It is the Saturday before Easter. A rental car company suggests using a van as an Easter car. I wonder if it works?

 

There are cars for both work and parties. This is a car for work. The Peugeot Partner has just received a facelift – a new nose, so to speak. I like the looks of the old model better, but realize it was ripe for a few upgrades. Because it was the old model I used last Saturday to carry out various work tasks. The Peugeot turned out to be a really good working partner, it. I needed a van that was low enough to get all the way into the garage.

 

Look-and-feel

Painted bumpers, fog lights, LED daytime running lights, electrically adjustable and folding mirrors, manual climate control, old-fashioned built-in radio. Relatively flat seats, slightly van-like sitting position, the seat in the rearmost position, perhaps too narrow for those who have to drive with straight arms. Suitable for me, really, without giving any particularly luxurious feeling. I open and close all the doors. I like how the rear doors lock in the open position - and stay open, despite the car being on a downhill slope. Solid and proper.
 
But it is undoubtedly about a work car. Internal plastic, buttons and switches are designed for utility – not elegance. Everything is where you'd expect it, - well, almost. The buttons for lowering and raising the side windows are on the dash in front of the gear lever, and not on the doors.

 

Driving pleasure

When I pushed through a section with cobblestones and tram rails, I noticed that the suspension was quite soft - no stiff "truck feeling". I actually get the feeling of driving an overgrown small car. When I went on a roundabout with the Partner'n, there was no hint of tailgate lift. Not so strange, because it rides on a typical French passenger car chassis with a McPehrson arrangement at the front and space-saving Torsion suspension at the rear. Just like a car.
 
PSA's well-known 1.6 HDi with 90 horses and 5-speed manual gearbox holds up well. With a full load, you don't get great acceleration, but tough and good torque. The very latest models have been upgraded on the engine front. The 90 horse has now been increased to 100 horses, and an entry-level model with 75 horses has been introduced. This has a fantastic torque of 233 Nm, which will give the feeling of driving a much more powerful engine than the horsepower would indicate.
 
Driving around in a van with a partition gives limited opportunity to check the blind spots. For me, it also takes away some of the joy of driving. But the Partner is not a bad car to drive. It cruises very comfortably over the country road at 90 km/h. I thought that this is a car that is well suited as a long-distance car, for example for commuting, - and why not an Easter drive?
 
E16 was packed with Easter motorists heading up Sollihøgda. I was on my way to the ISI landfill with the car full of various packaging and scrap after cleaning out the garage in connection with furnishing a new apartment. In the queue that wound its way up, I actually caught sight of some vans. Perhaps it was craftsmen who commuted home at Easter? - Or maybe someone was on an Easter trip?

 

It is annoying that the pedals are obviously not adapted for men with size 46 winter shoes. Not only was it tight between the pedals, but the toes of the shoes were obstructed by a plastic cover over the pedals. I could have put on the office shoes, but surely a work car should be able to withstand Nordic footwear?

Comfort

In terms of comfort, the car is somewhere between the Peugeot 107 and 208. All plastic is hard plastic, and the levers and switches that exist could just as easily have been in an excavator. I found an alright sitting position. There is a height-adjustable steering wheel and seat, but I suppose some people wish the driver's seat had gone further back.
 
In terms of noise, the engine sounds good when accelerating, but is not bothersome. The room noise is not bothersome either, but is on a par with the smallest passenger car models. I noted some gearbox squeal in second and third gear. Not particularly bothersome, - just unusual, as it is a sound that has almost disappeared from modern cars.

 

Place

Can the car function as a three-seater? Of course, it depends on which people it is about. In my opinion, it will work just fine as long as there are not three "fetings" or bodybuilders on tour. The middle seat is not the most comfortable, but probably works well on the Easter holidays, if you only put in a couple of stops to stretch your legs and have a coffee. Because the middle passenger means that you have nowhere to put your coffee cup while driving.
 
In terms of space, three seats are preferable to two, - and too many people want them the be a decisive factor in choosing Peugeot Partner in particular.

 

At least there is enough luggage space for Easter equipment and provisions. Loading is easy via the side door and side-hinged rear doors. I also managed to fit my mountain bike, but only barely. The car's total length is 4,38 and with a fixed partition in the middle, it goes without saying that the length in the boot will be limited. Normal family cars with the rear seats folded down have better load lengths. Fortunately, the partition curves a little towards the bottom, so you get a couple of extra centimeters at your disposal. If you are to transport mattresses, beds, sofas, wardrobes etc., you will fall short with the length.

 

Safety

In terms of safety, the Peugeot Partner and its sister model, the Citroen Berlingo, are a long way from competitors such as the Ford Tourneo Connect and the Volkswagen Caddy. The latter two received 5/5 stars when tested in 2015. The Peugeot was tested in 2014 and only received 3/5 stars. In a collision, it is the thighs and legs that are most at risk. But here we have to take the NCAP results with a grain of salt, because both the Caddy and the Ford are two-seaters . I am sure that the Peugeot and the Caddy would have come out better if they had been assessed as two-seaters without the middle seat. You can see with the naked eye that the middle passenger, who sits with his legs against the gearshift column, will be more at risk than his fellow passengers.

The van had an extra side window on the right side sliding door. In my opinion, this is absolutely necessary, to ensure visibility to the right. A common feature of all vans is that you cannot check blind spots by looking over your shoulder. On the other hand, there are many well-grown drivers who never check their blind spots, anyway. Large feet and narrow pedal area also represent a clear safety problem. I take out a 3.
 
Like many other PSA models, "my" Partner had automatic locking of all doors when the car is in motion. I imagine it's useful for French artisans who traffic in seedy suburbs of Paris. I myself appreciated that the locking secured the rear doors from going up during speed.

 

Economy

In terms of consumption, the PSA group's 90 horses are probably the closest you can get to a piggy bank, both with regard to consumption and maintenance. It has been around for several years and in several models, and the good results can be documented. The new engines are hardly worse. This is a very good purchase if you drive a lot.
 
In terms of price, you have to shell out around 200 for a new Partner before you possibly choose a larger engine, equipment or interior. However, used vans are popular, so there will be a moderate loss in value as long as the car is well looked after.
 
Then you can ask yourself whether the Partner is suitable as a touring car. The answer is "yes" if the trips include a lot of road driving, 3 not too broad-shouldered people, and plenty of provisions, - and that the person with the smallest shoe size gets to sit behind the wheel.
 

If you choose the long model, you can even spend the night in the storeroom.

 

• Ideal drive for this type of car.
• Good doors to the warehouse.

 

• Drivers with large feet and winter shoes can get the brake foot pinched.
• The middle seat may be exposed in the event of a collision.

 

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