New Peugeot Boxer review: taking the fight to the Transit

What is it?

The Peugeot Boxer has always been one of our favourite panel vans. It looks great, it’s supremely comfortable, it’s cost-effective to run and it drives and handles brilliantly. So why has Peugeot bothered to give it a wash and brush-up? Well there’s one very good reason. Looking over the Boxer’s shoulder is a brand spanking new Ford Transit – and boy is it a humdinger! The arrival of this new contender has really put the cat among the business van pigeons – and Peugeot knows full well that standing still in this closely-fought market means going backwards. Hence this new upgraded model. So exactly what’s new with the new Peugeot Boxer?

There’s a new grille, daytime running lamps as standard with LEDs as an option, different bumpers and two circular recesses for the front fog lamps. The front will be noticeably different from those of the Boxer’s twin brothers the Citroen Relay and Fiat Ducato – with its ‘floating grille’ –  helping to distinguish it as a Peugeot product – rather than just as a tin badging exercise. Inside there’s a new steering wheel and the dashboard gets a makeover to provide a more upmarket appearance. Professional variants, which are expected to take 40% of all sales, come with a 5in colour touch screen, which allows the operation of functions such as audio streaming, reading SMS text messages and an optional integrated satellite navigation system, as well as the display of the image from the reversing camera. Under the bonnet goes a 2.2-litre turbodiesel powerplant offering 110bhp, 130bhp or 150bhp, while a 3.0-litre unit takes the power right up to 180bhp, although (surprise, surprise) this is unlikely to be a big seller. New for this facelift is a stop-start system on the 130bhp model. The engines are now fitted with a timing chain that lasts for life and servicing intervals have been extended to 30,000 miles or two years. The new model also gets larger brakes. Electronic Stability Control (ESC), which helps prevent sideways skids, now comes as standard and there are several other safety systems on offer such as anti-slip regulation, a lane departure warning system, tyre pressure monitoring system, hill start assist, hill descent control and curtain airbags. As with the old model there are four load lengths, three roof heights and the usual array of conversions.