Category: Compact MPV 
Price Range: £10,295 to £15,065
Huge load space, more comfortable than you'd think, all-round practicality, quirkiness.
Looks like a van, unnecessary roof height, no auto models, not as much safety kit as more car-like MPVs.
An excellent practical purchase if you can live with the looks.
Once you get used to the upright, van-like driving position, stepping down onto the pedals, it's very user-friendly; the huge glass areas mean excellent all-round visibility, the Berlingo is easy to manoeuvre, and all the controls are well laid out. The long gear stick is a bit vague, but that doesn't matter in this sort of car - it's not as if it needs a short-throw, low-ratio sports gearbox. Given the potential appeal of the Berlingo to wheelchair users, though, it's a shame there isn't the option of an automatic gearbox. It's not going to behave like a sports car, but the Berlingo is stable and secure on the road and has plenty of grip in its skinny tyres. The steering is responsive, and whilst it doesn't handle with quite the same aplomb as Ford's Tourneo Connect, it is eminently competent and even rather agile. There's not much to choose between this and Renault's Kangoo for handling, but both are much better than Fiat's dreary Doblo.
The non-turbo, indirect-injection 1.9D diesel engine is a lot livelier than you'd think; the 1.4i petrol is adequate, and really, performance-wise, either are all you really need (and are much more rewarding than equivalent engines in the Fiat Doblo). But for a bit more refinement and a little more oomph, there is the 1.6 16v or the smooth 2.0 HDi diesel, the latter promising to be more cost-effective in the long run with its better fuel economy and lower carbon dioxide emissions.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Citroen Berlingo Multispace
wrote on 25 11 2006
wrote on 23 10 2006