The diesel is dead - long live the diesel: At least in the Renault Master this will hold true until the end of the generation that was completely relaunched only last year. And the predecessor had been in service for over ten years. Thus the diesel runs pretty exactly up to the supposed end of the internal combustion era in new registrations, unless the EU Commission buckles under in the relentless drumfire of diesel fans who demand an extension.
Be that as it may: Thanks to a ZF nine-speed automatic, Renault engineers extract once again everything possible from the 2.0-liter diesel, which has been exhaust-cleaned to Euro 6e-bis thanks to two SCR stages, a DPF and Oxikat. For in combination with the complex drivetrain, the Master no longer feels as sluggish and somewhat hesitant to move as with the manual, but almost as alert as the pure-electric counterpart, which it also has thanks to the multi-drive platform. And it, by the way, sells for about 11 to 12 percent of the portfolio, fairly well despite declining total sales for the brand as a whole and in the van market, mind you.
Only the electric is faster off the mark
Sure, the electric version comes off the line even faster with its 300 Nm from 0 rpm, and it is quieter too. But the automatic moderates the spontaneous take-off after releasing the brake well, then shifts rapidly, jerk-free and very smoothly upward. So the diesel noise is well masked and becomes a subdued, sonorous rumble that you can live with. And you can playfully, effortlessly cruise at 80 to 100 km/h along the country road, completely forgetting the substantial 3.5-ton weight.
In
a not entirely serious direct comparison, conducted on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Villiers conversion plant, with the 93-series original Master (built 1980-1997), progress becomes tangible in the truest sense: Arduous, strenuous, loud and stubborn was van mobility back then when viewed from today, although the Master was very modern at the time and set new standards. It was loud anyway, with the centrally mounted 2.5-liter naturally aspirated diesel that then offered, ex nunc, the dry, 76 hp, a figure then common. To reach 100 km/h, you had to work pretty hard.
What a progress: Direct comparison to the original Master
Not to mention the undefined clatter in the five-speed shift gate, over which you could operate with a gear lever placed rather arbitrarily next to the driver, or the clunky knee-height handbrake, or the sloppy clutch, the twitchy throttle and the skewed pedal box, the sluggish brakes, the heavy steering, the roughly opening, crashing-closed, and narrow sliding door, etc. However the original ancestor weighed 1.8 tonnes – i.e., 500 kg less on its steel frame - and as a 3.5-tonner offered more payload than the bulky grandson with its (at least) 2.2 to 2.3 tonnes empty. Also the loading volume itself and the low loading lip could be seen – and used.
Well sorted: Always the right gear ready
Back to today: Almost always the ZF shift box in the comfortable 2025 Master keeps the right gear ready; with kick-down it can become a bit louder and rougher. The shift paddles for manual input are basically not needed, unless you deliberately want to enjoy the hefty torque of the twin-turbo unit (380 Nm for the Dci 170,
360 for the Dci 150) and stubbornly hold the gear on a hill. The 2,500 kg towing capacity should not be a problem there.
Parking can also be done easily thanks to a well-dosed creep-off moment via the brake pedal. Renault should, in addition to the "keyless start," urgently supply a compact and modern electric parking brake instead of the crude lever next to the driver's seat. Coming in 2026, so they say. Maybe by then there will also be a "keyless Go" system, which for a delivery van in a continuing delivery boom is actually a mandatory feature.
Engine braking: No comparison to recuperation
Speaking of hills: Downhill the transmission will hold the gear if engine braking power is needed. Of course this is not a match for the recuperation of the pure electric, which also in such situations diligently feeds energy back into the battery, while with the diesel the energy simply dissipates as heat and warms the atmosphere. Sooner or later, the diesel is already a discontinued model. Regenerative braking on downhill is not to be omitted; good that the Master’s brakes are alert and bite hard.
7.9 l/100 km are recorded at the end of trips over 100 kilometers, a good figure in the "old world of combustion engines" and even more so for an automatic that should not consume more than the manual, perhaps except for pure city operation. Thus it roughly aligns with WLTP values. But in absolute terms this is a high CO2 value compared with BEV: in energy terms that would be 80 kWh/100 km, if you exclude energy costs for the refinery of the diesel, honestly more like 90 to 100 kWh/100
km. The electric vehicle did not prove an ascetic in our test either, but remained at 34 kWh/100 km – two-thirds below the diesel. And if you also charge green electricity, the balance clearly tilts in favor of BEV.
Reasonably priced: 1,800 euro extra
For that the diesel with automatic scores with a cheaper purchase price: Renault asks for about 1,800 euros extra for the finely tuned Friedrichshafen-made gearwork in the perfectly adequate 150dCi version (from 39,190 net), a fair deal for so much comfort and agility. The 170d EAT9 (+1,400 euros) can be skipped; the 200 Nm more torque and the extra power are hardly noticeable. Also important: For all Renaults, manual, automatic or electric, a 40,000-km maintenance interval is now standard.
The same box — here in the somewhat space-consuming, old-fashioned shift console instead of the Master’s own stalk — also turns the Trafic into its "old days" into a small "sports car" and refines the whole thing into a rather brisk, still as a commercial vehicle but very capable, angular model.
Purely electric will then run in parallel to the combustion Trafic starting next year with the "Flexis-Trafic" featuring powerful synchronous front-wheel drive. Then one should also be curious how long the diesel will still hold out. But if so, with automatic, a clear recommendation — at least when doing long-haul driving and not in urban or suburban environments. Then one should already consider the pure electric today: The roughly 400-kilometer radius in the city is easily sufficient, and thanks to 130-kW DC and 22-kW AC chargers it can be quickly extended. And one can then follow the diesel debate and further extended driving restrictions calmly from the
