ROAD TEST CITROËN BERLINGO CREW


PEOPLE AND GOODS I


Citroën’s Berlingo Crew van offers a carry-all capability with a sliding bulkhead, says Dan Gilkes.


n most cases, having a second row of seats behind the driver, with a bulkhead to pro- tect rear passengers, results in a greatly reduced load volume. That needn’t be the case with the Berlingo Crew van, as it attempts to offer the best of both worlds.


Load carrying capacity Based on the long wheelbase Berlingo, the Crew van has a second row of seats behind the driver and comes with twin sliding side doors for easy access. There is comfortable seating for three in the back, with a sturdy steel mesh bulkhead behind the seats to pro- tect occupants and to provide a mounting for the middle rear seatbelt. With the seats in place, you get 1.8m3


load volume. You can fold the left-hand seat to reveal a load-through door in the bulk- head, or fold all three rear seats flat. With the seats down, it is then possible to release the bulkhead and slide it forwards, on run- ners built into the roof of the van, to sit be- hind the driver’s seat. This lifts the load vol- ume to 3.5m3


and fold the front passenger seat and that grows even further, to a full 4.0m3


. Open the load-through hatch .


Maximum payload is a healthy 854kg.


Powertrain The Crew cab is available with a 110hp ver- sion of Citroën’s PureTech petrol engine, with a six-speed manual gearbox. There are two diesel options on offer, a 100hp version with


a five-speed manual gearbox and a 130hp with an eight-speed automatic. While the higher-powered engine and the auto box will no doubt appeal to owner driv- ers, the 100hp diesel with the manual is like- ly to be the most popular option. Despite only having five forward gears, the van copes well, happily keeping pace with motorway traffic, or tackling urban stop/start journeys.


of In the cab


The Crew van is based on the Enterprise trim level, which includes air conditioning, rear parking sensors, cruise control, electronic parking brake, electric folding mirrors and an 8” touchscreen with smartphone connectivity. While you want for very little in everyday use, the interior is unremittingly black, with hard plastics everywhere. To allow customers to reclaim VAT, the Crew van doesn’t have win- dows behind the driver, so things are even darker in the second row, though there is plen- ty of leg room for taller passengers.


On the road As mentioned, unless you are running fully laden or with five people aboard all the time, the 100hp engine and five-speed manual of- fer plenty of power for most situations. The van is comfortable and commendably quiet, even though the bulkhead has a mesh up- per. This is in part due to the extended head- lining that runs above the rear passengers.


Conclusion Some crew van conversions can feel like a bit of a compromise, offering little in the way of load carrying volume, with less than comfort- able seating for those in the back. The Ber- lingo Crew manages to avoid both problems, with the innovative sliding bulkhead help- ing to meet both buying criteria.


VanUser rating: 4.0 Citroën Berlingo Crew BlueHDi 100


Basic price £21,335 Engine 1,499cc Power 102hp @ 3,500 Torque 250Nm @ 1,750rpm


Weights (kg) GVW 2,325 Kerb weight 1,471 Payload 854 Towing 1,050


Dimensions (mm) Load space length 1,450 Load space width 1,550 Width between wheel arches 1,229 Load space height 1,243 Load space volume (min-max) 18-40


Cost considerations Fuel tank capacity 50 litres Fuel consumption 46-55 mpg CO2


154-148g/100km


Service interval 2 year/25,000 miles Warranty 3 years/60,000 miles


JUNE 2021 • VANUSER 29


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