My colleague John Fife, who is an expert in these matters, rarely misses an opportunity to tell me how wonderful vans were these days. And I must say I agree with him. I used to think that vans were horrible things, to be used only when absolutely necessary, but the state of the art has improved to an unbelievable extent over the last few years, and every van I have driven recently has been an absolute delight. I would quite like to own a van.As I approached the Citroen Nemo Multispace for my first drive in it, therefore, the fact that I knew of its van origins in advance was a cause of pleasant anticipation rather than gloomy concern. I wasn't disappointed. Like all vehicles of this type it has a driving position which makes you feel as though you are sitting at the kitchen table rather than relaxing in an armchair, but I rather enjoy that, and although there are obvious limits to the handling the Nemo is actually quite fun to drive.Admittedly, it doesn't have enough power to get into trouble. The 1.4-litre petrol version tested here is bog slow, though I would have to add that it's also the quickest in the range. There's a 1.4 turbo diesel too, available with either manual transmission or the SensoDrive semi-automatic, and although the SensoDrive is the quicker of the two it comes nowhere near the petrol in terms of straightline performance. If you find yourself becoming involved in a Nemo Multispace drag race, make sure you have the keys to the petrol model.Of course, nobody who might conceivably buy a Nemo is likely to have acceleration as their top priority, and despite the diesel's slothfulness there is a case for choosing that instead. Okay, it costs £1000 more (plus another £800 for Sensodrive), but it costs £140 a year less to tax - increasing to £150 from next April - and it is more than 20mpg more economical on the official combined cycle. It's also likely to be worth more at resale time. In the end the choice comes down to which one suits your lifestyle better.That lifestyle is likely to involve a need to carry either a few large objects or a great many smaller ones. Like the almost identical Fiat Qubo, the Nemo has a luggage volume of 360 litres when the rear seats are in place, or about the the same as a decently roomy C-segment hatchback.Fold down the rear seats and the capacity balloons to 2500 litres, which is very impressive indeed, though it's worth pointing out that the Nemo's considerable height is a factor here; if you pack the car with 2500 litres worth of holiday luggage, for example, things are going to start falling from the top of the pile.All Nemo Multispaces have the same amount of equipment, and it would be fair to say that the word "luxurious" is not going to feature anywhere other than this sentence. Thanks to washable floor mats and tough upholstery (forget about leather - it's not on the options list) there's a definite workhorse feel to the car which is of course perfectly appropriate.Bear in mind, though, that you have to pay £500 more for air-conditioning and £200 for rear parking sensors (a very wise move since some fool in the styling department decided that pathetically small rear side windows were a good idea), and that Citroen does not offer either ESP or an alarm even as options. These are matters for concern, though they don't alter the fact that the Nemo is an exceptionally practical vehicle for the money, as well as being rather an endearing one. Engine 1360 cc, 4 cylinders Power 75 bhp @5200 rpm Torque 87 ib/ft @2600 rpm Transmission 5 speed manual Fuel/CO2 40.3 mpg / 165 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 16.2sec Top speed 96 mph Price From £9729.00 approx Release date 16/03/2009
Our Rating
