Renault offers two cabs at 18 tonnes. Midlum acts as
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a lightweight short-haul chassis cab, while Premium offers a bigger cab designed for comfort on longer journeys and prolonged stays away from home. Midlum also shares its cab with DAF’s LF and Volvo Trucks’ FL range.
Powered by the DXi7 Euro-4 engine the 237hp was the lowest of two (the other being 276hp) offered to the Midlum line-up.
Midlum comes with the ZF six-speed transmission, with fiveand nine-speed manuals offered with different power ratings and weight categories. There is an exhaust brake and the control is on the left of the steering wheel.
The single bunk Global cab gives the driver the feeling of handling a small truck, mainly because the same cab is used for 7.5 tonnes. The only tangible difference is that up to 12 tonnes it has one step into the cab, while with 12 to 18 tonnes there is an additional one.
Despite its cab size, the Midlum, with 158,200km on the clock, soon settled to its task. The six-speed is well set out and progress is swift on the motorway to cruising speed. The first task was to activate cruise control, which sits on top of the dash, rather than as part of the steering wheel or steering column. Not the greatest location, and it could be easily overlooked.
On the Aand B-roads the vehicle slowed as it negotiated repeated roundabouts and hill climbs where a lack of gears forced the driver to hang on longer in a gear than is perhaps totally comfortable. But, on the whole, the Midlum coped well with the peaks and troughs. At 40mph in top gear the rev counter sits at 1,250rpm, which is nicely placed.
The driver’s seat is comfortable, but that is countered by the hard suspension and each shallow pot-hole that couldn’t be avoided was felt more than it should be.
Of the three cabs, this one had aged the most with mirror vibration coupled with ‘window wobble’ when lowered halfway – caused by a large piece of glass operating on worn runners.