Citroen C4 Picasso 2007 Review

What we liked
>> Seats seven in style
>> Commonsense practicalities spiced with Citroenesque individuality
>> A viable alternative to seven-seat soft-roaders

OVERVIEW
Subscribe to the view that life indeed isn't meant to be easy, and you have an inkling of the peoplemover market's career. After an initially boisterous boom in the 1980s, kicked off by Japan's multi-seat converted commercial vans, peoplemovers developed as specific models in their own right, with improved accommodations and upgraded driving dynamics. But movers' popularity subsided as the novelty wore off and they became tarred dismissively as models bought because they were needed, not necessarily wanted.

As if that wasn't tough enough, the whammy doubled under the sheer mass and popularity of those invasive urban guerrillas -- the AWD softroaders.

However, the embattled peoplemovers didn't roll over and surrender their niche. Instead, they hung in and took root as successive designs improved throughout -- all the better to fulfil their mission statement.

That message comes loud and strong in the newly-released Citroen C4 Picasso. Stylish, comfortable, fully functional and cleverly accommodating, the seven-place Picasso is every inch a peoplemover, and not afraid to unseat others to prove it.

Incidentally, the C4 prefix applies due to affiliations with the C4 cars, and to distinguish the new model from the original Xsara-based Picasso still available in Europe.

The 2.0-litre petrol Picasso comes with four-speed automatic transmission and opens at  $39,990. The 2.0-litre turbodiesel version brings a six-speed automatic and a $5000 impost (ouch!!!) for an otherwise identically fulsome array of features and equipment.

Picasso's standard fare includes four-zone climate control, power windows, power mirrors, two-way steering wheel adjustment, roof rails, 17-inch alloy wheels (with full-size steel spare), trip computer, front centre armrests, rechargeable torch, picnic trays behind the front seats, rain sensing wipers, rear parking sensors, second-row door sun blinds.

Then there's the automatic fuel flap, supplementary child-minder interior mirror, second-row underfloor lockers, cruise control, speed limiter, remote central locking, remote headlight actuation, front centre chilly bin, retractable luggage cover, bodyside protector moldings and a ventilation-quality sensor that automatically selects recirculation should the incoming air become unpalatable.

Not to omit a near glut of stowage bins, lockers, pockets and drinkholders. Nor to overlook what must be the most expansive windscreen ever on a production passenger model. Which, Citroen assures us, doesn't also mean most expensive. Despite its vast size, and having reflective metal film inner surface (with two bare areas to enable aligned E-tag operation), Picasso's windscreen is said to cost only about 20 per cent more than the C4 car's $1100-ish glassware.

Ordering black or metallic paint adds $700, while the optional glass roof (fixed) ups the ante by $1750.

Taking Picasso's plushness to another level costs $6500 for the Premium pack which brings full leather trim, electrically adjustable sports-style front seats with memory settings and heating, exterior mirrors that automatically fold away when parked, tailored floor mats, lacquered door and dashboard appliqués, together with extraordinary interior illumination involving 32 light sources -- not the least of which sees door pockets automatically glow when a hand enters the cavity.

Also slated for the Picasso's options list (though not available or priced just yet) are an opening tailgate window, self-levelling air-ride rear suspension and in-dash sat-nav.

The petrol Picasso has the same twin-cam, 16-valve 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine as the C4 hatch, meaning the same maximum outputs of 103kW power at 6000rpm and 200Nm torque at 4000rpm -- again allied with four-speed automatic transmission. No manual is offered.

The turbodiesel engine has the same basic specifications as its petrol sibling, but features a particulate filter in the exhaust system (reducing toxic emissions and virtually eliminating sooty discharge), and quotes 100kW at 4000rpm with 270Nm at 2000rpm. Driveability further benefits from its six-speed automatic.

Accordingly, the ADR laboratory test results put the diesel's combined-cycle fuel consumption at just 6.1lt/100km, where the petrol's at 8.9lt/100km.

The Picasso front suspension follows the C4 hatch's example with telescopic struts, lower A-arms, coil springs and anti-roll bar -- appropriately upgraded to suit the mover's extra mass and higher centre of gravity. The rear suspension componentry is entirely uprated, albeit with familiar C4 design consisting of a twist-beam axle, coil springs (or optional air springs) and an anti-roll bar.

Similarly, the variably-assisted rack and pinion steering echoes the C4 hatch's principles, while employing a more powerful electrically-operated hydraulic pump.

Where Picasso's arrestingly large four-wheel disc brakes are familiarly conventional, the same can't be said for the electrically-actuated parking brake which automatically applies itself when the vehicle is stationary with engine switched off. An electronic control unit determines the brake pressure needed to prevent movement. Alternatively, a toggle on the dashboard allows the parking brake to be actuated manually when pausing or parking on a slope with the engine running.

Either way, with the engine (re)started and the transmission engaged, the parking brake progressively releases as the vehicle moves away.

PACKAGING
It's largely in the realms of passenger/luggage space efficiency and versatility that peoplemovers shine or stagger. No fears for the Picasso on that score. It comfortably accommodates up to seven occupants while, alternatively, readily converting up to five seats to floor area when cargo carrying gets priority.

Picasso has seven individual seats in 2-3-2 floorplan. The third row has sufficient headroom, kneeroom and footspace for average adult occupants, and is conveniently accessed after lifting a lever on the shoulder of the second row's outer pews, causing the cushion to jack-knife upwards as the seat is slid forward.

Each second-row seat allows fore-aft and backrest adjustments, and can be folded into the floor (without headrest removal) simply by pulling either of two straps, after which hinged covers extend the flat floor.

The only difference in stowing the rear seats is that it's arguably even easier.

With the front passenger seat fully forward, just over two metres floor length is available. Stowing the rear seats extends the boot floor length from about a half metre to around 1.1m, while lowering the second row seat/s (with front seats placed normally) extends the maximum length to 1.8m.

So, whichever way you dice it, the Picasso's passenger/luggage capacity and versatility are as good as it gets in seven-seater-world.

SAFETY
The Picasso goes straight to the top of the class for safety. Besides scoring the EuroNCAP crash-testing agency's maximum five-star rating for adult occupants' protection, the Picasso (which provides four readily accessible child-seat mounting points) can also boast excellent three-star result for child protection.

For good measure, the Citroen earns two stars for pedestrian protection, in a situation where most softroaders and other peoplemovers struggle to score a single star.

The Picasso's safety strategy begins with a soundly engineered body-chassis structure, complemented by an arsenal of active and passive safety features. The powerful four-wheel disc brakes, for example, have anti-lock ABS, electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD) to apportion the front-rear braking duties to suit the driving conditions, and emergency brake assistance (EBA) which automatically increases brake application when the need is sensed. Also standard, Picasso's dynamic stability system includes a traction control function.

Picasso's passive safety suite includes force-sensing adaptive front airbags, driver's knee bag, front side bags and full length curtain bags. Innovatively, the Picasso provides driver-operated electric childproof locking of the rear doors and windows.

Competition is rife among the specific peoplemovers, where the high-$30s to mid-$40s price bracket encompasses the Honda Odyssey, Hyundai Trajet, Mitsubishi Grandis, Renault Grand Scenic and Toyota Avensis, let alone the eight-seat Kia Carnival and Grand Carnival.

The seven-seat crossover/SUV contenders are led by the Ford Territory in rear-drive and AWD forms. Also up for consideration are the Mitsubishi Outlander in four-cylinder and V6 versions, and the Hyundai Santa Fe offering the choice of either petrol or diesel engines -- the only diesel seven-seat SUV in this price range; just as the Picasso is the lone diesel people-mover.

ON THE ROAD
Although the Picasso has its full, French share of things that other nations' carmakers must consider unusual if not downright quirky, Citroen clearly acknowledges the rule about there being only one chance to make a good first impression.

Which is what Picasso's initial driving experience produces. Certainly, some of the, um, unusual controls and their placements (not least those surrounding the stationary steering wheel hub) probably aren't quite where or what you're used to.

The gear selector, for example, is a slender little wand atop the instrument cowl. A bit strange at first, but with use it makes you wonder why others aren't as convenient and easy. The split-zone climate control's separate controls at the dashboard ends are another instance where Citroen logic and individuality combine. So you soon grasp the basics and learn the rest as you go. Failing that -- be radical and digest the handbook!

If you think the windscreen looks large from the outside, the view from the front seats resembles your personal IMAX.

Is such depth of view necessary? Of course not. Will it test the air conditioning and your tanning lotion under the summer sun? Undoubtedly. But it gives Picasso an eye-catching point of difference, while complimenting the body engineers who achieved excellent crash safety performance with noticeably slimmer pillars and more open three-quarter views than just about any current model we can think of.

As far as can be judged from our few hours' diesel-only exposure to city and suburban driving, the Picasso is on the pace for what it is meant to be and do. Citroen claims the diesel does 0-100km/h in 12.5sec; a few tenths more than the petrol version. Both are said to cover the standing 400m in 18.5sec. Not hot hatches, then... But sufficiently empowered for the job at hand.

While the diesel is by no means abrasively noisy even when working hard, there's no mistaking the raspy gargle when it's pulling purposefully, fading to background obscurity when cruising. Either way, the automatic makes light work of the diesel's strong but brief surges across the typically short rev range.

Wicking through the gears with calculated smoothness, the nicely responsive six-speed only rarely holds intermediate gears a little longer than seems necessary.

Weighted on the light side, the steering is reasonably direct, provides some communication and points into corners with mildly understeery assurance. The handling seems confidently secure and generally very well balanced while the ride quality revives French tradition in its bump-blotting absorbency, without unduly bouncy rock and roll over queasy undulations.

In all, then, the Picasso makes its bid for attention with uncommon individuality, good all-round drivability and comfortable, patently dexterous passenger/luggage arrangements.

Not just another entirely predictable multi-seater, the Picasso is and does more than it says on the box. That's why it just might be a package you want, and enjoy, even without needing seven seats. Still, you never know, the extras could come in handy sometime.

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