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Citroen C4 Grand Picasso Feel 120

CitroenC42013Header.jpg


It’s a grand price but is it a grand drive?

What better place to test a French car than France?

We set off from home in Huddersfield and drove down to Dover to get the DFDS Ferry to Calais. We had a very nice smooth crossing that took about an hour and a half.

After we docked in France it was onto Ostend, in Belgium for a couple of nights in this really great seaside town with sandy beaches as far as the eye can see.

The all-new C4 Grand Picasso really is all-new, although to the untrained eye it does look remarkably similar to the previous model, but look closer and much has changed. It is certainly much more modern looking but still retains the Picasso looks. The new lights are fantastic and really stand out at night and are very distinctive.

CitroenC42013Rear.jpgThere are three trim levels in the Picasso line-up: Touch Edition, Feel and Flair. We took the mid-range car which was very well equipped and had standard items which included: 7-inch touch screen interface plus a 12-inch panoramic HD central display, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, satellite navigation, dual-zone air-conditioning, panoramic windscreen, 17-inch alloy wheels, LED daytime running lights and 3D effect rear lights, driver and passenger seat massage function, hill-start assist function, tinted rear windows, front fog lights with cornering function, air-vents for rear passengers and so the list goes on…

The one standard piece of equipment in the Grand C4 Picasso is the extra row of seats, making it a 7-seater. The second row of seats are all individual and slide back and forth very easily. This car is so practical and flexible but has nice lines too. It is quite an attractive people carrier with great modern styling on the exterior and a very clever interior.

We went to a supermarket in Calais and bought a few boxes of wine, well although I don’t drink wine at all, ever, we thought it would be rude to be in France and not buy some local produce, despite the pound being very low against the euro, it was still much cheaper than in the UK. But weight was added to the car although the Picasso didn’t feel it at all, it looked and drove exactly the same as when it was empty.

While in Belgium we decided to go to Ypres, about 50 minutes from Ostend to witness the Last Post at the Menin Gate Memorial. This Memorial was opened in 1927 and this Ceremony has carried out uninterrupted since 2nd July 1928 at 8pm every evening – except when Belgium was occupied by the Germans in world war 2, then the Ceremony was conducted at Brookwood Military Ceremony in Surrey. The Citizens of Ypres back in 1927 wanted to express their gratitude towards those who had given their lives for Belgium’s freedom, hence every night at 20.00 hrs, buglers from the local Fire Brigade close the road which passes under the memorial and sound the ‘Last Post’. The evening we were there, there were hundreds of people watching and listening to this moving and emotional ceremony.

CitroenC42013Front-1.jpgIt was back in the Picasso and we headed back to Ostend, with hardly a word said in the car you could faintly hear the diesel engine in the background.


The car is powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged diesel engine that produces 118hp, accelerates from 0-62mph in 11.3 seconds and has a top speed of 117mph, which we certainly couldn’t do in the UK, France or Belgium. It is such a sweet, smooth engine and if we thought a 1,560cc engine would be too small and underpowered for a large 7-seater, then we had to think again; it was more than adequate.

The Picasso cruised easily on the motorway and if you did have to slow down, then speed up again, it did not lack power, and acceleration from 50mph back up to 70mph was pretty quick, even with a bit of weight in the rear. This engine is coupled to a 6-speed manual gear box that is smooth and silky and like the rest of the car, so easy to use.

The controls were easy to use and very intuitive, especially the sat-nav which was displayed on both the screens in the centre of the dash – it was so easy to set up, and driving in a foreign country you do need quick and accurate directions and the Picasso system certainly excelled and made driving in Europe a piece of cake.

With the third row of seats in the up position there is enough room for a week’s worth of shopping or a couple of small suitcases, but put them down and there is a huge amount of space, then put the second row down and the Picasso has van like space.

The length of the Picasso is 4,602 mm, the width is 1,826 mm without door mirrors and 2,117 mm with door mirrors, and its height is 1,638 mm. The car does look big and it probably is, but was so easy to park we didn’t struggle anywhere to find a space big enough to park it in.

CitroenC42013Interior.jpgThe Citroen C4 Grand Picasso was a great vehicle to do a long journey in over 3 days, the official combined fuel consumption figure is 70.6mpg but over the 825 miles we covered in it we achieved 53.3mpg, which is a way off the quoted figure but not a bad result for a large car that is a great all-rounder and a brilliant motorway cruiser. The all-important CO2 figure for the test car is a very respectful 106g/km.

The basic on the road price for the Feel 120 is £24,450.00, which really is no more than a regular five-door hatch but the C4 GP just offers so much more for your money.

A great weekend away, in a fine, large car, that just ate up the motor miles (and Kilometres) so comfortably and you got out of it at the end of the journey, just as fresh as you got in.

We got the DFDS ferry from Dunkirk to Dover on the way home and this route took around 2 hours, but a really nice place to spend 2 hours and the new Citroen C4 Grand Picasso was a nice place to spend a few days.

Summary stats

On the road price £21.935.00 to £29,360.00
Petrol: 1.2 PureTech 131 PS Diesel: 1.6 BlueHDI 100 & 120 PS, 2.0 BlueHDI 150 PS
CO2 99 to 116 g/km
Combined MPG 55.4 to 74.3
Gearboxes 5 & 6 Speed Manual, 6 Speed EAT6

New options and features:

Mirror screen with mirror link and car play – Standard on all
DAB Digital radio – Standard on all
3D effect LED rear lights – £250 option on Feel standard on Flair
12" HD panoramic screen display  - Standard on Feel & Flair 

Martin Ward

A popular figure in the automotive industry, celebrated in the Business Car Power list Top 10. An unrivalled understanding of the entire automotive manufacturing process. Providing independent and tailored advice to help automotive and related businesses identify and achieve their goals. @MartinW_cap_hpi
07740157580
Martin.Ward@cap-hpi.com



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