addition to the range, Renault’s Senior Model Line Manager, Lyndon Healey said that number would be substantially boosted. "The multi-seat van segment accounts for around 850 vehicles per year, or up to six per cent of the van market. We are confident the Trafic Crew will quickly establish itself with buyers seeking additional passenger carrying capacity," Healey said at the launch.

The Crew offers three variants, the Crew, Crew with Premium Pack and the Crew Lifestyle. The entry-level Crew is designed for the ‘tool-of-trade’ customers, according to Lyndon Healey. It provides a good balance of equipment for the price and is pitched squarely against the segment leaders. The Trafic Crew is priced at $42,990, or $3500 above the existing LWB Trafic.

While the basic Crew is quite well appointed with touches such as cruise control, reversing camera (albeit in the rear-view mirror), Bluetooth, dual sliding doors, USB and 12V outlets and full-opening twin rear doors with wipers on each door, the Premium Pack adds some nice extras that make the Crew real dual-purpose vehicle.

The Premium Pack adds a seven-inch touch screen with GPS, heated front seat for the driver (if the box is ticked for the optional single passenger seat that's also heated), 17-inch alloy wheels, different dash with closed storage and more. The Crew with Premium Pack is priced at $45,480.

The Lifestyle adds climate-control air-con and hands-free key card and engine start and is priced at $45,980.

Twin turbo power

The Trafic is powered by a 1.6-litre twin-turbo diesel with common-rail fuel injection. It’s a virtually ‘square’ motor with a bore and stroke of 80 x 79.5mm and with the impressive outputs of 103kW at 3500rpm and 340Nm of torque at 1500rpm.

The Trafic is only offered with a six-speed manual gearbox at this stage but Lyndon Healey said that in the near future it will also be available with a six-speed automatic. Healey said that the auto option would significantly boost sales. "I think that the auto could conceivably increase our sales by up to 50 per cent," he said at the launch.

The Trafic is rated to take a payload of up to 1118kg with a GVM of 2940kg and a maximum towing weight of 2000kg.

Even with the second row of seats, the Trafic still offers a cargo capacity of four cubic metres. The length of the cargo area is 2314mm and the overall width is 1662mm with 1268 between the wheel arches and the height is 1387mm.

The front-wheel drive configuration gives a smooth, flat load area and the load sill height is a fairly low 552mm.

Thoughtful interior

In making the Crew, Renault hasn’t just stuck in a second row of seats and forgotten about it. The second row is really three individual seats each with three-point seat belts and head restraints as well as fold-down arm rests.

Behind the seats is a substantial bulkhead which Healey said has passed the ‘fridge test’ providing passengers protection from objects weighing up to 50kg travelling at 50km/h.

This bulkhead also insulates the passengers from the cargo area meaning that there’s better climate control and better NVH levels than a regular van.

The roof has also been fully trimmed with speakers added for the rear passengers and there is a non-skid covering for the floor.

Under the two near-side rear seats are a pair of 49-litre storage boxes as well as storage pockets at the front of the seat bases.

Sitting in the rear seats, there’s plenty of head and leg room and the floor is flat thanks to the front-drive setup. We did find that it’s a fairly upright seating position which can only be adjusted a little due to the presence of the bulkhead but the seats are comfortable and not just a bench-seat afterthought.

On the road

The Trafic we drove at the launch was a Crew with the Premium Pack which was loaded with 325kg in the cargo area and two occupants up front.

The seating position for the driver is great. As you’d expect from a European van, the ergonomics are well sorted out with everything falling to hand.

The seat is multi adjustable and as is the steering wheel. The wheel features controls for the stereo and the cruise control while all the other switchgear is well placed and simple to use.

Our test route took in a variety of roads from freeway to secondary roads and a bit of urban driving thrown in. Through everything, the Trafic proved to be a really pleasurable environment to be in. It’s quiet with barely any engine noise and just a bit of wind noise from around the wing mirrors intruding on the cabin. Gone is the usual drumming and harmonics associated with driving a commercial van.

The suspension soaked up the bumps beautifully while the weight in the back was totally forgotten.

Vision from the driver’s perch is great. Big wing mirrors, expansive windscreen and the glazed bulkhead combine to give the driver a good view all around.

Safety is another strong point with six airbags up front, ABS, ESC, Hill Start Assist and Grip X-tend (traction control) standard across the range. In addition to that, Renault’s Load Adaptive Control (LAC) adjusts the ESC depending on whether the vehicle is empty or loaded.

Renault is claiming fuel consumption at a thrifty 6.2 litres/100kms which means that range from the 80-litre tank could theoretically be in excess of 1000 kilometres.

Accord to Healey, the overall cost of ownership of the Traffic has been improved with the economy figure combined with the servicing intervals of 30,000kms or 12 months and the first three services capped at $349.

Warranty is three years or 200,000kms with three years of roadside assistance.

"Irrespective of the specification, the new Trafic Crew provides a practical, easy-to-drive multi-seat van solution for Australian customers, with the reassurance of factory build quality and our comprehensive and lengthy warranty," said Healey.

2017 Renault Trafic Crew pricing and specifications:

Price: From $42,990 (plus on-road costs)

Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo-diesel

?Output: 103kW/340Nm

Transmission: six-speed manual

?Fuel: 6.2L/100km (ADR Combined)

CO2: 164g/km (ADR Combined)

Safety Rating: N/A