Renault Premium 400 Single Driver
Page 32
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• Our initial impression of the Premium's Single Driver cab is one of puzzlement: what have they done with the passenger seat? But the odd design soon grows on you. The 'missing" seat makes lots of room: our test sleeper reckoned that the sturdy overhead storage made it feel rather like a camper van.
Renault has sensibly stopped the overhead lockers two-thirds of the way across, so there's plenty of standing room and it's easy to get changed—much easier, in fact, than in the substantially larger 'veto cab.
The absence of a second bunk also makes things feel a lithe less cramped.
The curtains draw easily, storage is reasonable and the bunk is much firmer than the rather soft backrests led us to expect; some might find it rather too firm at first, but it gave our inhabitant a good nights sleep. The night heater works astoundingly well, taking the relatively small cab up to toasting temperatures in a matter of minutes (see page 33), and there's an electric roof hatch to cool things down quickly too.
Sleeping is one thing, but it's when you're at rest in the evening or during breaks that the Renault cab comes into its own: simply sitting on a sofa with a flat floor and plenty of leg room is a world away from the contortions that most drivers have to suffer.
The quality of construction is good, too: Renault took a real leap forward with the Premium, and it is now well up to the class standard. Best of all, if you don't like the unusual design, it should take no more than an hour or two to remove the floor nfili, restore the passenger footwell (which is otherwise quite a handy storage space) and put in a conventional passenger seat. So you can have your (unusual) cake and eat it.