Citroën C4 Picasso

Road Test

Your Say

Test date 03 January 2007 Price as tested £18,888

For Innovative design, quality feel, practicality, ride, refinement

Against Sluggish performance, rivals handle better, clunky semi-auto gearbox

Citroën hopes the new C4 Picasso will jolt mid-sized MPV buyers out of the stupor that’s led to them queuing up to buy amorphous blobs with all the visual excitement of wet cement. It should succeed: the Picasso's glass-house alone, with quarter-lights like sails and a windscreen that wouldn’t look out of place on a helicopter, instantly distinguishes it from anything else on the road.

But the C4 Picasso has a hard act to follow. The old Xsara-based Picasso was the best-selling MPV on the market for a long time, despite neither looking distinctive nor driving with distinction. But since then the market has figured out what most of us knew all along: a five-seat MPV is no more a ‘people-mover’ than a five-seat hatch or saloon. And now it’s been proven that a third row seats can be fitted without compromising practicality, luggage space or comfort, that’s the way the market has headed.

So Citroën has extended the wheelbase of the C4 on which the new Picasso is based and installed a third row of seats. Thus equipped, it can take on a new breed of compact people-carrier such as the Vauxhall Zafira, Mazda 5 and Honda FR-V, while also attracting buyers downsizing from bigger MPVs such as the Citroën C8.

The Picasso goes on sale with a choice of two petrol and two diesel motors and four trim levels. Prices for the petrol models start at £14,995 for a base-spec 1.8-litre LX, rising to £19,845 for a 2.0-litre Exclusive. The cheapest diesel is the 1.6 HDi LX at £16,495, while a 2.0 HDi Exclusive will set you back £21,695. The original Xsara Picasso continues in production as a budget model.

We tested a 1.6 HDi in penultimate VTR+ spec. Its base price is £18,195, but once you’ve added £500 for the optional semi-automatic gearbox (standard on all 2.0-litre cars) plus all the as-yet-unpriced goodies that came fitted to our car, we’d not be surprised to see the price nudge over £20,000.