Renault Master E-Tech Reviews

Renault’s continued drive to become a mainstream player in Australia is proceeding at pace. The French marque’s car range has everything from low cost small hatchback, to family station wagons, with a delicious sprinkling of high-performance models from the RenaultSport division.Then there are the Renault light commercials. Small vans to large ones and most recently the introduction of a Renault Master cab-chassis with rear-wheel drive that we previewed late last year.Cab-chassis are imported only for one reason - to let Australian designers and engineers come up with a huge variety of bodies suited to very specific tasks. Indeed, as the local car industry moves away from large scale manufacturing it’s likely that many of the best people will move into designing and engineering vehicles based on cab-chassis, and others will manufacture them.Renault Australia and Sunliner, the latter a long established Australian family company, have entered into a partnership to build the Sunliner 40th Anniversary Model motorhome.We are delighted to report that French flair is very much part of the motorhome package; the bold frontal appearance of the Renault Master simply demands a futuristic looking motorhome. Even better to our eyes, the interior of the Sunliner breaks completely away from interior design and materials tradition. More luxury apartment than any olde-style caravan, it works brilliantly to our eyes. To quote the managing director of Sunliner, Nick Harding, “The interior is inspired by the design of super yachts and boasts the same sophisticated quality and style that people expect in a luxury product, including curved cabinets, leather and feature lighting.”We were impressed not only with the quality of the materials, but also the way they have also been crafted by men and women used by Sunliner who obviously know their trades very well.A slide-out wall not only increases Sunliners’ interior space, but also gives a feeling of extra room beyond that which actually exists. That’s clever.An interesting feature is the use of a drop-down bed. This allows you to sleep on a conventional mattress rather than the usual converted seat-and-table that inevitably compromises comfort.Swivelling front seats also improve interior space. Note that if you specify these the optional side airbags aren’t available. Front airbags are standard. An interesting feature is the outside TV inside a slide-up panel on the left of the Sunliner 40th Anniversary. Power down the large external awning by remote control, power up the TV by its remote, pour your favourite drink (not yet offered by remote control, but maybe one day!) and sit back to enjoy the great Aussie outdoors anywhere your Sunliner/Renault takes you.Renault Master is powered by a 2.3-litre turbo-diesel direct-injection four-cylinder engine, producing 110 kW of power and 350 Nm of torque, the latter between 1500 rpm and 2750 rpm. Whereas the front-drive models have the engine mounted east-west, the powerplant has been turned through 90 degrees to give it a conventional layout for the truck class.The engine drives through a six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed automated ZF manual. It features electrically controlled clutch engagement/disengagement that makes it more precise at very low speeds than is usual is automated manuals.Sunliner 40th Anniversary Model motorhome is priced at about $170,000 driveaway. Prices will very state to state due to differences in government and dealer charges. Contact your local Sunliner dealer for details.At this stage we haven’t had a chance to road test, or bed or kitchen test, a Sunliner, all we have done is check it out in a stationary position. We hope to carry out a full review soon and will get back to you with a full report then.

Renault's exclusive new Megane RS 275 Trophy hot hatch hits Aussie showrooms.  The limited edition Megane 275 Trophy is the latest and most powerful to-date hot hatch from Renault's motorsport division to arrive on our shores.  Just 100 of the range-topping Megane 275 Trophy models will be sold in Australia at a price of $52,990, making the newcomer $9,000 more expensive than the less powerful Megane 265.  The new hero model is powered by the same 2.0-litre turbocharged four-pot found in the lesser 265, but benefits from a power boost which sees the peak output rise by 7kW to 202kW - or from 265-275 metric horsepower.  Maximum torque remains unchanged at 360Nm, as do the 7.5L/100km combined fuel consumption and 6.0 second 0-100km/h figures.  So if power and straight-line performance are virtually identical to the cheaper model, what do you get for the extra $9,000?  The 275 comes standard with the Renault Sport's stiffer Cup chassis and a limited slip differential, while a new lightweight titanium exhaust system made by Akrapovič is said to produce a more "raucous bark". The new model also gains fully adjustable Ohlins dampers, and wears sticky Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tyres.  The 275 Trophy is available in just two colours, pearl white and liquid yellow, with unique 'Trophy' decals plastered across the rear of the car.  Inside, the new model gains a pair of leather and Alcantara Recaro bucket seats with red stitching.  The Megane 275 Trophy will be available from September 30, priced from $52,990 and covered by Renault's 5 year unlimited kilometer warranty.  The 275 Trophy will be Australia's ultimate Renault Sport hot hatch until the hardcore Trophy-R, which recently set the front-drive Nurburgring lap record at 7 minutes 54 seconds, arrives later this year.  Just 50 Trophy-R's will be available nationally and they are expected to sell for around $60,000. 

Chris Riley road tests and reviews the Renault Megane GT-Line Premium wagon with specs, fuel economy and verdict.

Ewan Kennedy road tests and reviews the 2014 Renault Kangoo.

Renault Trafic ad shows how 'K.I.T.T.' the new van can be for tradies.Renault is set to officially pull the covers off the new third-generation Trafic at the Paris motor show next month, but the French carmaker has given us a taste of the new light-commercial van's capabilities in a new recreation of the classic opening sequence of the 1980s David Hasselhoff TV classic Knight Rider. Cheekily titled TraficRider, the ad showcases the Trafic as a companion to everyday hero tradies, but the touchscreen multimedia interface is as close as the Trafic will get to K.I.T.T.'s sidekick-level artificial intelligence. There's no suggestion the Trafic can talk to its owner like K.I.T.T. did, but we'd love to see the grille scanner appear on the options list when the new model likely arrives early next year.

Ewan Kennedy road tests and reviews the 2014 Renault Clio GT.

Renault pushes for a new category for its Twizy electric runabout but there is a query on quadricycle safety. Renault’s Australian arm has put its two-seater Twizy electric vehicle on what it calls a “long road" to establish a new vehicle category here. The French brand is seeking a quadricycle classification, as is the case in Europe, that does not require its personal mobility device to conform to passenger vehicle safety standards.The company argues that the Twizy performs similar duty to an electric scooter but with a much-greater level of safety. Renault Australia managing director Justin Hocevar says the Twizy has to be driven locally to be understood. He describes "a unique, imaginative and exciting view of future personal mobility" in increasingly congested cities.Three Twizys can fit on a standard car parking space and the vehicle can be charged overnight from a standard household socket, he says. The Twizy has been on sale in Europe for two years. Renault's local arm wants to show its capabilities to legislators, industry associations, transport authorities and the public.There are some Renault electric light-commercial vans on test on the Australia Post fleet. The maker also has conducted hot-weather testing on its Zoe small car. Corporate communications manager Emily Fadeyev says the Twizy program is in the "early, early stages ... you need to see it to understand it".Renault started the process at last weekend's Hunter electric vehicle festival in Newcastle and it has an EV specialist approaching federal and state authorities to create a quadricycle category. The four-wheel Twizy has disc brakes, with a protective cell around its two passengers (there are optional "scissor" doors) as well as an airbag and four-point harness for the driver. The rear passenger has a conventional three-point seat belt.Weighing 450kg, the Twizy can reach 80km/h. Its lithium-ion battery, which is recharged when decelerating or via a normal power socket in just under four hours, powers a 13kW/57Nm electric motor. Maximum range is 100km though the real-world figures are more like 55km-80km. Among its chief attractions is the ability to go from A to B in the open and without a helmet.Crash testing authority Euro NCAP tested four "heavy quadricycles" earlier this year as part of what it called "a special safety campaign". It found "all vehicles have performed very poorly and some have shown serious risks of life threatening injuries".NCAP logged "dangerously high" forces acting on the head and neck of occupants and poor leg protection, particular near the driver's knees. The safety body chief Michiel van Ratingen concedes crash tests for quadricycles are not required by law and they have nowhere near the level of safety of a regular passenger car.Euro NCAP has called on makers and legislators to ensure a minimum level of crash safety for this vehicle segment. It's not the first time the safety body and the French maker have clashed. Renault was the first maker to achieve a five-star NCAP rating - with its Laguna 13 years ago but is bringing its Captur small SUV to market without rear side airbags.The Captur got five stars in its crash test but the side-impact tests summay says: 'In the side barrier test, protection of the chest was adequate and that of other body regions was good."However, in the more severe side pole test, dummy readings of rib compression indicated weak protection of the chest and marginal protection of the abdomen."Using different criteria, Australian NCAP is likely to give the Captur four stars.

Paul Gover road tests and reviews the Renault Megane TCe 130, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Chris Riley road tests and reviews the Renault Kangoo Maxi Crew Van, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Ewan Kennedy road tests and reviews the Renault Megane, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.