Look at the marketing materials & you’ll see that Peugeot talks about the Partner small van as showing how aggressively it pursues its traditional standards of quality & innovation. And you know what? When it comes to small vans, the Partner is both of those things. It is a quality build packed with great innovations designed to make this a proper European van as at home on UK roads as it is on continental ones.
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The engines are a familiar offering of 2 1.5-litre BlueHDi diesels & the PureTech petrol engine is also available - all are manual, apart from the top engine spec which can be mated to an 8-speed auto box. You’ve also got 2 body lengths to choose from - no height options - & 4 trim levels (I’d go for Professional or Asphalt, the 2 highest).
We have already looked at the Citroen Berlingo in a much less in-depth review & found it excellent, so I’ve got high hopes for the Partner. And the front end does not disappoint taking a whole new approach to be an identifiably “Peugeot” commercial vehicle alongside the larger Expert medium van.
• The grille looks excellent covering the excellent 1560cc diesel engine that’s Euro 6.1 emission standard.
• The headlights are incredible with impossibly sharp lines & these teeth jutting out of the front.
• The 16-inch steel wheels are covered up by these trims which are nice additions - I don’t mind the look of the steel wheels (in fact I’m actually a big fan of them because they’re so tough) but a cover adds a little bit of protection (great for a lease vehicle), so I’ll take that.
• Follow me past the side sliders to the back of the vehicle to show the rear parking sensors off - even on a van of this size they’re useful.
• The filler caps are right here, & one thing to note is the AdBlue tank can hold 17 litres - which means you won’t have to fill it up as often!
Professional Trim Level - lots of nice additions on the inside.
• 8 ways adjustable driver seat
• Steering wheel with mounted controls
• Cruise Control / Speed Limiter
• Aircon & climate
• 8-inch touch screen - DAB, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, Mirrorlink
• 2 USB Ports
• Electronic parking brake
• Storage - glovebox, door bins, etc
• Passenger bench seat with fold-out writing table
• Load through under passenger seat
Side door width: 0.6m
Side door height: 1m
Back door width: 1.2m
Back door height: 1.2m
Load length: 1.8m
Load length with load through: 3m
Load width: 1.5m
Load width between arches: 1.2m
Payload: 1050kg
So, how do we finish this one? Well, the Peugeot Partner is a slightly mixed bag in the cabin without ever feeling like its trim level is underweight. It’s great on the road & has a great loading bay… it’s got everything you’ll need.
You know… the more PSA Group vans I review, the more I like them. The more they feel like a home from home, & if you choose to drive one, I would bet all the money in my pocket against all the money in your pocket that if you don’t love it right away, you will eventually.