Although the world has succumbed to the crossover craze, there are some multipurpose vehicles that are defiant in today's era of motoring dominated by crossovers. While they are as practical as crossovers, these new-generation leisure activity vans from Groupe PSA are made to cater to family weekend trips with everything they have to show the crossover world that these vans still have a place in today's motoring. That is why Groupe PSA showcased these new-generation leisure activity vans. From Citroen, there's the third-generation Berlingo. From Peugeot, there's the all-new Rifter that replaces the Partner, and for the first time, from Opel and Vauxhall, there's the new Combo E Life.
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| 2019 Citroen Berlingo |
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| 2019 Peugeot Rifter |
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| 2019 Opel Combo Life |
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| 2019 Vauxhall Combo Life |
Although these new generation leisure activity vehicles look different to each other as well as the pricing that sets them apart, all of these vans are running in the same PSA EMP2 platform and a choice of two engine outputs and two transmission types. More on that later but anyway, let's start with their visual differences while these vans aren't exactly what they called a head turner, it's hard to decide which one of these vans looked good but for now, let's give credit to the Rifter.
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| 2019 Citroen Berlingo interior |
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| 2019 Peugeot Rifter interior |
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| 2019 Opel Combo Life interior |
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| 2019 Vauxhall Combo Life interior |
While these cars boast different steering wheel designs, whereas the new Berlingo has the best-looking steering wheel of the rest, the new interior blends practicality, functionality, and technology into one unique packaging. They may be as small as a Toyota Sienta but in larger variants, they seat up to seven people and have up to 850 liters of luggage volume, which is big enough for stuff to bring for life's precious moments such as your grandma's birthday, your baby's baptism, camping trips, so on, so forth, meaning that it works rather well for family use as long as those little tykes don't occupy your sweet spot. Otherwise, it's off to the third row for you, which is still unpleasant to live with despite its new form and shape.
Under the hood, these new generation vans are powered by a choice of 1.2L PureTech petrol engine and the 1.5L BlueHDi diesel engine. I was going to say that the diesel variant is mated with a choice of two manual gearboxes and an 8-speed automatic as well as the specs that have 130PS of power, 300Nm of torque, 184kph top speed, 4.3L/100km of fuel economy, and 112g/km of CO2 emissions but because Europe has a hatred affair over diesel, they should make do with the petrol one which has lesser specs compared to the diesel but it's a fair choice unless Groupe PSA is making an electrified version of those. Things can wait but if you want to get a shot on these vans, better go for the petrol one in the event that you're European and you're starting to show disdain over diesel. They may not deliver the gusto you deserve but for a family mover, it's above average and your family will certainly catch some attention to it.
Although the handling is too much to bear for these vans, they function like it means it, and when things get messy, these vans are fitted with a similar traction control system fitted to its SUV range, adapting torque distribution to the front wheels. It sure works in the rain but it can be a tad old-fashioned for a van like this. Still, it's a good match for vans like these.
Safety-wise, the vans are fitted with a wide array of safety features that will keep the kids sleeping while staying aware of the surroundings. You have forward collision alert with pedestrian detection and Automatic Emergency Braking, Automatic Cruise Control, Intelligent Speed Adaptation, Driver Drowsiness Alert, and many other features that will keep the journey home safe and secure.
In France, the all-new Berlingo starts at 21,850 Euros while the Rifter starts at 23,150 Euros TTC. In Germany, the Combo E Life starts at 19,995 Euros, and in Britain, that costs 19,610 Euros. It's a fair price for vans like these but the new Berlingo, the Rifter, and the new Combo vans still have businesses to do in a world infested by crossovers that don't go anywhere. These people movers may not be as fast or can go anywhere but by getting the most out of these vans in the event of family weekends, these vans are decent enough to be the newest members of the family.
Photo: Groupe PSA
