Berlingo And, Er, Competitors

[northman]

I was looking at the AA web site road tests http://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/cartestreports/index.jsp

 

I looked at the Berlingo road test, and then, in an idle moment, looked at the test on a similar car made by another French manufacturer.

 

Under the heading "Driver appeal", were the words

 

"No car in the budget MPV sector will ever match the likes of Ford's Focus for driver involvement, but the Kangoo is head and shoulders above Citroen's Berlingo and Fiat's Doblo."

 

I found this difficult to believe. I've certainly never heard that said. Anyone out there driven a Kangoo? Any idea what the AA are talking about?

 

I hasten to add that I'm with Green Flag.

[Guest forte]

Ive driven a kangoo (mother in law), pretty similar to the 1.6 petrol blingo but the renault has a 1.2 engine and smaller wheels, yet the performance is quite similar. tho she too has had a mystery problem that displays engine symbol on dash and cuts the revs to limp home mode -dosnt matter how hard u rev it or what gear you are in but it'll only do 20 mph.......been to the dealer in France and here....every time they say they found the problem.....then it comes back. to my amazement - she is buying a new one.....

[tronboy]

I'd agree with Forte in that a smaller engined Kangoo seems to offer similar performance (when car is lightly laden) to a larger engined Lingo, but I have no experience of what the Kangoo is like when heavily laden. Economy is similar between Kangoo and Lingo, so I guess that engine displacement is not really an issue.

 

Your AA road test confusingly states:

 

Alternatives

 

Peugeot Partner Combi Identical principal to Kangoo; little to separate in terms of ability

 

Fiat Doblo Lacks excitement of the Kangoo and makes no real attempt to hide its van-based roots

 

Citroen Berlingo Another popular van-based MPV. Dynamically inferior to the Kangoo but just as practical

 

Seeing as the Pug is absolutely identical to the Lingo save for paint, badge and trim options, it's hard to see why it too isn't singled out for poor handling.

 

Auto Express magazine rates the Doblo as the best handling of the lot.

 

Autocar doesn't, but editor Steve Cropley owns a Lingo!