Citroen Grand C4 Picasso Range Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Citroen Grand C4 Picasso range
Prices: £17,745-£24,595 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 6-11
Emissions: 132-177g/km
Performance: [1.6 HDi 110] 0-60mph 12.7s / 112mph top speed
Fuel Consumption: [1.6 e-HDi 110] 56.5mpg (combined)
Safety: ABS with EBD, ESP, 7 airbags, 3-point seat belts.
Dimensions: length/Width/Height 4470/1830/1680mm

GLASS OF ITS OWN?

Our Rating: 7.7 / 10

The glassy 7-seater Citroen Grand C4 Picasso is a mini-MPV large enough for growing families that now offers a sharper proposition. Jonathan Crouch reports

Citroën’s 7-seater Grand C4 Picasso brought a new level of sophistication to the mini-MPV market at its launch in 2007 – and still does. Today’s improved version features sharper styling, extra equipment and more powerful, efficient engines. And it’s just as powerful and avant garde as ever.

Light and space, that’s what Citroen say they’re pedalling where their Grand C4 Picasso is concerned. Don’t panic though. Customers who sign on the dotted line will still receive over a tonne and a half of metal, glass, plastic and fabric. It’s just that Citroen are relying on less tangible elements to give their compact MPV the edge in the marketplace. From a marque with a longstanding tradition of doing things differently, the Grand C4 Picasso is definitely different and if airy fairy concepts like ambient illumination and panoramic glasswork don’t do it for you, there’s a solid range of good, honest oil-burning engines to provide some balance.

This is a car that’s done pretty well for its French makers, selling over 650,000 examples worldwide in five and seven-seat forms. It’s the 7-seat ‘Grand’ version we’re looking at here, a model lately improved with sharper styling and more efficient engines, plus extra specification. All of which it will need in a sector which includes even tougher competition these days with fresh arrivals from Ford, Mazda and Peugeot.

With a choice of a 120bhp VTi or 155bhp THP 1.6-litre petrol engines or 110bhp 1.6 or 150 or 160bhp 2.0-litre HDi diesel units, C4 Grand Picasso drivers won’t be wanting for decent powerplants. The driving experience is, as was its predecessor, geared towards comfort and safety rather than outright handling prowess. The car is extremely refined on the road but the diesel engines do betray their presence by sending more vibrations through the cabin at idle than their petrol counterparts. The suspension soaks up the bumps in a very composed manner and performs well enough through corners, although this isn’t a vehicle that you feel like pressing on in with its light steering and mild performance. It makes far more sense to sit back and enjoy what is a very relaxed driving experience and the highly original interior.

Climbing aboard the Grand C4 Picasso for the first time may leave you a little taken aback. The glass area is huge. The panoramic windscreen arcs overhead and after just a short interruption for the panel holding the extendable sun visors, an optional full length sunroof can extend all the way back to the third row. Wishbone-shaped windscreen pillars have glazed centre sections to further boost visibility and the sun visors can slide forward when needed to shield the eyes of front seat occupants on sunny days. Factor in the low window line and Citroen have created a kind of greenhouse for the growing family where all seven occupants get an unhindered view out.

Styling tweaks on the latest models are relatively minor: Citroën’s new chevron design on the front grille and tailgate, a revised front bumper and smarter headlights and rear light clusters. Otherwise, things are as practical as before, the Grand C4 Picasso certainly feeling big. This is partly due to all that glass – you’re never quite sure where the inside ends and the outside begins – but the sheer quantity of room inside the cabin is no illusion. There are seven seats in all ‘Grand’ models and, unusually in this class of vehicle, there’s even room for a little bit of luggage when the third row is in use.

Even if you’re tall, getting into the rearmost row of seats isn’t too taxing, thanks to the clever way the outside seats in the middle row fold up like cinema seating and slide forward with the tug of a handle for easier access. You wouldn’t want to stay cooped up in the back for long though. It’s far better to leave these berths for the kids or fold them under the floor to take advantage of 672-litre capacity that’s then created. Fold all of the seats down, a feat which can be performed in an impressive 20 seconds by a well-drilled PR man, and there’s a massive 1,951 litres to play with.

There’s no handbrake in the C4 Picasso, at least not in the traditional sense, and the gearlever is either dash-