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hings are looking good for Citroen—figures published by the Society

of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show it has regularly been swapping second place with Vauxhall in the UK van market so far this year. This is no mean achievement considering Vauxhall's recent launch of the Vivaro. No doubt Citroen, with its well-established lineup. is now hungrily eyeing Ford's top spot.

This also suggests that Citroen is winning its fight with its alter egos, the Fiat Scud° and the Peugeot Expert. The middleweight market is densely populated: long-standing contenders include the Mercedes-Benz Vito and the revamped Volkswagen Transporter. Ford has introduced a compact Transit at 2.8 tonnes and the Renault Trafic/Vauxhall Vivaro has sent a high-tech quiver through the sector.

Citroen brought common-rail fuel injection to the Dispatch range in 2000, after introducing HDi diesel technology in 1998. It clearly paid dividends for Citroen to take the gradual approach with the top-of-therange CV option 95hp version (CM 1248 Oct 2000) before stepping up the pace, replacing it with the more powerful io7hp version. The Dispatch sees 2002 with more torque and a new gearbox.

Product profile Operators will be able to recognise the new Dispatch externally by the revised badging, and its two new colours—Arctic Steel metallic and Passion Red. Citroen has revamped the interior and added power to its already useful performance. The turbo-diesel produces a true to7hp maximum power from 4,000rpm, with maximum torque improved from 2I4NM to 250 N rrl at 1,750rprn.

Citroen still offers two optional engines. The non-turbo I.9D is available for the 815 versions with 71hp maximum power at 4.600rpm, and 125Nm maximum torque from 2,5o orpm. GVW here is 2,205kg, and gross payload is 815kg.

You can also opt for the "not to be confused" Combi 6 2.0-litre 16V HDi version, which was already available, has the itohp engine but with a higher maximum torque figure of 27o NIT1 from 1,750rpm.

The 900kg payload for the new iiohp Dispatch does not change despite a new, more powerful, engine. Operators looking for a mid-van variant can always choose a platform option—the panel van version has a 4.om3 load space.

Basic price for the Citroen Dispatch 2..oTD HDi 900 is £12,515, up £205 on the outgoing model tested in October 2000, with optional extras lifting our price as tested to L13,285. Citroen's basic list is pretty competitive—the Renault Trafic i.9dCi 80 is the Mercedes-Benz Vito tioCDI is £13,450 and the Vauxhall Vivaro ioo will set you back £12,595 (all prices ex-VAT).

The extras on the Dispatch for this roadtest include the Sea Green metallic paint, a full steel bulkhead, electric windows, and remote control central locking. Close to the choices an operator's would select from the extras list? Possibly.

Productivity

Most laden fuel figures CM notches up are done with relatively low mileage (below 5,000km) and would be expected to improve, depending on job application of course. So when a candidate produces a good figure we look closely at all the possible factors, such as weather, traffic flow, average speed and perhaps the lower kerbweight.

The Dispatch's all-new io7hp engine helped it return 36.8mpg fully laden round our Kent route, with a very impressive 46.2mpg unladen. Weather on the laden trip was cairn with a slight hint of a northerly; traffic was sparse on the M25 and pretty consistent on the A-roads back to Sutton. This helped produce an average speed of 70.91

The good news for Citroen is that the new engine is a vast improvement on its predecessor, which returned 34.mpg laden and at a slower 64.41miTh (CM 12-18 Oct 2000). More importantly, it eclipsed the fuel returns from the Renault Trafic 1.9dCi 82hp version by more than 2Mpg and was 20% better than the more powerful (99hp version) Vauxhall Vivaro i.9DTI. And, although the Dispatch was significantly faster than the 2.2-litre o2hp Mercedes-Benz Vito tioCDI, it still produced a slightly better 38.8mpg.

The Dispatch gives a little away on payload, as its GVW is 2,315kg, compared with 2,700kg from its competitors. But gross payload is 900kg, and for an extra 385kg kerb. weight its competitors can only offer an extra 95kg in payload at best. Travelling any distance with less GVW and a competitively powered engine will help reduce the overall fuel figures, as it does not have to work as hard.

As you might expect, the load volume is smaller than its larger and heavier competitors. The Dispatch has 4.orn3 compared with 4.8m3 from the Vito and 5.om3 from the Renault/Vauxhall option.

CM has started to record the official CO2 emissions levels published by the manufacturer. Once we establish a body of vehicle tests Replacing an existing common-rail engine with more torque and power will always be popular with the driver, if not always with the operator. If our fuel results are anything to go by then everyone is a winner, even if the basic list price is a little higher.

When you have it ohp on tap to move a 2.3tonne GVW, performance should be impressive, and the Dispatch does not disappoint. From a standing start it powers to 5o mph in 12,4 seconds—very car-like. Performance is really only affected by short sharp hills. On the long climb up the M2o only a non-signalling car pulling from the first lane into the middle hindered an otherwise constant 70mph.

Handling on the motorway is impressive: the 205/65 R15 wheels give the van more road contact and a solid presence. On the A-roads it feels rock solid on the straights and handles well round the corners, almost to the point of feeling like a go-kart.

With an extra 12hp underfoot any gaps in the new Citroen MLC5C five-speed gearbox would probably only be unearthed in extreme situations, none of which are to he found on CM Kent light-vehicle test route. Fourth and fifth gears are overdrive ratios. The dash-mounted gearstick has become so well established that it feels odd having to use a gearstick sticking up from the floor. That is probably as high a compliment as a test driver could pay to something that was once seen as radical.

ABS is still not standard but the non-ABS braking system is sound enough and gives a quick response. On the three brake tests, however, the wheels locked on each occasion suggesting that ABS would probably have pen a better figure.

With a 2.3-tonne (NW it held on the handbrake on the one-in-four test hills at the proving ground and pulled away successfully. It also held firm on the one-in-three but failed to make the restart.

The sloping front means that tight manoeuvring on site might involve a little guesswork as the driver sees little more than the windscreen wipers, and the relative low cab seating area doesn't help here.

Cab comfort

The mid-van range covers a broad spread of industries: subtle interior changes will have less effect on the trade and service sector, where operators tend to spend a lot of time out of the van, than on couriers who spend all of their time behind the wheel.

The new seat trim blends in nicely with the grey and black trim and does not leap to the fore, which is probably a good thing, with the centre console now sporting a black centrepiece rather than the previous all-grey dashboard.

The most agreeable innovation, however, is the new overhead storage area with holes in the lining. It is quite deep and ideal for paperwork, maps and the sandwich box, leaving the passenger seat and the side pockets for bottles, flasks, mobile phones and the Daily Comic. At least the driver can throw his nonessential items out of the way until lunchtime.

Comments in our October 2000 roadtest highlighted the lack of room for the driver to move around and the lack of legroom. Sad to say that has not changed. The sloping floor, the flat, nearupright, steering wheel and that lack of legroom means the claustrophobic feel remains.

The full steel bulk' head has a rear indentation for the driver's seat giving a little more distance between the driver and the steering wheel, at the expense of

( a little load space. This has been standard on previous models but

even so you don't have to be lanky to find the maximum distance between seat and steering wheel is too short to lock your arms.

It comes as no surprise, then, that three-up in the cab is a bit tight. All baggage has to be thrown into the back and the middle passenger and the driver need some good-natured banter to get them through long trips as the driver's left hand reaches for the dash mounted gears tick.

Forward and peripheral vision from the driver's seat is pretty sound, although the triangular frame around the quarterlight window does block the view at roundabouts and in tight spaces. The interior noise of the ttohp Dispatch, according to our calculations and compared with the 95hp tested in October 2000, has been made even lower at tickover, where it was down by 2dB(A). The fiokm/h and rukm/h figures were on a par.

Summary

Judging by recent overall sales figures from the SMMT we imagine the Dispatch has played a vital part of Citroen's charge up the charts. Ask any manufacturer and they will tell you how difficult it is to continually improve a good product.

Yet the fuel consumption on the more powerful version has improved markedly; it has better on-road performance and it retains the competitive payload—this makes the new Dispatch trohp a serious contender.

If you cube out then this is not the motor for you, but if it's payload/time/fuel economy you are worried about then it could well be the answer, Cab space is restricted but storage has been vastly improved with an overhead shelf.

In the past 18 months its competitors have launched a number of high-tech models but this has not stopped Citroen threatening the number two spot in the SM MT sales chart. It has a solid driveline, is competitively priced and is set to help Citroen consolidate its new-found position.

• by Kevin Swallow