Citroen C8

Our verdict

The Citroen C8 is the Peugeot 807 with a different badge. That makes it a big, spacious, ugly forgettable MPV from the old school. What was it called again?

Comfort

Surprisingly comfy, the C8 can deal with lumps and bumps and there's plenty of space inside, but it's just not an inspiring car on any level.

Performance

The C8 has a pair of 2.0-litre diesels with either 120bhp or 136bhp that get to 62mph in 12.9 and 12.8 seconds respectively, with top speeds registering at 112 and 118mph. It also gets a 2.0-litre petrol four. But to be honest by this point we've lost interest.

Cool

There are strains of herpes that are cooler.

Quality

Build quality isn't a problem in the physical bits on the inside, but there have been myriad ECU problems with these cars. They don't do very well in Top Gear's reliability surveys, to say the least.

Handling

The C8 doesn't really handle so much as make progress. Understeer is early and pronounced, but what were you expecting, a Porsche?

Practicality

If the C8 does one thing well, it's the practical side. It's a full-size MPV, so that's seating for seven and plenty of head and knee room. Worth noting that the luggage space with the third row in place is a paltry 225litres. If you remove the back seats - which is difficult because they are both heavy and damnably cumbersome - then you get a cave-like 3000litres. So a van then.

Running costs

Insurance isn‘t that cheap (ranging from Group 10 to 13), purchase price is cheap enough, economy reasonable (most variants are around 40mpg, except the 30mpg petrol).Residuals are horrendous and even secondhand car dealers are afraid of them. Be very careful.