A 2002 Renault Avantime was subjected to the famous so-called “momentum” avoidance test. Designed more than two decades ago, the astonishing minivan coupe did well, especially since the model evaluated was not young.
Our Spanish colleagues from km77 have made a specialty of subjecting cars to the momentum test, an avoidance maneuver that has become a benchmark in which it is a question of steer quickly in one direction as if to avoid an obstacle and then put the vehicle back on its initial path. For once, the latest model they reviewed is nothing new; it is even rather unexpected since it is the Renault Avantime.
Avantime, it was not the time
The ultimate car developed by Matra, which was already at the origin of the Renault Espace, the Avantime launched in 2001 was a coupé minivan, an exercise that is still unique to this day despite the tendency for diverse and varied crossovers. Its commercial failure undoubtedly has something to do with it. The model tested here is a 210 hp V6 version with manual transmission.
With its 4.64 m long including 2.70 m of wheelbase, its absence of central uprights, its glass roof, its 1,741 kg empty, its ground clearance of 14 cm (2 cm less than the Espace of the time) for a total height of 1.63 m, and its adjustment more comfortable than sporty, The Avantime does not seem theoretically suited for slalom. However, launched at 69 km / h for a first test of momentum, it succeeds the exercise with surprising stability.
Not sporty the Avantime, and yet …
Things got a little tough for the Avantime during the test carried out at 71 km / h. Significant body roll interferes with the work of the ground connections, but according to the driver, the car retains a healthy behavior slightly hampered by the hardening of the steering against the steering. The performance of the car remains honorable, only the last outside cone of the second corner being reversed. At 73 km / h, the pilot manages to avoid the studs but it is clear that the car is difficult to control. At 75 km / h, body roll dangerously affects handling, to the point of sending the rear axle hitting a cone at the last bend.
TO READ. Renault Avantime. The quintessence of the minivan celebrates its 20th anniversary!
A chassis that works well
The Renault Avantime is no match for some much more recent cars tested under the same conditions. Its performances are all the more remarkable as this 2002 model totals around 250,000 km, that it is fitted with Wanli S-1063 tires in good condition but far from top of the range, and that its current shocks have traveled 40,000 km. Its only notable active safety aid is its ESP, proof that its overall healthy reactions are due more to its mechanical design than to electronic crutches, a welcome recognition as the Avantime celebrates its 20th anniversary.