Test drive Renault Dokker Stepway
Test Drive

Test drive Renault Dokker Stepway

Off-road utility van - a rare format, but especially appropriate during the autumn end of the summer season, when there are more and more things, and the roads are getting worse

Summer turned out to be rainy, but rich: at first, the roadsides of suburban highways were flooded with mushroom pickers, then summer residents had nowhere to put apples, zucchini and potatoes. Cars loaded to the top with boxes and boxes, crouching on their rear wheels, became a sign of this autumn. In the usual system of values, people do not buy cars suitable for transporting their personal harvest, but at least twice a year, at the beginning and end of the summer season, they look with envy at Renault Dokker heels.

It may seem surprising, but it is the utilitarian Renault Dokker on the cheap B0 platform that today looks like the brightest representative of the passenger truck segment. Especially in the blue color and the Stepway configuration - in fact, the top-end version of the French car, which can look quite harmonious even in urban conditions without associations with a dirty Gazelle.

The Dokker looks just as appropriate in the countryside thanks to its rugged bumpers and tight fenders and door panels. With such protection, the Dokker Stepway can generally be mistaken for a crossover, and from the inside it seems exactly like that. Firstly, due to the high seating position, and secondly, decent driving performance by rural standards.

The driver really does not have to think about how to go around the side of the roughness of the primer and not scratch the bumper with tall grass. Although the assets of the car have the same 190 mm ground clearance and the simplest front-wheel drive without any tweaks in terms of traction control on the road. In addition to protecting the bodywork, the Dokker Stepway features protection for the engine crankcase and fuel lines, a more powerful alternator and good interior trim.

Test drive Renault Dokker Stepway

The Dokker Stepway exists only in the passenger version and answers all one hundred percent of dacha and farm requests. Three people can easily be seated in separate rear seats, even if two of them are sitting in child seats. And it is inconvenient to even talk about the reserve of space above the head - there is so much space that it is just right to design mezzanines for unnecessary things. With a full cabin of people in the trunk for luggage, there is as much as 800 liters of volume, which can be disposed of as easily as an empty household closet.

Building materials, cans, boards, furniture or the notorious boxes with apples can be loaded here in stacks right under the very roof. In this arrangement, only the grille separating the passenger compartment from the luggage compartment and some kind of glass protection are missing. Both are in the catalog of branded accessories, but in real life motorists recklessly use the materials at hand, arguing that the clips are needed only once a year. And in vain - branded accessories look good and perfectly fit their intended seats.

Test drive Renault Dokker Stepway

If we subtract 1909 kg of curb weight from 1384 kg of gross weight, it turns out that the Docker's carrying capacity is 525 kg, from which the weight of passengers must also be removed. This means that a little more than three hundred are left for apples and potatoes, and you need to understand that all this weight will be exactly on the rear axle.

Having loaded the Stepway under the roof, the owner will find that the car also sits on the rear wheels, reacts rather sluggishly to the steering wheel and does not keep a straight line at speed. The metal cargo van is stiffer, but in the case of the Stepway, there is a forced compromise in the battle for the comfort of an omnivorous suspension that can carry passengers rather tenderly on very bad roads.

Test drive Renault Dokker Stepway

In an ideal world, it would be worth dropping the passengers, removing the second row of seats, and distributing the load more evenly, but in reality, the car owner will either remove the upper third of the luggage so that it does not fall on the passengers' heads, or will go straight ahead, relying on luck and evenness of the road. Dokker will be able to withstand this - suspension breakdowns will not happen, and the diesel engine will hardly notice the difference in half a ton of weight at all. Unless it will rumble a little more severely on steep climbs.

According to the passport, the empty Dokker Stepway is gaining "a hundred" in immodest 13,9 seconds, but the thing is to drive a 1,5-liter diesel engine with a capacity of 90 liters. with. paired with a clear 5-speed "mechanics" is easy and pleasant, while driving in a stream can be no worse than everyone else. In the city, diesel is very convenient, and this is definitely a more correct option than a weak 1,6 gasoline engine with 82 horsepower.

Test drive Renault Dokker Stepway

Aside from the lack of an automatic device, the Stepway version has almost a complete set of urban amenities, including hill start assist, touchscreen media combine, parking sensors and a rearview camera, even if you have to pay extra for something. And the diesel car is also distinguished by the electric power steering, which is more convenient in the city, instead of the hydraulic one on gasoline.

The driver's seat is height adjustable, and the steering wheel is tilt only. In terms of comfort, you won't roam here, but the Stepway version still compares favorably not only with its design, but also with a higher-quality interior trim with a special two-tone fabric, an armrest for the driver and tables for rear passengers. The side doors slide easily to the sides, the rear sofa can be folded in parts or taken out completely - in a word, it is almost a convertible minivan, into which you can easily load something large and not too refined.

Test drive Renault Dokker Stepway

In theory, the volume of the trunk can be increased to 3000 liters, but for a country car this is already too much. The ideal operation option still provides for the presence of passengers and children, who are truly delighted with sliding doors and the ability to move almost freely in the back row. Bicycles and sports equipment should be the ideal accompaniment for this company, but in the real world, the trunk will still have to be shared with apples and potatoes.

The cheaper Lada Largus Cross could be considered an alternative to Dokker, but if the VAZ car has a reputation as a workhorse for private traders, then the French “heel” is more useful for large families, creative people and small businesses - for example, athletes, musicians and farmers. Having become more or less successful, these guys will be able to give 1 rubles. for a nice looking car that can take on board not only five passengers, but also large luggage.

Test drive Renault Dokker Stepway

A summer cottage harvest in this reality will also be appropriate, but with it it is still worth knowing when to stop. The Dokker Stepway is primarily a high-capacity passenger vehicle, not a market truck. Even if, unlike hundreds of other overloaded cars, it looks fine even with boxes and crates up to the very roof.

The editors would like to thank the administration of the Veselaya Korova farm for their help in organizing the shooting.

Test drive Renault Dokker Stepway
Body typeUniversal
Dimensions (length / width / height), mm4363/1751/1814
Wheelbase, mm2810
Ground clearance, mm190
Curb weight, kg1384
engine's typeDiesel, R4
Working volume, cubic meters cm1461
Power, hp with. at rpm90 at 3750
Max. torque, Nm at rpm200 at 1750
Transmission, drive5-st. MCP, front
Maximum speed km / h162
Acceleration to 100 km / h, from13,9
Fuel consumption, l (city / highway / mixed)5,5/4,9/5,1
Cargo space, l800 – 3000 Feet
Price from, $.15 457
 

 

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