SMALL VANS TESTERS' CHOICE PEUGEOT PARTNER
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by Peter Peter Lawton
Commercial Motor didn't have much in the way of light vehicles to try out until June, when we got the ball rolling with a test of the smallest CV breed of all, a car-derived van. Our first example was based on Vauxhall's third-generation Corsa and we found it to be a comfortable, nippy little performer.
CDVs are known for their limited carrying capacity—the Corsavan manages around 380kg including the driver—but for the courier ducking in and out of urban traffic it just might be the solution, We concluded: "Driving through London traffic is like a mad trip on a giant Scalextric layout. Turn-in is ultra-sharp, and hold around corners is very good."
So there you go. Useful in its natural environment, but or long motorway runs you might find yourself tiring of the jumpy handling. We described it as a "Tasty Morsel": operators will find out for themselves when the latest Corsavan hits the dealers next month.
Unusually, we also tested a petrol version of this van which returned a pretty good laden figure of 421mpg.
Like all the vans reviewed here the Corsavan is put together well and carries out its duties without fuss. So why haven't we chosen it as a Testers' Choice? It simply isn't versatile enough.
Moving a step up the size scale we come to the Volkswagen Polo: the highcube Caddy now has a new turbo-diesel
engine giving much more power and torque than its predecessor.
The Caddy can carry a fair bit more weight than the diminutive Vauxhall and certainly offers a lot more space thanks to the box on the back. You might think that the high-cube body would force up its fuel consumption. Perhaps it does, but we still got a thrifty 49mpg round our Kent test route with a full 550kg load which is a credit to the new TDI engine.
Build is as solid as rock, as is the handling: the Caddy is equally at home on city streets and motorways. One in the running for laurels, then.
In October we got our hands on a Citroen Dispatch complete with the latest HDI common-rail engine. Citroen's version of the mini-Sevel doesn't sell particularly well, but neither do its siblings, the Fiat Scudo and the Peugeot Expert. It has an odd GVW of 2.315kg which gives a payload of just under a tonne, but a big space in which to carry it.
With two sliding doors and wide opening rear doors, it's easy to use and flexible too. The new engine gives plenty of power and torque to get around with and returned a respectable enough 34.3mpg around our van route.
Handling is good and the Dispatch comes with a dash-mounted shift which seem to be increasingly popular these days. But buyers just don't seem to be that tickled by this middleweight con tender, and that lack of grass-root support puts the Dispatch out of contention.
Our final tiddler of 2000 was a Peugeot Partner, also with common-rail technology. It carries 725kg with our regulation-issue 75kg driver behind the wheel and has a decent sized loadbay which is a little bigger than the Caddy's.
The engine gives smooth power from a wide rev range, and supplies plenty of oommph for all but the most speedhungry of drivers, combined with pretty good consumption of 37.2mpg. Gear changing is easy and smooth; handling i neutral.
The Partner's cab stands out as being by far the most comfortable place to spend a day in this group. There's a great view out of the big windscreen and plenty of opportunity for adjusting the seat, even with a partition (the Caddy and the Corsavan can punish the taller driver in this respect).
With plenty of space to stow bottles, maps, sandwiches and bags, this cab just gets better the more you look at it.
Overall, the Partner combines versatility with a modern design that makes a day behind the wheel that bit more comfortable. This kind of design, along with the Kangoo and the Partner's stablemate the Berlingo, have really moved the game on.
For that reason, and notwithstanding the excellent contribution-made by the Caddy, the 2001 Testers' Choice light van the Peugeot Partner.