DRIVEN RENAULT RANGE D
34 TRUCKING Summer 2019 http://www.truckingmag.co.uk
Verdict
Let’s put the cards on the table. Both of
these are good, middle-of-the-road and
wholly competent trucks. Yes, they are ‘no
frills’, but then most trucks in this sector
are too. It’s what cost-conscious operators
want. If you did use them for longer
distance work and have drivers
overnighting in them on a regular basis,
then you can specify more bells and
whistles. The cabs are certainly roomy
enough for nights out.
Of course, if you were out tramping
every week, the Range T rigid is a better
bet. You can even have a Range T High as a
4x2 or 6x2 rigid should you wish, but you
won’t be getting the same payloads by any
stretch of the imagination.
The problem with the Range D cab is it is
dated. Compare it with a New Gen Scania
P/G and they are at different ends of the
quality spectrum. However, so is the price.
The Range D probably isn’t as good as a
Mercedes-Benz Antos (soon to be Actros),
but that said, the Range D compares just as
well as the FE and LF, not to mention the
offerings from Iveco and MAN.
For town distribution, both these
Renaults are pretty good, if mildly
uninspiring. A regular driver would get to
understand and tolerate the confusing
elements of the dash layout.
With a Renault, you get a lot of truck for
your money. The build quality is generally
pretty good and if it’s well looked after, it
should look after you. Don’t expect a king’s
ransom on the residuals, however. This is
not quite the case with the Range T, but as
these trucks are still using the elderly cab
design dating back to the Midlum and
Premium days of the mid-1990s, they may
not hold their value as well as some others.
And if you are planning to use these
trucks for town distribution for more than
five years, then that’s where issues could
arise. Yes, they have Euro 6 engines, but
who knows what restrictions will be put on
these in towns and cities come 2025? That
could be the biggest factor in a purchasing
decision. But assuming you do want an
18- or 26-tonne rigid, then these trucks are
in a sector where productivity and
pragmatic specification remain the
uttermost key factors in vehicle choice. For
those requirements, the Renaults fulfil their
brief more than adequately, without going
overboard on the ‘wow’ factor.
Likes
+Affordable and competent
+Good payload
+Simple, but effective
Dislikes- A few rattles
- Not a breathtaking drive
- Days numbered by alt fuels?
- Residuals may be a concern
On the road
We drove the 6x2 first and took it on a
decent workout from Renault’s Warwick
headquarters, taking first the A46
dual-carriageway where the truck could
be whipped up to its maximum 56 mph
pretty quickly. And to be fair, it did so
admirably. That said, the cruise control
layout is ‘interesting’ – and not as
straightforward as many drivers might
like. The actual button controlling CC is
on the dash, while the controls to change
it are located on both sides of the
steering wheel. It’s fair to say we’ve seen
simpler and more user-friendly solutions
on other vehicles.
The truck has a two-stage exhaust
brake on a thin stalk on the left. It’s a bit
awkward, and we often reached for it
and used it inadvertently when we were
expecting to operate the indicators. All in
all, the dash and steering-wheel stalks
are not the best you could hope for.
On the road, the truck generally
handled pretty well.
The lane departure
warning system
works well – and is
quite noisy, which is
good in some
respects and also
very annoying in others. Though you
could say that about any LDW system!
We found the steering was responsive
and the truck was very manoeuvrable.
We took a circuitous route on our drive,
and so after a spin around some of the
A- and B-roads we headed for the M40,
skirted round Birmingham on the M42
and then took the M6 before taking the
A46 back to Warwick.
It was a decent route with a mix of
road types, including a few hills, and the
D320 with 315 bhp on tap coped
admirably with the whole trip. However,
we do think the truck was a bit noisier
than other competitors.
The cab has good storage options and
the high roof is a definite plus point.
Most drivers would appreciate the extra
room, even if only doing the occasional
night away. The rear-steer makes the
truck that little bit more manoeuvrable
in tight spaces, which is helpful.Four-wheeler test
Back at Warwick, we swapped for the
four-wheeler. This was a bit more basic,
as you might expect, and it did have a
few rattles here and there. Plus, we soon
noticed the steering and handling was
far from perfect.
The D280 was unladen, so with
276 bhp under the cab it positively flew.
But even loaded it would cope admirably- many 18-tonners are still in the
220-250 bhp bracket, and it’s not all
that long ago when
170 bhp was the
norm for this
weight category.
You can have the
18-tonner with a 250
or 315 bhp engine.
It’s also worth noting there is the option
of having an 18-tonner with the smaller
2.1 m wide cab and the DTi5 engine in
210 and 240 bhp options.
The D280 was an OK truck to drive,
but we’d be lying if we said it was
amazing or memorable. But it’s
competent – and after all, that is what
you need for any truck, especially a
distribution vehicle. Very few spec an
18-tonner to be a head-turning
performance machine. ■
The 4x2 was basic
and had a few rattles
here and there.
The Renault rigids
offer good payloads