Peugeot Rifter GT Line

YOU COULD drive a huge fuel-guzzling performance 4x4, a hair-shirted hybrid or a show-off supercar, but few other cars on the road today divide opinion more vehemently than this Peugeot Rifter. Even within our own household, opinions ranged from loving it to hating it with equal measure on both sides – something that wasn’t helped by its paintwork choice of metallic brown (or Sunset Copper according to Peugeot).

We’ve written about the return of brown cars to showrooms on these pages before and we remain firm fans.

It may conjure up mental images of 1970s Marinas or Allegros, but we think this metallic version on the Rifter rather suits it. Then there’s the nature of the car itself. Of the van-based family wagons on the market, we think it’s one of the best.

We especially like the wide-set front lights and bluff grille while the sliding doors are a boon for anyone who needs to load their offspring into a child seat (more on which later).

The roof rails and plastic trim around the wheel arches and the lower sections of the door give it a rugged, go-anywhere look too, particularly when matched with the GT Line version’s 17in alloy wheels.

Under the bonnet of our Rifter test car was the flagship turbo-diesel engine in the range, a 1.5-litre unit with 130bhp.

Capable of the 0 to 60mph sprint in

10.4 seconds and a 116mph top speed, it’s hardly going to set the world alight with its performance, although that’s unlikely to be a priority for most buyers.

What might be though is the 65.7mpg average fuel economy and 114g/km emissions – both impressive given the Peugeot’s size and practicality.

On the road, the good news is that the