Travel kit review: The Roncato Light

Sports Editor at Large·NZ Herald·

4 Dec, 2014 04:30 PM2 mins to read

Dylan Cleaver has lashings of praise for this supercar of suitcases.

Having never driven a Ferrari Testarossa, a Lotus Elise (or even a Hyundai Sante Fe, for that matter), I may be unqualified to say this, but I'm told that once you take the wheel of a luxury car, you can never go back to a Daihatsu Charade.

I'm feeling the same way about my Roncato Light. Mine is boldly blue, it's all smooth curves and sleek lines and it's bloody wonderful.

Like the owner of a Ferrari driving aimlessly along Tamaki Drive to harvest envious stares, I find myself spending longer than I need to in airport arrivals halls, so I can demonstrate to less fortunate travellers the turn-on-a-dime ability of the four-wheeled Roncato, and its smooth take off from a standing start.

Unlike sports cars, there's no need to fear for the environment. The Roncato is made from polypropylene, is 100 per cent recyclable and is designed to reduce harmful CO2 emissions.

It has a combination lock with one of those fancy TSA master key portals, just in case US customs or the likes think those bi-weekly trips to Bolivia are starting to look a bit suss.

It's muscle-car large, standing 75cm tall and carrying 14,000cu cm, and weighs in at a smart 4.3kg.

On return from a recent trip, it was stuffed to the gunwales but didn't creak. Its performance, I was told, is maximised when it is at its fullest.

It has one design quirk.

The Roncato has four individually lockable latches, but the left rear has a protruding tongue that slots into a groove in which to seal the case. Twice I've managed to overfill the suitcase and have secured three of the four latches, only to notice the tongue has missed its groove, which has required a quick re-pack.

It's nothing major, nothing as impractical as a gull-wing door for example, but you do need to be aware to latch that corner first.