• Choice of petrol or diesel power
• Plus, manual and automatic gearboxes
• Adequate rather than exciting performance

Diesel engines

When the Rifter was launched, Peugeot expected more than half its customers would specify it with a diesel engine, but a quick browse through the classifieds proves that to be a wild underestimation. Most of the Rifters for sale on Parkers have diesel engines – and that’s by no means a bad thing.

There are three diesel engines to choose from, all based on Peugeot’s 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit. You can have it with 75hp, 100hp or 130hp, but strongly recommend you avoid the least powerful option as it barely has enough waft to get out of its own way, especially once you’ve loaded it up with passengers and luggage.

The 100hp version is sprightlier. It has a healthy 250Nm of torque, meaning it doesn’t feel as lethargic as the 75hp model when it’s rammed to the gunnels. It’s also surprisingly smooth and refined for a diesel, but it’s let down by its notchy five-speed manual gearbox. It has a terrifically long and disappointingly vague throw.

That’s a shame because the six-speed manual in the punchier 130hp diesel is far nicer to use. It’s also an easier engine to live with, as it has an even meatier 300Nm of torque that kicks in from as little as 1,750rpm. That makes this engine the default choice if you want to tow a trailer or carry at full capacity regularly.

You can also have the 130hp engine with an eight-speed automatic. We think it suits the Rifter’s character well – and it’s surprisingly responsive when you put your foot down. There are a set of paddles on the steering column, but we’d just leave the centre console-mounted dial in D and let the car do its own thing. It’s much more relaxing.

Petrol engine

Your only choice here is a 110hp 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol. It’s good for an 11.7-second 0-62mph sprint time, but it’s the least torquey of the bunch with only 205Nm on offer. It is easier to drive than the diesels, though. The gearbox is slicker and the sharper throttle response makes it easier to drive around town.

What’s it like to drive?

• Unsurprisingly, it rolls in the corners
• Not as bad as you might expect though
• Light steering but decent grip, too

It would be wrong to criticise the Rifter for being a bit roly-poly in the bends. Tackling a twisty B-road isn’t what it’s built for in the slightest, but it handles the challenge surprisingly well for such a high-bodied car.

As mentioned in the Comfort section, the ride quality is negatively affected by Peugeot’s largest 17-inch wheels, but you’ll gain a small margin in handling for your sacrifice. The tyres don’t roll over on the rims as far, making the MPV feel a little more reassuring to pedal down a complicated country lane.

Peugeot fiddled with the suspension to make the Rifter feel more like a car than its van-bodied sister. There’s only so much it could do with the underpinnings but, having tried both, we found the MPV to trade a little bit of squidginess for slightly tighter body control. It’s subtle change, but it’s enough to stop you feel like you’re dragging the door handles along the Tarmac if you take a bend a little too enthusiastically.

The Rifter’s i-Cockpit set-up for the interior also helps it feel nimbler than you might expect, as that dinky steering wheel requires fewer turns to get the MPV around a bend. We reckon it’s more effective in the Rifter than it is in the rest of Peugeot’s passenger cars, as it helps to create the illusion that this slab-sided bus is smaller than it is.

That said, the Rifter’s steering isn’t the most communicative, but its lightness is great for manoeuvring in car parks. The front seats hold you in place well enough, as long as you don’t go too mad.