First Drive: Citroën Grand C4 Picasso
by Joanne Ahern • January 15, 2014 • Car Reviews, First Drives
Prices for the new 2014 Citroën Grand C4 Picasso start from €26,795
Citroën goes into 2014 with the Irish Car of the Year title under its belt for the Citroën C4 Picasso, and it hopes for even more success with the Citroën Grand C4 Picasso, which we had the pleasures of driving at its Irish launch.
Citroën reckons the seven-seat Grand C4 Picasso will account for 70 per cent of sales in the C4 Picasso range this year.
It believes that the MPV will be popular with parents who have two or more children, from younger families with babies to those with children of college-going age.
Elegance is a word not normally associated with the MPV segment, but Citroën has dared to aim for this with the Grand C4 Picasso, and has managed to pull it off.
The Grand C4 Picasso is a spacious seven-seater, but the French manufacturer has succeeded in hiding that inner volume with a sleek-looking exterior, helped by the prominent panoramic windscreen, standard in the Grand C4 Picasso. A glass roof is an optional extra.
Inside, the cabin was spacious, with great leg room in both front rows. The middle row features individual seats, each with the capability to slide backwards and forwards.
We didn’t get a chance to check out the legroom in the third row – but Citroën says the Grand C4 Picasso has ‘the most spacious rows two and three in the segment’. It’s something we’ll investigate when we have it for a longer run later.
The boot, which Citroën claims is the widest in its segment, is large with the two rearmost seats tidily folded into the floor.
The middle row seats in the Exclusive model we were driving had pull down seatback trays – perfect for kids.
Citroën manages to cleverly conceal a spacious interior with a sleek exterior in the Grand C4 Picasso
The seven-seater also carries the two screen infotainment unit debuted in its five seat counterpart, with a 12 inch display in the middle of the dash, controlled by a 7 inch touch screen in the centre console.
The test car was an Exclusive trim six-speed automatic, with unusually placed automatic gears sitting behind the steering wheel.
Our route took us along the winding back roads of Kilcoole, Co Wicklow, as well as on the silky smooth M50.
I really enjoyed driving this car. It glides along the road, belying its size, and it handles well. I also found gear changes to be smooth.
Overall, my first impressions of the Citroën Grand C4 Picasso are of an interesting car that feels solid, without being clunky, and I’m really looking forward to putting it through its paces for a longer time over a wider variety of roads and conditions.
A range of diesel engines are available, including the new 2.0litre BlueHDi 150 we were driving, the automatic version of which emits 117g/km of CO2 (the manual version emits 113g/km).
Stop and start is fitted as standard on all diesel engine models.
Four trim levels are available – VTR, VTR+, Exclusive and Exclusive+.
The entry level VTR model is well specced, with air conditioning, daytime running LEDS; 7 inch touch screen, automatic electric parking brake and Hill Start Assist, cruise control with speed limiter, Bluetooth and USB just some of the standard features.
The Citroën Grand C4 Picasso is available now, with prices starting from €26,795 for the VTR e-HDi 90 Airdream ETG6, with the top of the range BlueHDi 150 automatic Exclusive+ starting from €39,395.
The Exclusive model we were driving costs from €35,195.
Visit the Citroën Ireland website or its Facebook page for further details.
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