Citroen C4 Picasso: First Drive

Date: 06 March 2007   |   Author: John Mahoney

Citroen C4 Picasso

Prices: £14,595-£21,195* Category: Mini-MPV Key Rival: Renault Scenic

The French brand also hopes it will snare buyers with the style card too: the five-door, unusually, differs greatly from the recently launched seven-seat Grand version and is all-new from the driver's door backwards. The car also gains a new front bumper with faux air intakes, and in the flesh it looks sportier than the more family-orientated Grand, although we lament the loss of the longer car's sci-fi LED lamps for a pair of more conventional items.

Despite a bespoke body, the shorter car shares the seven-seat model's interior, which is not a bad thing when you consider the innovative, spacious and futuristic offering of the Grand Picasso.

It's not perfect, mind, with a few questionable ergonomic issues, but you'll appreciate the effort and design flair. We still love the fixed-hub steering with its audio, satnav and cruise controls a fingertip stab away. Kids will also love the video-game speedo display. It makes the rest of the MPV pack feel like they're from another decade.

Everything also seems well built, with high-quality plastics, although our car developed an annoying rattle and fizz from the dash.

On the road the ride seemed fine, soaking up the occasional rutted surfaces well despite our test car's larger (optional) 18-inch alloys.

Handling is fine, too, both safe and secure, with only artificially light steering clouding the lines of communication with the front wheels.

We spent the majority of our time with the five-speed manual, mated to the 110PS 1.6 HDi engine, and found it a light but occasionally notchy gearchange. We also sampled the automated manual, and its gear changes were quicker than our last meeting with it in the Grand version. It's still significantly jerkier than a conventional automatic, but the low emissions and manual-beating fuel consumption make it worth considering.

Unlike the automated manual gearbox, the 1.6 HDi is well-suited to the C4 and averages an impressive combined 49.6mpg.

Citroen is expected to price the five-seat version just £500 less than the seven and it is as yet unclear how RV experts will vote, which means there is the possibility the bigger, more practical Grand Picasso could equal, or pip, its new younger brother on cost-per-mile.

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