Vans A2Z.com Verdict
An impressive bit of kit with few significant drawbacks.

In the same way that certain cars seem destined to get bigger — look at today’s Volkswagen Golf compared with the Golf of 30 years ago, for example — some vans keep getting bigger too. The latest Peugeot Partner, for instance, is up for grabs with either a 3.3m3 or a 3.7m3 cargo area compared with the previous model’s 3.0m3. The old Partner is still available under the Partner Origin banner. As the load cube figures for the new one indicate, unlike Origin it’s available in two different sizes, with the L2 version longer than the L1. Partner can handle payloads ranging from 625kg to 850kg depending on the variant selected and is offered with three different specification levels; S, SE and Professional. Opt for the last one and you get manual air conditioning plus Bluetooth connectivity.

Customers can pick from two different engines; a 1.6-litre HDi diesel at either 75hp/185Nm or 90hp/215Nm or a 1.6-litre 89hp/132Nm petrol. They’re married to a five-speed manual gearbox. With plenty of oddment storage space, Partner’s cab is well-laid-out. Unusually for a van of this size you can order it as a three-seater, but there’s precious little legroom for whoever sits in the middle. If you happen to be carrying over-length items, however, you can flip down the outboard seat and extend the cargo bed.

On the road the 90hp diesel in particular offers ample performance, Partner handles competently and in-cab noise levels are well-suppressed. The gearchange is a little spongy, however, and the ride slightly too soft for British tastes, but it is at least capable of coping with most of the potholes that pepper our road surfaces.

Service intervals are set at 12,500 miles/two years for the diesel engines and 2 yrs/20,000 miles for the petrol engine. The Partner is covered by a three-year/60,000-mile warranty.