New Citroën Relay Van

The latest Relay van stands out from its competitors with a stylish front end and large high-mounted headlights incorporating daytime running lights.

It also incorporates a striking grille and chevron design as well as a large, multi-piece front bumper to minimise accident damage and reduce repair costs.

High use, high stress items such as the rear doors are reinforced and high strength door hinges are used. Similarly, the sliding side load doors benefit from reinforced rails, re-designed runners and improved door locks - all of which raise durability and security standards.

Under-body improvements include re-designed shock absorber mountings for reduced road noise. Braking performance has been optimised too, with dimensional and tolerance changes. These have reduced operational noise as well as improving braking performance.

Citroën's advanced HDi diesel engine choice for the Relay range has become significantly enhanced, with up to 15 per cent better fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions figures. Now, all of the Relay panel vans in the 3.0 - 3.5 tonne gvw sector have excellent combined cycle fuel economy figures of up to 42.8mpg and sub-200g/km CO2emission levels.

Other operating cost reduction features include service intervals of up to two years or 30,000 miles. All Relay panel vans also have Citroën's unique Trafficmaster SmartNav intelligent satellite navigation and Trackstar stolen vehicle tracking.

In the Relay, you and your crew benefit from even higher levels of comfort thanks to fresh cab trim and a new dashboard layout. The van offers an unrivalled level of comfort and practical features, including a dual passenger seat incorporating a drop-down desk unit.

In addition, electric windows and electrically operated and heated door mirrors are standard, together with DAB radio; steering mounted audio controls and Bluetooth® system.

To ensure a comfortable driving position, the steering wheel adjusts for rake and reach and 10 in-cab storage areas are available. These include the glove box; a dash-mounted document clip and various open or lidded compartments on the dashboard. Into the bargain, there are large door pockets, storage space beneath the passenger seat and a sizeable 22-litre overhead storage compartment.

The latest Relay also has 12v power sockets in both the cab and in the load compartment, and there is extensive interior lighting.

For practicality, all Relay panel vans have large internal body dimensions including best-in-class load width between wheel arches of 1420mm and side door widths of up to 1250mm. Complementing these large load compartment dimensions is the Relay's very low load deck height.

I drove the long wheelbase L3 format in HDi 130 six-speed manual guise. It has a 3.5 tonne gross weight and a lofty H2 roof height. The van also has a load deck length of 3705mm and an internal load height of 1932mm, which gives a 13 m3 capacity. As it's one of the largest Relay panel vans, it comes with 'Heavy Specification' 16-inch wheels and tyres - and uprated heavy duty rear suspension. The 2.2 litre turbo-charged diesel engine offers fuel economy figures of over 38mpg.

When all's said and done, the new Relay is a helpful, no-nonsense workhorse, and an impressive place to be if your 'office' is on the road.