Citroen Nemo Van Car Review

Facts At A Glance MANUFACTURER: Citroen MODEL: Nemo BHP: 70bhp - 75bhp PAYLOAD CAPACITY: 610kg LOAD VOLUME: 2.5m3 GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT: 1,680kg – 1,700kg LENGTH: 3,864mm WIDTH: 1,589mm HEIGHT: 1,721mm May 7th 2008

BLINDING NEMO?

Our Rating: 7.3 / 10

Citroen does a nice line in compact vans these days and the Nemo could be the best of the lot. Steve Walker reports

Sooner or later, the trends that sweep the passenger car market usually filter through to arena of the commercial vehicle. That process can take a while but as we’ve seen with common-rail diesel engines and various items of safety equipment, vans eventually come to benefit from most of the relevant innovations that arise in cars. Citroen’s Nemo is representative of a trend that’s been extremely prevalent in the car sector for a number of years now; namely that of diversification. It’s a van that can lay claim to being first aboard the sub-compact van bandwagon.

Actually, it’s a little bit more complicated than all that. A reshuffle of the Citroen commercial vehicle range has made space for the Nemo rather than any ground-breaking design innovation on the manufacturer’s part. The latest Citroen Berlingo compact van has grown in capacity, nuzzling-up beneath the Despatch panel van and that shift left a space below, which the Nemo neatly fills. The model’s bijou dimensions means it sits above the tiny C2 car-derived van, in close proximity to the Berlingo First model which is actually the old Berlingo soldiering on as an uncomplicated budget option.

That just about sums it up, but before you declare yourself in possession of all the facts concerning the Nemo’s market positioning, remember that it’s just one part of a three-pronged attack of the small van sector. Citroen’s sister brand Peugeot and their long-standing LCV partner Fiat also have versions of the van called the Bipper and the Fiorino respectively.

The Nemo’s size and weight allows it to get away with smaller 1.4-litre engines as opposed to the units of 1.6-litres and larger that Citroen fits to its Berlingo. The petrol option is a 1.4-litre 75bhp affair but its 118Nm of torque at 2,600rpm highlights its shortcomings compared to the 1.4-litre diesel. The Nemo’s oil-burner comes with less power - only 70bhp is available - but 160Nm from 1,750rpm means it has the low-end muscle that drivers like for getting their payload smartly off the line. Neither Nemo is earth-shatteringly quick but the chance to approach the speed limit has become a rare luxury in the areas where it’s designed to work, so that shouldn’t unduly matter.

The Nemo has independent front suspension braced with an anti-roll bar, while at the rear is the old commercial vehicle standard transverse beam. The set-up works well helping to give the Nemo the lively and energetic feel on the road that the latest supersized Berlingo has partially lost. The downside is that the Nemo is less comfortable a proposition on the open road, but around town its short overhangs and teeny dimensions make it highly manoeuvrable. The turning circle is super-tight at under 10 metres kerb to kerb. The Nemo mounts its gearlever on the dash as is the fashion these days and the abrupt short-throw action is an improvement over the sloppy set-ups that let some of the marque’s other models down.

The Nemo’s styling should win it many admirers, the van displaying a swollen look that might hint at a cargo of highly compressed air. The bumpers, the wheelarches and even the windscreen dome outwards and along with the wide track, this creates a squat, planted stance. The inherent chunkiness also suggests the Nemo is a tough customer and there’s not much to dissuade you from that opinion on the inside. Fiat’s influence on the project is evident in the cab. The air-vents, the stereo and other components have been seen before in Fiat products but all feel solid and look the part. Th