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PIC OF THE BUNCH?
Citroën’s Xsara Picasso sold like hot cakes. Will the bigger Grand C4 Picasso replicate those figures? Andy Enright reports…

Market forces can, on occasion, be tough things to wrap your brain around. What’s instantly popular may not appear at first to be particularly merit-worthy but a product or service can find success through canny marketing. Such was the case with the Citroën Xsara Picasso. I must admit I never particularly liked the thing, but it’s easy to see why it sold as fast as Citroën could bolt them together. In offering something with a respectable badge at prices that were more akin to South East Asian cheapies, it made all kinds of sense. The shape never really screamed Citroën though. The French manufacturer has a reputation for elegance and functionality and while the Picasso did fairly well on the latter count, it scored low on the former. Step forward the latest Picasso iteration, based on the C4 chassis. Now we’re talking.

It’s not strictly a replacement for the Xsara Picasso, instead, in the ‘Grand C4 Picasso’ form we’re looking at here, offering a seven-seat option to those who don’t want to go the whole way to something supersized like the C8 MPV. Prices start at £14,995, a premium of around £500 over the five-seat C4 Picasso that you can also buy. We’d go for the super-sized option every time. In both guises, the C4 Picasso rounds out Citroën’s portfolio of people carriers that opens with the Berlingo Multispace and now extends to five distinct models. What it also brings to the party is the sort of styling one would expect if tasked with designing a Citroën people carrier from a blank sheet of paper. It looks long, relatively low and decidedly futuristic, with wheels at each corner and a high waistline. Even ‘dynamic’ multi-purpose models like the Ford S-MAX look a little frumpy in comparison. Although the Grand C4 Picasso’s athletic stance is the first thing to catch your eye, the second is the wide-angle panoramic windscreen that rises up and over the front seat occupants, doubling vertical visibility in the front to seventy degrees compared to 35 degrees in a standard MPV.

"Imagine a seven-seater Citroën mini MPV designed from a clean sheet of paper. The Grand C4 Picasso can’t be far off that template"

Vauxhall may have already offered a similar thing as an option on the latest Astra but this is the first time it’s been fitted as standard to an MPV and the effect is just stunning, the sheer acreage of glass in front of the driver being at first a little unnerving. It’s almost like the cockpit of a jet fighter. By slimming down the windscreen pillars, the effect of airiness and front visibility is increased still further. It’s not just a styling affect either, the added field of view making it easier to spot motorbikes, cycles and pedestrians coming while preventing the usual craned neck when negotiating small roundabouts. I’m not sure if someone at Citroën has been getting a backhander from a glass manufacturer because the Grand C4 Picasso also features the biggest sunroof in its class, the side windows also helping it towards having the largest glazed area of any mini MPV. All of this glass means that the vehicle needs a seriously punchy air conditioning system to prevent it become a mobile propagator and the Grand C4 Picasso comes up trumps with automatic four zone air con with individual controls for the second row of seats and a second air conditioning system for the rear of the vehicle. There’s even a scented air freshener and an air quality sensor that aims to prevent pollutants entering the car. The Grand C4 Picasso utilises its available space very well. That wheel at each corner stance doesn’t just look good, it also maximises space for the all important passenger cell. There are always going to be compromises involved in packaging three rows of seats into a car 4.59m long (for reference a Ford C-MAX is 4.33m long, a Volkswagen Touran measures 4.39m, a Toyota Verso 4.36m and a Vauxhall Zafira breaks the tape at 4.46m) but the ingenuity of manufacturers in reducing the day to day impact of these compromises is where they earn their corn. The most common solution is to sacrifice a little room in the rearmost row and target these as ‘occasional’ seats for kids. The Citroën offers more space in the footwell on the rearmost set of seats although the raked roofline takes its toll for taller passengers. The more important middle row of seats reaps the benefits and offers more leg and elbow room than any of its competitors. With the vehicle configured as a five-seater, this car provides 576m of loadspace beneath the parcel shelf. Lose the second row of seats and there’s a colossal 1,951 litres of room to play with. Many customers will be swayed by a showroom demonstration of how easy or otherwise the seats are to fold and the Grand C4 Picasso looks set to score in this department too. The second and third rows of chairs can be folded away under the floor without the need to remove the headrests to provide a flat surface that’s ideal for loading. The whole design is a good deal more intuitive than the system used on the Vauxhall Zafira. Access to the back seats is good as well. Press a control on the edge of the outer middle seat and the seat cushion flips up to the seat back, the seat then slides against the back of the one in front. No more clambering with muddy feet over the middle row of seats or tearing the pockets off your trousers trying to lever yourself through a minuscule gap. As with any model that wears the C4 label, the Grand Picasso is packed full of innovative technology including rear air suspension, the option of a six-speed electronic gearshift, an automatic electric parking brake, a parking space measurement system, video screens in the back of the front seats and a DVD player. I could go on but you probably get the point. Whereas the Xsara Picasso differentiated itself in terms of price, the Grand C4 Picasso does so in terms of its rich content. At present the engine choice extends to a 143bhp 2.0i petrol engine or 110bhp or 138bhp HDi diesels but more powerplants will doubtless join the roster as sales ramp up. And ramp up they certainly will. Although it might not devour the mass market in the same way as the Xsara Picasso, this vehicle looks set to become a very familiar sight on our roads. With styling like this, that can only be a good thing.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Citroen Grand C4 Picasso range PRICES: £14,995-£22,430 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 6-9 CO2 EMISSIONS: 150-190g/km PERFORMANCE: [2.0HDi 138] 12.5s 0-60mph / 121mph top speed FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0HDi 138] 35.8 (urban), 55.4 (extra urban) 46.3mpg (combined) STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: ABS with EBD, ESP, 7 airbags, 3-point seat belts. WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/Width/Height 4590/1830/1680mm

GLASS OF ITS OWN
Citroen know the compact MPV sector and they’ve pooled their knowledge to create the highly original Grand C4 Picasso. Steve Walker reports…

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.

Citroen are offering a pair of familiar HDi diesel engines, familiar because both have seen service in various other models carrying the double Chevron badge. First up is the 110bhp 1.6-litre option, capable of spiriting the Grand C4 Picasso’s considerable bulk to 62mph in 12.7s or 13.4s with the EGS robotised gearbox fitted. The 138bhp 2.0-litre diesel is only offered with EGS transmission and takes 12.5s to reach 60mph. Both diesels feel stronger than the petrol engines under urban driving conditions and most Grand C4 Picasso buyers will opt for one or the other of them because of this and their superior fuel economy. You can expect something in the region or 48mpg from the 1.6 manual, 50mpg from the 1.6 EGS and 46mpg from the 2.0-litre EGS. The diesels are offered across a range of trim levels that spans LX, SX, VTR+ and Exclusive. The Grand C4 Picasso 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.

"The extensive glazed area means that natural light comes flooding in"

Climbing aboard the Grand C4 Picasso for the first time may leave you a little taken aback. MPVs are expected to harbour innovative design solutions beneath their voluminous bodywork but the black polo-necked brigade at Citroen have really gone to town this time. 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 and unhindered view out. To avoid your own miniature greenhouse effect, however, the sun blinds and heat reflective windscreen that come as standard with the plusher Picasso models might be a good bet. The extensive glazed area on the Grand C4 Picasso means that natural light comes flooding in, until it gets dark. At this point, buyers who opted for the Exclusive trim have the interior lighting pack to fall back on. This delivers adjustable mood lighting for the interior, bringing the Grand C4 Picasso’s interior light source count up to an astonishing 32. Particularly neat are illuminated door pockets that light-up when you put your hand in to retrieve something. Another touch that’s typically Citroen is the boot light that doubles as a rechargeable and removable torch to guide you to your door in gloomy conditions. Traditionalists may mourn the passing of the flimsy Modubox collapsible shopping trolley that lived in the boot of the old Xsara Picasso but it’s a mark of how the Picasso has grown-up that even its gimmicks are more sophisticated. You’ve heard of outer space but its inner space where MPVs must stand or fall and the Grand C4 Picasso certainly feels 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 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. At just over six feet tall, I managed to cram myself into one of the back row seats without too much difficulty, aided by 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. I 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-mounted or completely absent in the case of the EGS-equipped automatic models which use a column-mounted stalk and paddle shifters to operate the transmission. This creates a wide space between the front seat and a feeling of openness around the whole front of cabin area. The dashboard is cleanly designed and remarkably uncluttered with many of the controls relocated to the Citroen trademark fixed hub steering wheel and separate air-con buttons for driver and passenger at the fascia’s extremities. Some acclimatisation will be required before you can access all the Picasso’s myriad functions through the complicated-looking helm but the large colour information display will help. Storage bins pop-up at every turn in this vehicle, including a particularly neat air-conditioned one beneath the dash to keep drinks cool. Citroen were key players in a compact MPV market that exploded from nowhere to account for 200,000 units in the space of a decade and the Grand C4 Picasso seems equipped to continue that along with its 5-seat relative the C4 Picasso. The Xsara Picasso proved that Citroen’s often unorthodox approach to car design tallies well with the requirements of buyers in this sector but the Grand C4 Picasso moves the game on. Refinement is extremely impressive and although some of the plastics seem less than robust in places, the build quality is real step forward for the brand. Perhaps most significantly, the striking design and attention to detail ensure that the Grand C4 Picasso is a vehicle that people can form an emotional attachment to, just like the best Citroens of the past. Pick out a model with an HDi engine and the EGS gearbox and you’ll have a frugal and functional new member of the family.

Facts At A Glance CAR: Citroen Grand C4 Picasso HDi range PRICES: £17,230-£22,430 - on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 6E-9E CO2 EMISSIONS: 150-159g/km PERFORMANCE: [2.0HDi 138] 12.5s 0-60mph / 121mph top speed FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0HDi 138] 35.8 (urban), 55.4 (extra urban) 46.3mpg (combined) STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: ABS with EBD, ESP, 7 airbags, 3-point seat belts. WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: length/Width/Height 4590/1830/1680mm