IF Daenerys Targaryen is the Queen of Dragons, then the 2021 Renault Grasp MWB Professional might effectively be the queen of vans. Or one thing prefer it. It’s huge, highly effective and know-how laden. Maybe that makes it a dragon itself reasonably than their ruler.
That or we simply went off on one hell of a tangent. Loopy connectivity to Recreation of Thrones apart, the mid-wheelbase model of the Renault Grasp got here in helpful when it was time to relocate the Exhaust Notes Australia places of work, and the boss’s house, earlier this 12 months.
Regardless of a number of solutions to rent removalists, a mixture answer was discovered to offer us the perfect of each worlds. Much less transferring prices because of loading the van to its roof with the greater than 70 bins we needed to relocate, being the first goal.
The large heavy furnishings stuff was flick handed (or maybe hospital handed) to the removing guys, and the van did the field hundreds. Due to its 3083mm cargo bay size, 1894mm top and 1765mm width, it made simple work of the hauling duties it was assigned.
Powered by a 2.3-litre twin turbo diesel powerplant that provides 120kW of energy and 360Nm of torque, the front-wheel drive platform is mated to a clean 6-speed handbook transmission, that doesn’t bat an eyelid, even when climbing steep hills.
It has a payload of 1,623kg and a most braked towing capability of two,500kg. Fairly spectacular for a van actually, as is the ten.8m3 load quantity. A kerb weight of 1,887kg means you’re not burning gasoline hauling a heavy automobile both.
However it’s the options and security bundle that make it stand out from a few of its rivals, together with LED daytime working lights, auto headlights and wipers, an underbody spare wheel, and glazed twin rear doorways with a 270-degree opening angle.
There’s a aspect sliding door on one aspect as effectively, making it simple to load up with stuff. The blind spot door mirrors are magic when enjoying within the visitors, and further good when reversing into tight driveways (we examined that one out personally).
Likewise, the hill begin help with grip X-tend is good, and heads a security bundle that features entrance driver and passenger airbags, digital stability management, ABS, digital brake pressure distribution, cruise management and a velocity limiter.
Inside, there’s a stand-alone driver’s seat, with top, attain and lumbar adjustment, and a twin passenger bench seat with a fold down centre seat that turns right into a desk, with cup holders (it’s truly an incredible spot to work from on the roadside).
The 7.0-inch infotainment system has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, in addition to all the conventional options you’d anticipate, together with satellite tv for pc navigation. There’s a tonne of storage too. There’s actually choices to place issues, in all places.
There are a number of pockets and a drink bottle holder in every door, cup holders, big underseat storage below the entire passenger bench seat, and an overhead parcel/storage shelf as effectively.
It was actually onerous to fault the Grasp van. It handles exceptionally effectively, even empty and feels very car-like on the street. Renault have completed an incredible job discovering the candy spot between an enormous, sensible van, and one thing that’s correctly good to drive.
It has a 100-litre gasoline tank, which in idea means you can nearly drive ceaselessly (clearly not actually), however we did see spectacular gasoline financial system figures of as little as 8.1-litres/100km throughout our check. That equates to a reasonably respectable 1200-odd kilometres.
On the draw back, there’s some security tech lacking, like autonomous emergency braking for instance, and blind spot monitoring, and a few rivals even have lane preserve help. It’s additionally a really tall van, making it tough to get out and in of some websites.
Not getting used to the peak additionally meant we discovered ourselves reversing out of a few driveways after realising we had been going to hit the utmost roof top board. Somebody who owned it wouldn’t have that drawback, and as our check wore on, neither did we.
Priced at $49,990 drive away, the 2021 Renault Grasp MWB Professional comes with a 5-year 200,000km guarantee, 5-years value of 24-hour roadside help, and 5-years capped worth servicing.
It’s obtainable in brief wheelbase, medium wheelbase (as examined), lengthy wheelbase and further lengthy wheelbase. It may be had in ten colors, together with the Glacier White color we had, Tempest Blue, Pearlescent Black and Star Gray.
You may as well go for Carmen Pink, Caribbean Blue, Orange, Chrome Yellow, City Gray and Persian Blue. On a aspect notice, the Renault Grasp can be had within the type of a bus, must you require a automobile to move individuals, reasonably than bins.
Our check automobile was offered by Renault Australia. To seek out out extra concerning the 2021 Renault Grasp MWB Professional van, contact your native Renault supplier.
