Citroen Relay Van Car Review

Facts At A Glance VAN: Citroen Relay van Range ENGINES: 100bhp 2.2HDi/ 120bhp 2.2HDi/ 160bhp 3.0HDi MAX PAYLOADS: 1,000kg-2,000kg LOAD VOLUMES: 8m3-17m3 GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHTS: 3.0t, 3.3t, 3.5t, 4.0t

IS THAT REALLY THE RELAY?

Our Rating: 7.3 / 10

Citroen have put notions of large panel vans being dull firmly to bed with the adventurously-styled Relay. Steve Walker reports…

The panel van market has traditionally been a tough place to operate and that’s certainly the case at present. The smallest difference in cost, capacity or specification can be enough to swing that big order or have buyers walking away in their droves and the fierce competition isn’t eased by the top manufacturers joining forces to sell alternatively-badged versions of the same van. Despite these difficulties, Citroen have managed to keep their Relay up amongst the frontrunners and the current model could have the legs to kick home down the finishing straight once the manufacturer’s famous special offers materialise.

It wasn’t so long ago that panel vans were the dullest-looking things imaginable. Rather like with washing machines, the various manufacturers had hit on a basic shape that worked and, come hell or high fuel prices, they were sticking to it. Telling the leading contenders apart without recourse to the badges on their grilles was like picking Wayne Rooney from a line-up of strategically shaved gorillas. Then, suddenly, somebody cottoned on to the fact that not all panel vans were purchased by a cold-hearted fleet manager with a calculator. Many of the people making the buying decisions, particularly in the burgeoning user chooser market, had an emotional investment in the vehicle they selected and a van that could differentiate itself from the pack with bold styling had a distinct advantage. So it is that today’s panel van sector is a far more exciting place to explore with the protagonists taking markedly divergent styling directions. The trend is definitely more towards the bold than the beautiful but you couldn’t call them boring and Citroen’s Relay is a case in point.

Where to begin? The Relay has the kind of front end which draws your gaze this way and that. There are those headlamps, mounted out of harms way just below the windscreen, that curve upwards to points like the horns on one of Desperate Dan’s cowpies. Then check out the grill low down within in the line of the bumper. In a look lifted from the manufacturer’s passenger car line-up, its Citroen double chevrons are reduced to upward kinks knocked into parallel chrome bars. From the side, there’s a double bubble effect where the bulge of the bonnet meets that of the deep bumper to create a heavy swage line that extends down both flanks just above the wheelarches. Conventionally-styled this van is not.

Of course, there’s only so much free reign that the pen men can be allowed where a panel van is concerned. The rear end must retain capacity and functionality, so the Relay gets the traditional boxy back to balance out its unorthodox frontage. There’s obviously a wide Range of body sizes available - four lengths, three wheelbases and three heights, if you’re counting - and these allow a Range of load volumes that extend from 8 m3 up to a truly sizable 17 m3. The Relay can manage some seriously hefty cargos as well, with gross vehicle weights extending up to 4 tonnes. In addition to the various loadbay options, there are window van models, single or double cab options and combi minibuses as well as the usual factory-built conversions using the chassis cab and platform cab derivatives.

A great deal of emphasis has been placed on rendering the Relay as user-friendly as possible. The loading height can be as little as 53cm, depending on the model, and this can be reduced by a further 7cm if you specify the optional air suspension. The double rear doors open to 180 degrees and an optional modification is available to allow 270 degree opening, access is via a wide non-slip step and there are even further steps cut into the bumper at the front so you can climb up to clean the windscreen.

Inside the cab, the design is less dramatic than that of the exterior but it is thoughtfully executed. There are no less than ten storage compartments including a lockable glovebox with room for a laptop, big door pockets, under-seat spaces and an overhead shelf. This Relay even retains the dash-top clipboard that proved popular in the previous model; it flips up to hold delivery notes or maps within the driver’s eye line but seems flimsier than before.

All Relay models feature Trafficmaster satellite navigation as standard and this will be a major selling point. Thoughtfully, the manufacturer has also laid-on a comprehensive options list so that it’s quite possible for user choosers o