Company Car & Van April 2018

CV TEST: MERCEDES-BENZ CITAN
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Citan’s opening the door to the
qualities of Mercedes-Benz
CC&V FACTFILE
Price: £19,677
CO2: 133g/km
RPM for Max power:
4,000rpm
Max power hp/PS: 90
Max torque Nm: 220
Load length: 1753mm
Load width: 1460mm
Load height: 1258mm
Load volume: 3100 li
Payload: 523kg
Based on 109CDi Long
Data courtesy of
JATO Dynamics
Continued from page 40
Set cruise control on the motorway and
the Citan begins to drive like a car, and with a
full steel bulkhead between the driver and
load area is particularly quiet at motorway
speeds.
The ride quality itself is very good. There’s
no swaying or lurching around corners and
the suspension, even when empty, cossets
one over the current crop of pot holes and
ubiquitous speed-calming bumps.
Although it looks like a Kangoo from the
outside, Mercedes has beefed the Citan up a
bit by including Mercedes’ own trapezoidal
air intake in the front bumper, just like on the
Vito and Sprinter. The front also contains a
grille which includes the three-pointed star in
its midriff and the addition of front fog lights
and daytime running lights add to the overall
style of the Citan. In this respect the Citan will
score highly with those who want a more
macho-looking product.
Mercedes has also spiced up the safety
on the Citan by offering adaptive ESP, ABS
and acceleration skid control (ASR) with
brake assist (BAS) as standard across the
range. The radio/ MP3 player is
straightforward, but be warned, there’s no
CD player, as technology has now left it
behind. Bluetooth connectivity was easy to
set up on my mobile and a single touch of
the controls on the system allows one to
answer any incoming calls very easily.
I mentioned the Eco Stop/Start function
earlier and this helps contribute to the
impressive fuel economy on offer – up to
65.7 mpg on the combined and emissions of
just 112g/km. In CC&V world we averaged
just over 46 mpg, an impressive result for us
and one sure to appeal to SMEs across the
board. The five-speed gearbox works well,
with a neat quick action, although the fact
that there isn’t a sixth gear available is a bit
of a mystery as it really would benefit from
one at motorway speeds.
Talking of which, my test van was supplied
with a roof box in black, which matched the
exterior colour of my test van. Around town
and at speeds of up to 65 mph the box
generates zero noise. Accelerate above 70
mph on the motorway, however, and the
noise increases exponentially.
42 | April 2018 | Company Car & Van www.companycarandvan.co.uk