Category: Compact MPV 
Price Range: £16,995 to £22,195
Amazingly light and airy cabin, lots of space, easy third-row access in the seven-seater, well finished and equipped, quiet and comfortable.
Pretty hefty for a 'compact' MPV, vague steering.
It's the most radical and futuristic compact MPV of all, an ideal family transport module for our times, available as a five- and seven-seater.
Citroen currently sells three Picassos: the Xsara-based five-seat original, the C4-based seven-seater, initially called the C4 Picasso but since labelled Grand C4 Picasso, and a five-seater, the C4 Picasso.
The C4s are direct rivals for Renault's Scenic and Grand Scenic, and the various other five-, six- and seven-seat compact MPVs from Vauxhall, Ford, Honda, Fiat, Toyota, Mazda and the rest, which are collectively taking chunks out of the full-size MPV market.
The two C4 Picassos are based on the front half of a C4 hatch/Peugeot 307 platform, with two Picasso-specific rear ends. The Grand version is 12cm longer, and all of that extra length is at the back. In fact, the two cars don't share a single panel from the B-pillar (by the driver's shoulder) rearwards.
Up front, they share one of the deepest windscreens ever seen in a production car. It extends far into the roof, with an entirely glass roof also available as an option. They also share engines, transmissions and trim levels. Five-seaters cost £500 less than equivalent seven-seaters.
There's a 127bhp 1.8-litre and a 143bhp 2.0-litre petrol four, plus a choice of turbodiesels - a 1.6-litre with 110bhp and a 138bhp 2.0-litre. The 2.0 petrol and the diesels can be had with a sequential paddleshift semi-auto six-speed gearbox - in fact it's obligatory with both 2.0 cars. The 1.8 petrol has a five-speed manual, which is also available on the smaller diesel.
The interior has an uncluttered floor space and, if you specify the paddleshift automatic transmission, no centre console.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Citroen C4 Picasso
wrote on 06 11 2007
wrote on 06 10 2007
wrote on 09 01 2007