PEUGEOT EXPERT
Peugeot’s Expert is the French giant’s entry into the competitive mid-sized panel van league.
With more than a million produced since its debut in the mid 1990’s, the Peugeot Expert is a common sight across Europe and is one of the continent’s most popular commercial vehicles. It shares its base with the Citroen Dispatch – known as the ‘Jumpy’ in Europe – and it also forms the basis of the new Vauxhall Vivaro, following the Peugeot takeover of Vauxhall.
When the latest Expert was introduced in 2016, it brought with it improved space, handling performance and higher payloads. There are no alternative roof heights – it is fixed to a maximum loading height of 1,397mm, but there are still 3 body heights and 2 wheelbases to choose from, and this means the Expert has 3 load volumes of 4.6, 5.3 and 6.1m³. In terms of gross vehicle weights, the Expert comes in at 2.7, 2.9 or 3.1-tonnes, which provides 1,000, 1,200, or 1,400kg in maximum payloads. 1,628mm is the maximum loading width of any Expert model, while the maximum possible towing weight is 2.5-tonnes.
Power comes from 4-cylinder diesel engines - either 1.6-litre or a 2.0-litre – and there are five power outputs between them varying from 95 to 179bhp. A 6-speed manual is the standard transmission available, though a 8-speed automatic is available as an optional extra. The platform that the Expert is constructed upon was produced with passenger vehicles in mind, which may go some way to explaining why Peugeot says that the Expert is one of the better driving vans in its class, nimble and comfortable as well as easy to manoeuvre in tighter areas.
Safety kit provided as standard includes hill-start assist – to prevents the Expert from rolling back on hills - vehicle stability control and tyre pressure monitoring. Usually, Peugeot also provides its ‘Grip Control’ system across the majority of the Expert range, which can be switched to cope with differing off-road surfaces where grip can become compromised. This system helps configure the available torque to specific surfaces in order to assist.