Renault Master 2.5/150bhp Coachbuilt

[starvin marvin]

Does anyone have any experience to pass on about this as a base vehicle? I've had a test drive, however it was with an auto box, which I don't want to pay a premium for. I found it a good ride, slightly more noisy than a Ford, but that was a 2.2 and seats a bit firm, not as good as Ford.

[Flyinghigh]

I run an A class on the same chassis and find it a pleasure to drive, plenty of power have been at 80 once in Germany but will also return 27 mpg if driven at 60 mph, this is a 3.9 ton box on wheels so very pleased with its performance,

I have the robotics 6 speed auto and find it slightly overgeared, at 62 mph it only doing 2000rpm so I use fifth gear or go slightly faster to reduce the engine labouring,

[starvin marvin]

Thanks for the reply, the one I drove had the same box, 6 speed robotic, which only changed up to 6th when going over 60mph, and of course was running unloaded. It cruised easily at less than 60mph still staying in 6th. I certainly prefer a manual box.

[pepe63xnotuse]

Hi..

Up until recently we had an '08 Chausson Allegro, which had the Renault 2.5/150hp,6speed manual box, 4mtr wheel base/38500kg chassis(..so as a manual,I'm not sure how much of this will be of use to you).

 

But just to say that I really liked it and in the 4+ years we had it, it never missed beat...

(and consistently returning 27-29mpg on "brim to brim" checks..and I don't tend to 'ang about. :$ )

 

Although initially it did perhaps feel slightly "cruder" and less "car-like"(I think that's the phrase they like to use), than our X250 Pug it replaced(..with slightly heavier steering, a "less pleasant" *dash' etc)

but I did think that it had a more robust, less "plasticy" feel about it..

(* although the dash ergonomics must've been based on someone with a longer reach than mine because I recall having to lean to reach some of the minor controls (lol))

 

I thought that overall it felt more stable and better "planted" and it had far better traction than our little x250 and although our Renault was quite basic and had none of the electronic "traction aids", it could take the very sharp turn and trundle up our very steep driveway(forwards or backwards),at barely above tick-over and without having to feather around with the clutch...Whereas **our Peugeot x250 needed to take it at speed, otherwise it'd just spin a wheel....

(**Just for balance, I should point out that I'm not really comparing "like for like" though, as the Peugeot was only a 100hp 2.2 /SWB coach-built).

 

The one little thing that really annoyed me on our Renault though, was the silly fuel gauge!...Rather than something "linear", it had a stack of 6-8 illuminated "blocks", which disappeared a block at a time, as the level dropped. The first couple of "blocks" would always average about 45-50miles per block but from there on, they just seemed to make it up as they went along(..we had two of the blocks last us close on 200 miles once!? (lol) )..and even if they were "consistent", you'd still never be quite sure of just whereabouts on the "block" the level was?...

but I presume that those fitted with the full trip computer(ours didn't have one) may not have need of/use this gauge though?

(..But having waffled all of the above...the new model may be totally different anyway (lol) )

[starvin marvin]

Once again, thanks. At the moment I'm certainly not buying one with an auto box. I see no point paying a premium for something I don't really want. I enjoyed the test drive and its currently second to a Ford.

 

I've yet to drive a current Fiat, which I certainly don't want, however I'm realistic enough to realise that my options are limited with the opposition.

 

The info was very useful thanks very much.

[euroserv]

I don't see many Masters in our workshop, having ruled them out as rental vans for both the previous version and the latest.

We have one customer that brings his 2011 Master 2.3-125hp Euro5 in for service though and he was in earlier this week.

 

His is the automated gearbox and he was telling me that he has had 2 gearboxes and several control units during his 3 years and 80,000 miles. I asked him if he was worried about it now that his 3 year warranty was over and he smiled and said that the Gearbox was covered for an extra 2 years as a goodwill gesture by Renault Uk. He has had very few other problems but new brake discs always seem difficult to obtain compared to other vehicles and are considerably more expensive.

 

This sample of just one vehicle is not enough to suggest caution regarding buying a similar spec motorhome but I thought you should know and add this experience into the pool of information that you gather.

 

Nick