2010 Peugeot Boxer reviews

Peugeot Boxer LWB 2.0 litre 120bhp 2010

Boxing clever, Peugeot’s big van runs rings around the opposition. It takes to a corner like Muhammad Ali with a gashed glove. Canny fleet buyers will make a beeline for this nimble load carrier which proves itself second to none when the chips are down - and if competing makes aren’t yet throwing in the white towel, you can bet a white van to a slice of white bread that it won’t be long before they do. It’s big enough (almost) to hold a banker’s wages or even Simon Cowell’s ego - and there’s plenty of room to swing a few bonuses around as well. There are 3 body lengths, 3 wheelbases and 2 roof heights to choose from - not to mention a choice from 3 diesel engines: and prices range from £17600 to £25,150 (Excluding VAT). The 3.0 litre 157bhp might be the one for your business if you choose the longest wheelbase and the highest roof and fill it to the gun whales with lead and need to travel the autobahn at warp speed: but most will choose the whoppingly torquey (320Nm at 2000 rpm) 120bhp 2.2 litre as tested here. I daresay the 100bhp version is jolly good, but with the 120bhp you get outstanding performance and economy (I easily got 37 mpg when really scalping it and low 40’s when bimbling along) and a performance level that will outpace many cars. Having said that, a chap has to be particularly careful. If your correspondent had been criminally disposed he could easily have cruised comfortably and quietly at 100 mph whilst listening to the fine sound system. The cabin is a cosy and quiet podule within which to cover long journeys in fine style. Today’s Peugeot Boxer driver is light years away from the days when this writer struggled to control an old Scammell Rigid Eight box van which required bulging biceps and cotton wool in the ears - not to mention the usual winter requirement of lighting a fire under the frozen diesel lines. And while this particular van belongs to a well known type of utilitarian vehicle, it has, in my view, enough personality allied to versatility, to raise it above the common herd and give a lift to even the weariest driver approaching the end of a long days shift. For a van this size, from behind the wheel it’s the ’real deal’: a compact package that is manoeuvrable, versatile and confidence inspiring - a ’four square cracker’ if ever there was one. On the road you’re not likely to be boxed into a corner even though ’knock out dollies’ might resist its subtle charms but it goes a long way to unloading much of the burden that bears down on the shoulders of anyone brave enough to contend with our little island’s ludicrous road system. Before I hear another ’white van man’ story, let me insist that this van is no joke - and I’ll squeeze you into the bus lane if you disagree. So flattered was I with the deference afforded me by other road users while at the wheel that I was tempted to look into running one as ’day to day’ transport. Certainly on the school run in one of these no-one would argue with you and you could pack the most bigheaded class of youngsters safely in the capacious rear. (Only joking). The next time Charles and Camilla venture out to the Palladium, perhaps they might consider one of these. It’s got all the room even for Camilla’s Tiara and no-one can accuse it for being a magnet for malicious envy. (At this point I was compelled to poke this correspondent in the ribs! Ed.). For those fathers of young boys who, perhaps, worry unduly about how they’re seen by their offspring, I hear that when one young lad boasted that his dad was a wrestler, the other one responded ’That’s nothing. My Dad’s got a Boxer!’