Citroen Dispatch 2.0I 140 Car Review

Facts At A Glance VAN: Citroen Dispatch 2.0i 140
Engine: 2.0i 16-valve 140bhp DIMENSIONS: length/width/height 4805/2194/1942mm LOAD VOLUME: 5m3 GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT: 2,717kg

FUEL WARS

Our Rating: 7.1 / 10

Is there a place for petrol in our light commercial vehicles, Citroen thinks its Dispatch 2.0i can carve out a niche with a little help. Steve Walker reports.

Petrol is almost a dirty word in the UK light commercial vehicle market. Many manufacturers don’t even offer versions of their vans that run on unleaded and the petrol models that there are tend to be token efforts aimed at the contrary minority who, for inexplicable reasons of their own, won’t touch diesel. Citroen is one manufacturer that’s persevering with the juice from the green-handles pumps but its Dispatch 2.0i 140 model will need a few tricks up its sleeve to convince the doubters.

The reasons for diesel’s dominance in the van sector aren’t hard to pinpoint. The things that diesel does best also happen to be the things that most van operators look for. Basically, it boils down to good fuel economy and lots of low down torque for hauling weighty loads. By contrast, the qualities that draw passenger car customers to petrol-like refinement and free-revving performance don’t carry much weight in a working vehicle.

So how does Citroen intend to sell its 2.0-litre Dispatch? For starters, it’s cheap - which is the one relevant advantage that petrol engined vans have over diesel ones. Secondly, it’s got a lot of power for the price and most importantly, it’s available with a Dual Fuel conversion enabling it to run on Liquid Petroleum Gas.

The petrol powerplant fitted to the Dispatch is the 2.0-litre 16-valve unit that crops up across the manufacturer’s passenger car range. With 140bhp as its peak power output, it’s the most powerful engine that Citroen offers with this vehicle but the all-important torque rating of 180Nm looks a little feeble next to the 320Nm available from the 2.0-litre 136bhp diesel. The entry-level 1.6 HDi diesel engine matches the petrol’s torque output but produces its muscle far lower in the rev range where it’s easier for drivers to exploit. Citroen’s diesel engines are amongst the more refined on the market but the petrol unit will be smoother and more refined.

On the whole, the Dispatch is one of the better drivers’ vans of its size out there. The steering is a little on the light side for high speed travel but well-weighted for urban driving. The firm suspension tackles corners adeptly and body-roll is well controlled. The gear change would be sharper in an ideal world but in general, the Dispatch serves up a polished experience for whoever’s behind the wheel, aided by a driver’s seat with height, reach, rake and lumbar adjustments.

In profile, the large front overhang of the Dispatch is highlighted and this contributes to a turning circle that, at 12.2m, is nearly a metre greater than a Vauxhall Vivaro of equivalent capacity. The Dispatch, however, hits back on height or more accurately, lack of it. Citroen is at pains to point out that the standard roof H1 versions are just 1,942mm tall and drop to 1,894mm when the optional pneumatic suspension is specified. This means that they’ll be able to squeeze under height restrictors on urban car parks that would deny entry to most other panel vans. The sliding side door on each flank is a further boon in situations where space is tight and operators need to access their load. These open wide enough to accommodate a Euro pallet and benefit from a low loading height of 562mm which can be cut by 71mm if you splash out on that self-levelling suspension.

The frontal styling borrows quite substantially from the current Citroen passenger car range and, indeed, from recent Peugeot models. The Dispatch, for the uninitiated, is the product of a partnership between PSA Peugeot Citroen and Fiat which has also spawned the identical Peugeot Expert and Fiat Scudo models. The grille displays the Citroen double chevrons as upward kinks knocked into parallel chrome bars and below the multi-part bumper juts forward imposingly. A deep swage line runs from the lower edge of the large, elongated headlamps into the window line, continuing down the flanks. The design is undeniably distinctive but