CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR
Citroen’s latest MPV puts practicality above all else, finds Steven Chisholm
The citroen berlin go, like the Peugeot Rift era ndVauxh all combo life with which it shares a platform, is an MPV built on light van architecture.
It’ s a segment that lauds practicality above all else, prioritising masses of space in the boot (775 litres, 4,000 with the seats folded) to swallow up buggies, prams, wheelchairs and – with the seats down – push bikes while leaving room in the cabin for five full-sized passengers.
Past versions of the car have
struggled to disguise the commercial vehicle underpinnings and have typically been drab looking, boring and wobbly to drive and in a world filled with rugged-looking SUVS and slick hatches, pretty unappealing image-wise.
Inside, the cabin is very similarto what you’ ll find in the rift er: it’s comfortable, spacious and has a mood lighting bar suspended beneath the ceiling and more practical little pocketsthan an army surplus jacket.
Our test car was in the higher of the two trims available at launch; flair. this adds parking sensors, electric rear windows, sat na van dan electronic hand brake to the lo we r-spe cc ed feel trim level.
It doesn’ t feel especially luxurious, but that extra equipment is expected by buyers now and helps elevate the Berlingo in comparison to the berlin go van.
The car was powered by the 1.5-litre diesel engine in 99bhp tuning. A 74bhp and a more powerful 128bhp version of the diesel is available as well as two petrol variants.
The 99bhp version felt a good fit for the car, without ever feeling sprightly and ought to be enough for most drivers.
The car also comes in sevenseat configuration and I suspect the added weight of the extra passengers will make the 128 bhp tuning the better option there.
Automatic transmissions are available, but our test car had the five-speed manual gearbox which shifted smoothly without feeling slick.
The steering is accurate and light at low-speed - which is just as well as the car feels pretty large in comparison tomostsuvsand event he outgoing model. I’d be sure to add the park assist and vis pack at £700 so you get a reversing camera on top of the parking sensors that are standard with this trim.
The steering stiffens up a bit speed, but not overly much. coupledwith a ride that’ s on the soft side, this isn’ t a car that rewards drivers with thrilling handling if you try and push ito na twisty broad. There’ s quite a bit of body roll too, but if you drive it sensiblyit’ s a relaxed and comfortable drive.