C4 miles with Visiospace

 

C4 Grand Picasso Visiospace

 

I’ve seen the light! It was inevitable the Citroen C4, with all its explosive technology, would find its name attached to the latest breed of MPV. And, while it would be difficult for another Picasso to stride in the multi-million selling Xsara P’s shadow, C4 Picasso’s dynamic looks alone are winning it lots of admiration. In fact, it had won five awards before one car had even rolled off the forecourt.

The mother ship 7 Seat C4 Picasso is the newest, freshest MPV on the market and with prices starting from £14,995 (yes, with seven seats), it offers superb value for money, particularly when you take into account all the goodies that come as standard.

I borrowed the range-topping 2.0HDi 16v Exclusive, with EGS transmission and 138bhp, priced at £21,695, which Penton has kitted out with all the extras under the sun, including colour Navi Drive Pack, CD autochanger, 18-inch alloys, panoramic fixed sunroof, and more.

My first impression of this car is that it is not as big as it looks in the pictures. It fits into an average parking space with plenty of room all round. It is tall, which gives the occupants lots of space and it’s got big lights and chrome trim outside, which, combined with big glass windows and glossy panels, reflects daylight with a kaleidoscope of light.

Inside the car is the airiest, brightest place to be thanks to the Visiospace windscreen, which extends to above the front occupants’ heads. There are two sun visors attached to blinds that pull forward to where a normal windscreen begins. You can position these where you like, but it’s great to have them tucked right back into the roof.

The wide windscreen gives way to huge ‘quarterlights’ on either side of the deep dashboard. These eliminate the blind spots that are the scourge of many big cars. It’s almost like sitting inside a big glass bubble, especially if you opt for the full length glass sunroof, which comes with an electronic blind.

There are blinds fitted on all the rear passenger windows, therefore on a hot day, you can close up the blinds and come back to a car that can be opened up to let in lots of sunlight! It’s an illuminating experience.

Speaking of illuminating – this car has no fewer than 32 different light sources, so if you’re parked up at night you could have a close encounter of the third kind without even opening the door and stepping out! What a great camping companion?

As with the C4 Coupe and hatchback, the C4 Picasso has the same steering wheel set-up, with all the controls set around a central hub. The gear selector sits atop the steering column – not to be mistaken for the washer stalk. There are controls for navigation, audio, computer, cruise control and air flow. Aside from this little techno-wheel – there are buttons to deactivate parking sensors, lane-change warning, etc.

The radio in the centre of the dashboard also has a telephone keypad in it and controls for the onboard computer and navigation system, so at least the passenger can take control if need be.

A digital dashboard is one of the Xsara Picasso’s original features. On this car it has evolved and the digital readout has more definition with colourful icons that represent different parts of the onboard computer. With the speed on the left and the gearing and rev counter on the right, you can choose the information you need and it’s easy to read.

C4 Picasso’s other neat trick is the handbrake button, which deactivates when you accelerate without the need to push buttons or pull levers. It’s another step to lazydom.

The deep plush comfy seats are straight out of the original Picasso and have armrests in the front. The middle row has three individual seats that slide and tilt. These passengers benefit from a DVD screen set which folds into the back of the front seats, with trays and cup holders. Also, they can adjust their own temperature settings. It’s just like travelling business class.

The rear two seats are smaller and fold into the floor, but you do get a bit of legroom, so it’s not hopeless. When they’re folded down, the boot is huge like that of an estate car.

Storage is a big bonus in this MPV, as you’d expect. There are cubbies and pockets everywhere, including two huge covered storage cubbies in the dashboard – one of these houses a five-CD autochanger.

Driving the mother ship takes a bit of getting used to. The electronic gear selection means that the car is in the optimum gear at all times, which is great for economy. I enjoyed watching how many miles we had left in the tank. We must have travelled about seven miles before the number changed, and even then it only dropped by another mile.

You can choose to drive in manual or automatic. I preferred automatic. The car lurched a bit on the gear-changes. It was worse when you put your foot down hard. And after a while, I was able to change my driving style so it lurched less.

The ride was really smooth and quiet. The car seemed to glide along the road without actually touching it. Despite the two-litre engine, it never struggled. In fact the whole drive seemed effortless.

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