Posted by Bill Thomas at 3:00PM on Wednesday 11 April, 2007 3 Comments
How nice to hop into a car, turn it on and see the estimated range reading 719 miles from the tank.
It happened to me this morning in the C4 Picasso five-seat 1.6 HDi. I like a car you don't have to fill up too often, and this one qualifies.
The tank capacity is 13.2 gallons, so in order to get your 719 miles you'd have to be averaging 54.5mpg - only barely achievable, granted, but I was obviously running at that sort of mpg at 50mph on the gentle road up to my house.
A more realistic range would be 600 miles, if you were able to get 45mpg on a run - pretty easy, given the combined figure is 47.9mpg.
I like the C4 Picasso a lot, five-seat and seven-seat Grand, and this engine and gearbox combination is probably the best. The engine is pulling a fair heft at 1489kg, but it still accelerates well. And the manual gearbox is probably more natural to drive than the semi-auto, though with practice the latter is perfectly OK.
Drive the Picasso gently, as most owners will do, and it's fine, steering with acceptable accuracy and riding smoothly. It's no sports car, and it annoys me intensely to read criticisms of the driving experience in other car magazines.
The Picasso isn't designed to fly round corners at the limit of adhesion, it's designed to be a comfortable family car, and it's a job it accomplishes well.
And that amazing over-the-roof windscreen is no gimmick - it transforms the driving experience. Top marks, Citroen. It looks funky, too.
3 Comments for "Citroen C4 Picasso (five-seater)"
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I think this car is brilliant.
Citroen have stuck to what they know best, a comfy, uniquely designed, spacious family car.
Some of the design ideas aren't very user friendly, (the steering wheel to name one) but they are all original, unlike a boring german or japanese MPV (just look at the VW Touran).
All in all, it's a very good people carrier.
I currently own a Xsara Picasso 1.8 16v and think the new 5 seater is a blinder.
It looks great and has "that" windscreen. I can't wait to test drive one.
I own a regular 5 door C4 hatchback myself, and all the interior style, comfort, and sheer exterior beauty that attracted me to the C4 hatchback looks to be present and correct in this version.
If anything I would say the 5 seat Picasso is even better looking than the normal 5 door hatchback... and that's hardly a dud to start with. It will attract a lot of buyers with its looks alone, and it's also a very decent price.
It also has something that alot of other cars of this type cannot achieve in that it's not dull, dreary and boring to be in.