Christmas comes so suddenly every year. Well, if you can do the shopping stress with a practical vehicle.
"Every year," the heavenly Christmas specialist needs support from his Earthly forces. After all, it's hard enough to distribute gifts worldwide in good time. No less serious is the problem that the more or less official skiable means of transport have only a limited loading capacity and the reindeer's capacity is also limited. Well, if other load sleds can be used, such as our test car, an Opel Combo XL. An almost contemplative everyday test for the celebration of love and gifts.
"Ho-Ho-Ho": The design of the Opel Combo is unlike that of his almost identical brothers Citroen Berlingo and Peugeot Rifter held rather unfussy. The in the long version 4,75 meter long high-top combination does not want to deny visually that he is more of a practitioner than a esthete and waived equal to colorful attachments or sporty pretending small steering wheels. The metallic paint in sand-gray (surcharge: 500 Euro) does not necessarily lead to cheers! a rich shade of red, on the other hand, gives the vehicle a little "color" and also does not cost anything extra.
"Make high the door, the gate goes far": The XL version is delivered exclusively in the equipment level Edition. Here are two side sliding door for the rear to the standard extent. They allow the rear passengers a comfortable entry and exit. At the front, the driver sits enthroned above the traffic on quite comfortable seats, which could certainly give more support on longer tours. Unfortunately, the combo does not have the back-friendly EGR seats normally available from Opel.
"Oh Christmas Tree": Many owners will probably sing happily to Christmas time when it comes to the hardware store or in the woods to get a proud carrier of the Christmas decoration. And you do not need a trailer or roof rack to transport the tree home. Up to a length of 2,23 meters a tree fits with folded rear rear seats in the trunk. If you fold the back of the passenger seat, the tree may even be up to 3,05 meters long.
"Little ones, come on": Opel offers for the Combo two individual seats for the third row (surcharge: 750 Euro), so that up to seven people can sit in the vehicle. Thanks to the two side sliding doors, access to the rearmost seats is relatively easy, yet they are most suitable for the younger and more mobile passengers. Fully seated, however, the trunk volume melts faster than the snow at Christmas. If you remove the two seats, the boot holds between 850 and 2.693 liters. Ample space for big and small gifts.
"Rudolph, the red nosed reindeer": There were no surprises in the drive. 130 horsepower was used. The 1,5-liter diesel with 96 kW / 130 PS represents the top engine in the Opel combo range dar. In our test car also provided an eight-speed automatic transmission (surcharge: 2.100 Euro) for power transmission. This is operated via a rotary switch.
The diesel engine operated normally surprisingly quiet, with 300 Nm are sufficient power reserves available. The standard spurt succeeds in 11,4 seconds. However, the engine-transmission combination appreciates gentle acceleration processes, too rough handling of the accelerator pedal pressure, they acknowledged with heard incomprehension about the required faster switching operations. Well, a high-roof suit is not an athlete, but its front face makes almost any drag optimization attempt obsolete. After all, on the highway, he can easily swim in the traffic to reach the specified maximum speed of 184 km / h, is not too difficult. The Combo XL scores points thanks to its long wheelbase of almost three meters. Bumps and other bumps are discreetly ironed away, the vehicle is also full on the road. When it comes to consumption, there are no miracles to report. In the mix and with a lot of driver restraint we came to 7,9 liters, surpassing the standard value by 1,5 liters.
"Kling bell, klingelingeling": Who decides on the Combo XL, must invest at least 24.900 Euro. Here is the only gasoline engine on offer, a three-cylinder turbo with 81 kW / 110 PS, the starter package. Our test car costs from 30.700 Euro including the automatic. A few extras, however, bring the cashier of the Opel dealer to sound more. Thus, the test car had additional features for about 6.000 Euro on board as head-up display, heated seats, parking assistants, navigation and integration of Apple CarPlay or Android Auto on board. In addition, the home-made good assistant equipment (front collision warning with automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection, fatigue, lane keeping and traffic sign recognition) was supplemented by a reversing camera and blind spot warning. What you should definitely book is a luggage net (surcharge: 190 Euro), it can be stretched between the first or second row of seats. This ensures loading safety and not only at Christmas time.
Opel Combo Life XL - Technical data:
High roof combination with two sliding doors, five or seven seats, length: 4,75 meters, width: 1,92 meters (with outside mirrors 2,11 meters), height: 1,88 meters, wheelbase: 2,98 meters, trunk volume: 850 - 2.693 liters (five-seater)
1,5-liter four-cylinder diesel, 96 kW / 130 PS, eight-speed automatic, maximum torque: 300 Nm at 1.750 rpm, Vmax: 184 km / h, 0-100 km / h: 11,4 s, average consumption according to WLTP: 6,2 l / 100 km, CO2 output: 164 g / km, emission standard: Euro 6d-temp, efficiency class: B, test consumption: 7,9 / 100 km
Price: from 30.700 euros [Edition]
- Brief description:
- Why: Christmas shopping is so easy
- Why not: Christmas is only once a year
- What else: VW Caddy, Renault Kangoo, Ford Tourneo Courier, Fiat Doblo, the sister models Citroen Berlingo and Peugeot Rifter or even a sled?