Renault Kangoo van long-term test: report 7

The car Renault Kangoo Advance Panel Van ML19 dCi 115 Run by Max Edleston, photographer

Why it's here The Kangoo is our reigning champion in the small van market, but how will it fare as a photographer’s apprentice?

Needs to Have space for all our snapper’s photography gear, be comfortable on big journeys, and function as a mobile office when needed

Mileage 15,700 List price £26,785 Target Price £26,785 Price as tested £29,735 Test economy 52.0mpg Official fuel economy 50.4mpg

7 August 2023 – Switching it up

Until very recently, my mother was reluctant to use an MP3 player, instead preferring to stick to her old CD player and stack of discs. Although the former would allow. her to store a vast library of music in one place, she said she preferred the tactile nature of choosing an album, loading it into the CD player and pressing a button to play the track she wanted. And in a way, it’s a similar story in my Renault Kangoo van.

You see, unlike some other vans, my Kangoo’s climate controls are chunky dials on the centre console, meaning that to select my van’s temperature, fan speed and air flow, I can reach down and adjust one of three physical rotary controls. This is far easier to do on the move than delving into a touchscreen infotainment system, where I need to take my eyes off the road to see what I’m prodding.

Hiding most controls away inside the infotainment system may the route more cars, and vans, are going down these days – but much like my mother, I want to stick with a more analogue way of doing things for as long as possible.

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