Citroen Berlingo Multispace 1.6 HDi (110) XTR 5dr Car Review - March 2012

Delivering 110 bhp at 3600 rpm and 177 lb-ft of torque at 1750 rpm, this family car has strong performance credentials and is capable of reaching an impressive top speed of 107 mph. Acceleration is a little slow however and the car reaches 0-62 mph in a lengthy 12.1 seconds – although this is admittedly faster than the 13.8 seconds taken by the petrol.

Within the cabin, equipment levels are fairly extensive. Power steering, central locking, alloy wheels, air conditioning, electric door mirrors, electric front windows and an advanced stereo system with MP3 connectivity are all available as standard features.

Those wanting to enhance the model can pay extra to have extra features such as Bluetooth connectivity or a built-in sat nav. Bluetooth costs £210 with the sat nav priced at a sizable £750. Other options such as cruise control and rear parking sensors are available as a joint option which costs £410 whilst stability control and climate control cost £370 and £465 respectively.

The boot offers an expansive 675 litres with the seats in place and a mammoth 3,000 litres when they are folded down. This is larger than one of Citroen's other MPV models – the Nemo Multispace – but it should be remembered that running costs will be considerable lower in the Nemo.

Driver, passenger and front side airbags are fitted as standard whilst an immobiliser is fitted to protect the car from theft. There is no option to have an alarm fitted and the fact that buyers must pay for stability control means safety features are not as good as other models.

That being said the car performed fairly well in the NCAP crash tests for both occupants and children, scoring four stars in both categories. In terms of reliability, a three year warranty is offered for 60,000 miles and the service interval is set at 20,000 miles which should mean maintenance costs will be low.

Priced at £16,320 the 1.6 HDi XTR Berlingo is fairly expensive.

Insurance costs jump from group 5 with the 1.6 VT petrol to group 10. However when this is considered in conjunction with the savings made on tax and fuelling, the model remains a tempting proposition.

Fuel efficiency is the best of the bunch and this diesel achieves 53.3 mpg. On top of this the green credentials are also better with the diesel falling into a lower road tax band (E) thanks to carbon emissions of 139g/km.