Category: Compact MPV 
Price Range: £10,295 to £14,625
Affordable; practical; large load-space; no-nonsense image; economical diesels.
Slow and still van-like to drive; neither as comfy or as safe as C4 Picasso.
No-frills family transport for those who like their MPVs unpretentious.
Citroen's Berlingo Multispace started its life as no more than a van with windows and seats, but found its niche as a good-value alternative to more expensive, highly-equipped and flasher-looking compact MPVs like the Renault Scenic and Citroen's own Xsara Picasso. A people-carrier without pretensions, it is both hard-working load-carrier and effective family transport, capable of lugging anything from large dogs, sports gear and car boot-sale stock to mini-motorbikes, wheelchairs and other specialist equipment.
This new version - and its van counterpart - shares its underpinnings with the latest C4 Picasso compact MPV. It has a longer wheelbase, more car-like driving dynamics and larger rear windows, plus a number of new storage/stowage facilities. Yet it's still cheap - prices start from £10,995 - and Citroen will no doubt run a series of further special offers and incentives once sales get underway.
Engines in the line-up are a petrol 1.6i 16v (90bhp or 110bhp) and a 1.6 HDI diesel (75bhp, 90bhp or 110bhp). All come with five-speed manual transmission only, in trims labelled VT, VTR and XTR. XTR models ride on slightly raised suspension and have SUV-like styling details and features including extra underbody protection, though they are still front-wheel-drive.
Incidentally, the earlier Berlingo Multispace will continue on sale for a while under the name Berlingo First; it'll be cheaper, lower-spec and firmly in bargain-basement territory, though perhaps not cheap enough to be tempting.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Citroen Berlingo Multispace
wrote on 25 11 2006
wrote on 23 10 2006