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NEWS
New Trafic wins economy title
Renault's next-generation Trafic has triumphed in a British LCV fuel economy trialIt might not be arriving here before next year, but Renault's refreshed Trafic – which now appears to be referred to in official press releases as "the All-New Trafic" – has taken out two awards in Britain's 2014 MPG Marathon.
The Trafic claimed the titles of best fuel economy and best improvement in the light commercial vehicle titles, the van achieving an average consumption of 5.1L/100km over the 500km test course through England's Cotwolds region and southern Wales.
The figure undercut that of many popular rivals and is in fact 16 per cent lower than Renault's own claimed fuel economy figure for the new Trafic, which went on sale in Britain in September.
The Trafic SL27 Energy dCi 120 Business+ van was driven by Dan Gilkes, Editor of Van Fleet World, and co-driver Ray Penford, the final figure of 55.55mpg (5.1L/100km) earning it the award of 'Best MPG'. That's 15.98 per cent better than the Trafic's official EU combined-cycle figure of 47.9mpg (5.9L/100km), leading to the van also claiming the award of Best Percentage Improvement.
Mr Gilkes said it was an impressive performance.
"With a combined fuel figure of 47.9mpg [5.9L/100km], the Energy dCi 120 twin-turbo Trafic is already one of the most economical vans in its class, making it tough to improve upon," he said.
"But, as a number of vehicles struggled to even reach their advertised combined figure, we were more than happy with a final result of 55.5mpg [5.1L/100km] – the most economical van in the MPG Marathon.
"The Trafic never missed a beat and was a pleasure to drive, with a quiet and comfortable cab and effortless controls. Though maintaining low rpm throughout for maximum economy, the new 1.6-litre twin-turbo engine delivers plenty of torque, even at lower engine speeds, allowing higher gears to be used. Even in normal driving conditions, customers should find the Trafic an economical yet rapid van."
In Europe the new Trafic is available with a choice of four turbo-diesel powerplants. The renewed model boasts a redesigned cabin and a load bay optimised with a number of practical features. A total of 270 variants are available in Europe across van, crew-cab, platform-cab and people-carrier formats, with the largest Trafic packing in 8.6 cubic metres of storage space.
In Australia, Lyndon Healey, Renault Model Line Manager for LCVs, said the accolades were extremely promising.
"We are very encouraged by the performance of the All-New Trafic in the UK tests," he said.
"We know that Australian van customers are very focused on fuel efficiency as a means to drive down their running costs and improve their business profitability, and we look forward to welcoming the All-New Trafic to our line-up early in the New Year.
"We are confident that in 2015 Renault will have the most fuel-efficient vehicles in each of the classes where we are represented: Kangoo, Trafic and Master. This commitment to efficiency is going to help drive Renault LCV sales to even higher levels in 2015."
Local specs, pricing and availability for the new Trafic are yet to be announced.
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Written byRod Chapman
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