Renault Trafic Paradise campervan review

The staycation industry is booming. Whether it’s down to families saving money by not heading abroad, post-Brexit fears about passports, or people simply wanting to see more of our own island, many of us are staying in the UK for holidays. And for some that means buying a campervan like this Renault Trafic Paradise VX-e.

While a few manufacturers will sell you a ready-made camper, most will put you in touch with a third-party converter, who will transform a standard van into something you’d want to spend the night in. That’s the case with the Trafic Paradise, which has been created by converter Sussex Campers using a Renault Trafic Passenger as the base vehicle.

What’s involved? Well, the Paradise – one of a number of Trafic conversions you can buy – is available in the same short or long-wheelbase forms as the vehicle it's based on. Plus, you can have a kitchen along the side of the van or at the back (the Paradise we tested had it at the back).

Other headlines are that it can sleep up to four people, and the kitchen has everything you need so you don’t need to live off canned food and takeaways. Oh, and there's an optional toilet for those middle-of-the-night emergencies.

The Paradise is clever, too – solar panels can help to keep its leisure batteries topped up, and its pop-top roof can be electrified, so raising or lowering it takes as much effort as pushing a button.

For power, it uses the Trafic’s 2.0-litre diesel engine. We'll tell you how well that works in the driving section of this review. We’ll also tell you what the Renault Trafic Paradise VX-e is like inside, how practical it is for a night or two away, and ultimately how it stacks up next to rival campers including the Ford Transit Nugget, the Mercedes V-Class Marco Polo and the VW California.

And don’t forget, if you’re in the market for a new campervan – or any model of new car – we can potentially save you thousands through our free New Car Deals section.

It won’t surprise you to learn that, being based on the previous-generation Renault Trafic Passenger, the Paradise VX-e feels very much like that vehicle to drive. The 143bhp 2.0-litre diesel engine provides plenty of low-down pulling power, and the standard-fit six-speed automatic gearbox mostly does a good job of managing the power.

We say mostly, because the rear-heavy nature of the Paradise means the Trafic is sometimes keen to spin its front wheels – especially if you ask for a turn of speed to, say, make a gap in traffic on a roundabout, or overtake a slower vehicle.

Not that you’d be doing much overtaking, because it runs out of puff fairly quickly on a motorway, and is far better suited to covering big miles in a more sedate fashion. Likewise, the Paradise feels heavy through corners, with plenty of body lean, but at least the steering is well weighted and accurate, so you can always place the camper exactly where you want it. 

The ride is comfortable enough to take the sting out of most ruts and bumps in the road, but deeper potholes will send a shudder back through the van.

Road noise is kept well at bay, but there is a fair amount of wind noise, especially from the windscreen and around the substantial wind mirrors. It’s also worth noting, given how much has been added to the Trafic on its journey to become the Paradise, that there are plenty of squeaks and rattles as you drive along.

The Ford Transit Nugget has more finesse in terms of handling, while the Mercedes V-Class Marco Polo offers a serene – but costlier – experience.

From the Paradise VX-e's driving seat, there’s not much to suggest you’re in anything other than a previous-generation Renault Trafic Passenger. The dashboard is coated in hard plastics, with some texturing to keep things interesting. Most of the rivals – including the Mercedes V-Class Marco Polo and the VW California – give buyers a bit more sparkle for their money, but it about matches the Ford Transit Nugget.

Things get better further back, with two large rear seats with custom upholstery and lots of cushioning. You can have three seats in the back if you wish. In fact, behind the front seats, quality in general takes a definite upturn, with lots of wood panels and soft-touch furnishings.

At least the pedals, steering wheel and seat are well aligned, boosting comfort on longer journeys, while physical dials for the air-con system make adjusting the temperature on the move easier than if you had to use the car’s infotainment touchscreen to do it.

Speaking of which, the infotainment system is unchanged from the previous-generation Trafic. It features most of the things you’d expect, including a USB connection to charge your phone, and Bluetooth to keep you connected on the move, although it's not as easy to get along with as the systems in rivals. Certainly, the MBUX system in the V-Class Marco Polo knocks it for six.

The driver’s seat is large and comfortable, and visibility out of the front is good, allowing you to see a fair way round junctions when pulling out. The view out of the back isn’t so clear, but a standard-fit reversing camera helps with parking, although it’s fairly low-resolution.

The Paradise VX-e’s interior officially sleeps four. The rear seats fold down easily enough, sliding forwards and meshing with the leaned-back front seats – which can also rotate 180 degrees to face the rears – to create a reasonably large bed space. With the included dividing cushion in the middle, it should provide a comfortable night’s sleep.

When the pop-up roof is raised, it creates a second bed that can officially hold up to 140kg, so a couple of children or lighter adults should be able to use it with no problems.

Raising that roof is easy. As standard it’s on gas struts, and you just need to guide it into position once you’ve unhooked two coupling points which secure it to the camper. You can opt to have the system electrified, which allows you to raise and lower the roof by pushing a button. Whichever method you choose you’ll need to guide the folds of the roof to the sides of the camper as it drops.

When the roof is raised, it provides enough space for a couple of six-footers to stand up between the rear seats, but space is more compromised towards the back of the living area. With the kitchen at the back, as in the van we tested, anyone of average height will probably find their head touches the roof lining when they're cooking.

But cook you can, thanks to the electric induction hob and microwave that’s included as standard. Alongside the hot and cold running water system, stainless steel sink and generous counter space, cooking full meals in the Paradise need not be out of the question.

Even the delicate matter of going to the bathroom is taken care of, thanks to a chemical toilet that’s stowed away in a storage locker when not in use. We suspect most buyers will only bring this out for emergencies or night-time use, but it’s nice to know it’s there.

Other lockers around the kitchen area are useful for your pots and pans, and hold the Paradise’s water tank too. These are backlit, meaning you can keep cooking when the sun’s gone down. There isn’t as much overall space as you’d find in the rival Mercedes V-Class Marco Polo but that van is also substantially larger.

Elsewhere, thoughtful touches include a second ‘serving hatch’ counter which slides into place at the rear of the Trafic, and individual tables with small lights and USB charging points for each of the rear seats, allowing everyone to keep their devices topped up.

Speaking of electricity, the Paradise’s leisure batteries should allow you to last for a couple of days of wild camping without any trouble, but like in most campervans they can also be connected to the power supply of the campsite you’re visiting via a hook-up on the side. The electrical components – including solar panels if you opt to have them fitted – are routed into one of the kitchen cupboards, so you can keep an eye on it all from one place.

There’s no getting around the fact that the Renault Trafic Paradise VX-e is an expensive choice, even more so than the Ford Transit Nugget and VW California but all three still undercut the Mercedes V-Class Marco Polo by some margin. 

Working in the Paradise’s favour is how much equipment you get as standard, including everything from bedding to a fridge-freezer. Plus, it comes with some nice-to-have features that are not included in some campervans. You’ll need to go for long-wheelbase versions of the Nugget and California if you want a toilet.

There’s more scope for personalisation with the Paradise than with any of its rivals. Owners can specify their choice of upholstery, for example, as well as how many seats they want, what bedding arrangement to have, and whether to add extras such as a wind-out awning to increase your outside living space, or a large bike rack and tow bar.

Official fuel consumption is rated at up to 39.8mpg, but your real-world figures will be dictated by the kind of driving you do and how much stuff is on board. That said, our test route returned around 35mpg without us actively trying to drive thriftily. And as you might expect from a big, heavy van, C02 emissions are on the high side, and come in at 185g/km.

It’s worth noting that the previous-generation Renault Trafic Passenger – which our Paradise test car was based on – scored only three stars for safety in the official Euro NCAP crash tests. Newer versions of the Paradise will be based on the latest Trafic, which receives more advanced driver assistance kit, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-departure warning and traffic-sign recognition.

As such a niche camper, the Paradise doesn’t appear in our real-world What Car? Reliability Survey data. However, Renault finished in mid-table 18th place in our latest survey – above Ford, Mercedes and Volkswagen.

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