Renault Trafic Camper - a very functional campervan

Published on: 2020-06-22

Recently, I had the opportunity to drive and live for a few days in the latest campervan produced in Poland, built on a Renault Trafic.

Small motorhomes, which are created on vans, have a huge advantage over large motorhomes, because we can easily use them on a daily basis. Such a vehicle will easily enter most underground garages, the height of which is not less than 2 m. Such a car can easily be parked in the city center, and at the same time it can carry larger things or can accommodate up to 6 passengers.

The most important thing is that during short weekend trips or longer holidays, the same car will comfortably take us to our destination and we will be able to comfortably live in it for up to 4 people.

How do I know that?

I have been using a similar vehicle for over a year as a car for everyday driving: driving to work or taking children to kindergarten. At the same time, we travel with our 4-person family in this motorhome and we all sleep in it. Last year, we spent over 90 nights in such a car.

Proven building quality

Despite the fact that Renault Trafic Camper is a novelty on the Polish market, the high quality of the bodywork has already been tested by hundreds of other users. The main contractor of the construction is WaveCamper from Poznań , which has been specializing in the continuous production of campervans for many years. These cars are mainly purchased by German users who are used to high quality.

An additional confirmation of the high quality is the authorization that WaveCamper kept from Renault for the construction of these motorhomes. Thanks to this, the cars maintain the manufacturer's warranty, and orders for these motorhomes can be made only in Renault showrooms in Poland.

More information on this subject can be found at: https://www.renault.pl/pojazdy-mawodowane/camping-car-camper.html

Huge functionality thanks to special rails

What distinguishes this motorhome from many other similar campervans available on the Polish and European market is its length, because the motorhome was built on a long version of the Renault Trafic chassis.

Another very important distinction from the competition is the floor rail system to which individual passenger seats are mounted. With such a system, each armchair can be freely moved, pulled out or turned. The seats also have an individual adjustment of the backrest position and are equipped with an armrest, which has a significant impact on the comfort of traveling.

You can see an example of this functionality on a short video I posted on our Facebook page:

The rail system is called Airline and there are a lot of different mounting brackets available to it, to which we can attach e.g. belts to immobilize the transported load. A very interesting bicycle holder is also available, which will allow us to safely transport the bike inside the car.

Each seat is of course equipped with the ISO-FIX system and the installation of child seats is very simple.

Installation in a Renault Trafic Camper

The car was fitted with a body of furniture on its left wall. There is a sink integrated with a two-burner gas stove. It is supplied directly from a 2.5 kg cylinder, hidden in the rear part of the car under the lockers for clothes.

There is quite a large worktop on both sides of the cooker. You can attach an additional table, which is hidden behind the driver's seat when not in use. The table has also been equipped with an additional tripod, which allows it to be used outside the car.

The top has 2 drawers in which you can fit the necessary kitchen items with food, and a very efficient and energy-saving compressor refrigerator by Dometic.

The refrigerator and all electrics and lighting located in the residential part are powered by an additional battery, which is charged while driving by an alternator or when parked, by solar panels installed on the roof or from the electricity network after connecting to a 230V socket.

External 230V power supply is located in the wall of the vehicle on the side of the sliding door. This is a very good location that allows you to connect additional power receivers to the same socket (using a suitable adapter), which may be useful when staying under the awning, e.g. a laptop or a phone charger.

There is also a portable toilet under the countertop, which can be accessed even when the bed is folded out.

In the trunk there is a cabinet with a 19 liter clean water tank that supplies power to the faucet in the sink and outside shower located at the rear of the vehicle. With the use of an optional curtain mounted on the tailgate, we can organize a large-sized shower cubicle.

In the rear part of the car there are also spacious lockers for clothes, closed with a roller blind.

Sleeping for 4 people

The motorhome is equipped with two double beds. One is located at the bottom and in order to unfold them, you must first fold the backrests of the seats and move them back a little. Then the frame is slid over the armchairs (like a drawer) and the mattresses are placed on it. When unfolded, the bed measures 200 x 125 cm.

Folding out the second bed, located on the roof, is even easier. All you have to do is unfasten the 2 clamps in the ceiling and gently push the roof upwards and the actuators will open the roof completely.

There is a comfortable mattress measuring 230 x 120 cm, and under it a new one! Until now, it was a solution unheard of in these types of roofs, and we are talking about a spring system made of plastic called Froli. This system incredibly increases the comfort of sleeping.

If the bed is not in use, just push it up and the actuators will pull it up to the very ceiling. After folding the bed, even a very tall person can stand in the RV without bending their head.

The tent in the sleeping roof is equipped with ventilation windows through which there is a constant flow of fresh air and the interior does not heat up, and at the same time a lot of light enters the car. One of the windows is made of transparent plastic, which provides adequate lighting for the interior of the motorhome even in the rain. During rain, you can also use a special vent, which is located just above the roof hatch.

Isolation in the motorhome

In the tested motorhome, the manufacturer took care of very good insulation of the interior. It has a huge impact on reducing the noise in the car while driving. The insulation used also affects the temperature inside the car - in summer the air heats up much slower, and in winter the heat is kept inside.

The motorhome is equipped with Eberspaecher parking heater, which is powered by fuel directly from the car's fuel tank. In this case, you do not have to worry about the gas supply - you will buy diesel fuel in every corner of the world that you reach with this car.

The heating can be controlled with a panel mounted on the wall of the building or with the Easy Start Web application installed on a smartphone. This is a great solution because it allows you to start the heating from anywhere in the world without being near the car at the same time.

Campervan chassis for Renault

When it comes to the equipment of the base vehicle, you can freely choose from many options available in the Renault Trafic configurator, but the big advantage of Reanulat is that the basic version of the chassis is already quite well equipped.

The tested vehicles were equipped with a 170HP two-liter engine with an automatic gearbox. This combination gave a lot of fun to drive and there was no shortage of power.

The automatic gearbox worked very well and changed gears smoothly, a big plus for Renault here as well.

Compared to the VW T6 or T6.1, the Renault Trafic is noticeably wider in the upper part, which translates into a positive sense of space and the size of the upper bed.

Movie

Before you read my summary of the pros and cons at the end of the article, I invite you to watch the presentation of this motorhome in the form of a movie.

My summary of the Renault Trafic Camper

Overall, I was very pleased with the car and liked the most:

Upper bed with Froli system (interesting springs under the mattress)
The power connection to the car is located on the side of the car, not under the hood
Interesting looking yacht floor
2 gas burners in the countertop with gas installation
Rail system and individual rear seats
Swallows to store various things
Automatic Transmission
170KM
USB socket located by the upper bed

I would like it more if:

Renault offered the Trafica with a 4x4 drive
Speakerphone worked better (blurred calls)
The dashboard was made of a better material
The steering wheel was fully leather because this one is trimmed with leather, but in the middle it has unnecessary inserts made of poor quality plastic
The front seat rotators were of a slightly better quality, as they creaked sometimes when driving over potholes. However, remember that the vehicle received for testing was the first prototype and, as far as we know, the manufacturer is already working on solving this problem.

Poznań Moto Fest 2020

Renault Trafic Camper will be on display in the near future during the Poznań Moto Fest , which will be held at the Poznań International Fair on June 27-28, 2020.