While Peugeot has been recognized in the world of two-wheelers for decades with its scooters, Renault tried its luck a few years ago.
Renault has always been interested in mobility in the broad sense of the term, and even more so in recent years with the creation of its Mobilize entity and the vehicles that result from it, designed to facilitate urban mobility.
But before the Twizy or the Mobilize Duo, Renault had tried its hand at scooters. Unfortunately for the Diamond, the success was not the same as for Peugeot, even if Renault did not necessarily give itself as much means in this segment as the Sochaux firm.
A small scooter with everything you need
It was in 2001 that Renault has moved into urban two-wheelers following cooperation agreements between Renault Sport and Benelli. Five models including two 50 cm3 were to see the light of day, and the Renault-branded scooters were to receive specific modifications.
As a top-of-the-range model, Renault has launched the Fulltime, a pattern 125 cm3 equipped with a retractable roof and a panoramic windshield. Thanks to its low saddle height (680 mm) and the floor cutout, it was easy to put your feet on the ground and thus appeal to the greatest number of people, especially those who were not necessarily very fond of two-wheelers and the constraints that this entailed. Highlight of the show, The giant trunk offers a loading capacity of 80 liters. It was also possible to fold the roof.
The equipment was quite generous, with two crutches, storage compartments, radio pre-equipment, a trip meter, a gauge with indicator light and a thermometer.
Only reserved for urban areas
The Renault Fulltime was far from being a bad scooter when you look at the journalists’ tests at the time. With a small size and only 135 kg on the scale, the scooter was quite comfortable in the city. On the other hand, its small 13-inch front wheel made it somewhat uncomfortable at high speeds, namely above 70 km/h where vibrations were significant. With only 90 km/h top speedthe Fulltime was really a machine designed for the city and peri-urban travel, but nothing else.
We can’t help but compare it to the originator of the genre, the BMW C1, but the two models are less similar than they seem. More powerful and equipped with a deformable cell, the German two-wheeler focuses on safety and protects its rider (not wearing a helmet, but strapped in) from shocks and bad weather.
Source: www.autoplus.fr
