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Geoff Middleton14 Jun 2016
REVIEW

Citroen Berlingo 2016 Review

The Berlingo may be overlooked in favour of its higher-selling rivals, but it is no less of a workhorse

The Citroen Berlingo has gone through many metamorphic phases during its 20 years on the market. The end result is a three-vehicle line-up with a short wheelbase petrol-engined model at the bottom and two longer-wheelbase versions at the top – one a manual turbo-diesel and the other an auto also with the turbo-diesel engine. All are civilised, efficient, though at times quirky urban delivery vehicles, well worth a look if you’re in the market.

The Citroen Berlingo sits in a market sector dominated by small European vans. The segment accounts for around 4000 sales annually according to VFACTS, the National Vehicle Sales Report for 2015.

Of that 4000 the biggest seller in the market is the Volkswagen Caddy. It accounted for 1755 sales last year, or 45 per cent of the market. Next came the Renault Kangoo, with just over 30 per cent of the market at 1177 sales, followed by the Suzuki APV in third place (527 sales and 13.5 per cent). The Citroen came in fourth with 398 sales or just 7.6 per cent of the market.

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That’s not to say that the Citroen is that much worse than the other offerings. In fact it’s a far more modern vehicle than Suzuki’s APV, which doesn’t even offer stability control or anti-lock brakes! The only real issue is that it’s probably not as well accepted or not as well known in the light van market as, say Volkswagen in the Australian market.

Other players include the Fiat Doblo and the Peugeot Partner in a market that grew by 17.5 per cent over the previous year. So it’s easy to see that although this isn’t a huge sector, it is a significant part of the commercial vehicle market.

The Citroen Berlingo is very similar in style and size to its competitors, in fact from the outside you could almost swap badges on the vans and hardly notice the difference. So it’s more how the van is inside and how it goes about its work that matters.

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The Berlingo L2 (long wheelbase) is powered by a very competent and economical 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel that produces 66kW and prodigious amounts of torque (215Nm). Our test vehicle was a five-speed manual but the Berlingo is also available with a new, six-speed, ETG6 (Efficient Tronic Gearbox 6) transmission with automatic or manual paddle shift mode.

The L2 version gets sliding doors on either side to access the cargo area and twin ‘barn’ doors on the rear which open 180 degrees for easy forklift access. The doors are split 60:40 and feature big windows and a wiper/washer on the larger side.

Inside, there’s protection and sturdy tie-down points on the floor and more protection in the way of plastic padding on the sides of the cargo area. Width between the wheel arches is quoted as 1230mm, length of the bed is 2050mm while the height inside is a handy 1100mm.

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Total volume of the cargo area to the rear of the front seats is 3.7 cubic metres and the quoted payload is 750kg.

Up front, the quirkiness starts, but the practicality continues. Practical touches include the storage areas which include a deep centre console, generous side pockets in the doors and even overhead storage a la a real truck. Apart from the normal glove box, there’s also a storage area on top of the dash in front of the driver that is deeper than you’d think, and a couple of holes in the fascia that look like horizontal drink holders… We don’t know what they’re for but we’re sure they’d come in handy.

The switch gear is nothing if not confusing. This is the first time since the 90s that I’ve driven a small vehicle with absolutely no buttons on the steering wheel. The Berlingo makes do with extra stalks on either side of the steering column – one side for the cruise control and speed limiters and the other for the audio controls.

The electric window controls are set in the centre of the dash and the other controls for locking, traction, hazard, electric mirrors etc. are scattered around the cockpit in a haphazard way that only a long-term owner could hope to understand.

Pricing and Features
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The seating position is upright with not enough rearward travel on the driver’s seat for larger drivers, but the seat itself is pretty comfortable. Vision is great for a ‘blind’ van and the wing mirrors are large.

The steering wheel tilts away from driver at the top promoting an eight-and-four grip on the wheel rather than a nine-and-three style. That said, it’s not horribly uncomfortable and entry and exit are easy for those doing multiple deliveries and pickups.

On the road, the Berlingo is spritely to drive – impressively so. There’s plenty of power on hand from low in the rev range (maximum torque is at 1500rpm) and it’ll happily spin up to 4000rpm or more with power still available. The clutch is light and, although there is a bit of a reach to the odd-numbered gears, we soon got used to the longish-throw gear shift.

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On the freeway, we were cruising at 110km/h in fifth at around 2400rpm and economy was exceptional. Citroen is quoting a combined figure of 5.7L/100km and, on our test with a combination of freeway, city and small stint with a load aboard, we achieved 6.1L, which could give a practical range of nearly 1000km between refuelling.

The steering is light and with a quoted turning circle of 11.0m, it’s a very nimble and manoeuvrable vehicle.

We took the Berlingo for a real-world test loading it up with 325kg of weight in the back and taking a run through a mixture of urban and semi-urban roads. The suspension soaked up the weight well and although we thought it sagged a fair bit (see our comparative photo), it still had plenty of travel left in the rear and it didn’t feel unbalanced.

The surprise was the willingness of the little four-cylinder turbo-diesel. Accelerating up hills and up-changing through the gears with a bit over half its maximum load aboard was no problem, and the Berlingo really felt as though it was designed as a tough little load hauler.

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And that’s the Berlingo’s gig. A nippy little urban delivery vehicle this certainly is. With good suspension, light controls and a reasonably comfortable cabin, it would suit a multitude of purposes – even as an adjunct to a fleet of larger trucks as the vehicle for the little deliveries, when you don’t need a full-size truck or van.

Regular drivers would get used to the somewhat eccentric positioning of the switch gear and controls while drivers switching from a more conventional vehicle might find it a pain, but once you’re over that, you are rewarded with a very capable and nimble urban workhorse.

2016 Citroen Berlingo L2 pricing and specifications:
Price: $26,500 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Outputs: 66kW/215Nm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Fuel: 5.7L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 150g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A

Also Consider:
>> Volkswagen Caddy (from $28,190 plus ORC)
>> Renault Kangoo from $27,990 (plus ORC)
>> Fiat Doblo (from $29,000 plus ORC

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Written byGeoff Middleton
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