Our Combo Life long-termer is piling on the mileage, says Curtis Hutchinson.

Long journeys have proved the Combo Life’s comfort

We are into our second month with the Combo Life and have had the opportunity to put it through its paces with a decent number of long drives and motorway journeys.

A 300-mile round trip from Surrey around the M25 and up the M1 to Nottingham proved to be a good test of the car’s comfort, practicality and economy.

The driving position is undeniably comfortable with a supportive seat and a good commanding all-round view. However, road and wind noise are intrusive once cruising at motorway speeds, a reflection of its design for more utility purposes as a van.

As a seven-seater its flexibility is undeniable. But this and many other journeys have been conducted solo which emphasises its supersize foot-print, especially when pulling up at a hotel car park, sliding back a rear door only to pull out a small overnight bag.

It scored better on economy, with the on-board computer showing a wallet-friendly 62mpg. Indeed our overall average has improved from last month’s 48.6mpg to 51.3mpg.

But the deal breaker for me is the underwhelming 1.5-litre diesel engine which only musters 100hp, rendering acceleration a frustrating waiting game, especially when exiting roundabouts and slip roads.

P11D (BiK): £22,400 (31%) MPG/CO2: 42.2-50.8mpg (WLTP) /115g/km (NEDC Correlated) Test MPG: 51.3mpg