Overall rating:

Citroen's C4 Grand Picasso brings plenty of style and space to the people carrier sector in an appealing family car package. It's useful enough to wonder why you'd need anything bigger.

Key Facts

Model tested: Citroen C4 Grand Picasso Exclusive e-HDi 115
Pricing: £23,255 as tested (starts at £19,200)
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel
Transmission: front-wheel drive, six-speed manual
Body style: seven-seat MPV
Rivals: Ford Grand C-Max, Peugeot 5008, Renault Grand Scenic
CO₂ emissions: 105g/km
Combined economy: 70.6mpg
Top speed: 117mph
0-62mph: 12.1 seconds
Power: 115hp at 3,600rpm
Torque: 270Nm at 1,750rpm

In the Metal:

There wasn't much wrong with the looks of the previous C4 Grand Picasso, and family car buyers resigned to a life dominated by practicality can at least do so in style. Citroen's people say only four main body parts are carried over from its five-seat relative, though you'd need to park them side-by-side to really see that. The key changes are around the rear, where the lengthened roof, taller profile windows and longer rear doors mark this out as the Grand model, which brings with it a pair of seats in the massive boot. The A- to D-pillar garnish is a particularly joyous design flair, the contrasting colour bar running from the trailing edge of the bonnet to the top of the rear arch. As boxes on wheels go, there aren't many that are more visually appealing than this.

The designers have been busy inside too. The familiar central instrumentation of its predecessor remains, though the dash is dominated by the dual-screen set up - surrounded by soft touch buttons. It all looks good, though isn't perhaps as intuitive in operation as Citroen would suggest, while the steering wheel is festooned with switches too. Most are obvious in their function. The seat design is clever, the three full-sized rears all having Isofix fittings if you're mad enough to have three children all within child seat age, while the rearmost pair are small but useable for those occasions when your children want their friends along. Without them in place the boot is vast, with them used its not. Same as virtually every seven-seat MPV then. Push, fold and slide the rest out of the way and the C4 Grand Picasso will be your friend when you're emptying the loft/shed/garden of detritus and only want to make one run to the tip.

Driving it:

To drive it's pretty ordinary, as you'd expect for a vehicle of this type. If it's notable in any area it is refinement, the cabin being particularly free of engine, wind or road noise meaning you'll not have to turn up the kid's tunes to drown out the din (from the car itself, at least). The engine's modest 115hp might look like it's lacking, but the reality is that - with just two adults on board at least - it's more than adequate for the task in hand. Fully loaded with five or seven, with luggage, you might need to work the gearbox a bit more. The manual six-speed transmission itself has decently spaced ratios, and while it's not the last word in accuracy, nor is it obstructive.

Likewise it might take a while to get comfortable behind the wheel, as the adjustment on the steering column is fairly limited, and the pedals feel far away. The cabin is light and airy, thanks to the vast glazed area, though adults in the rear seats might feel a touch claustrophobic given the tight headroom on the outermost seats.

Along with the acceptable performance and hushed refinement comes decent body control. It's not the most accurate car in the corners, but neither does it heave through bends - the control is adequate for the speeds it'll be asked to carry. The suspension copes with the majority of lumps and bumps, though sharper ridges can cause thumps and bumps. The steering is light in weight and largely devoid of any feel, but it is an MPV we're talking about here, so it's accurate enough.

What you get for your Money:

Citroen has always been fairly good value and the C4 Grand Picasso continues that. The Excusive model tested here gains the 12-inch widescreen dash-top display, as well as 17-inch alloy wheels, satnav and a plethora of other equipment. You could live without most of it though, the VTR and VTR+ trims coming with essentials like air conditioning, a huge safety arsenal, seven seats, cruise control and the panoramic windscreen.

Worth Noting

It'd be remiss not to mention this model's biggest draw, that being its 105g/km CO₂ rating and 70.6mpg economy. Reality is more likely to be around 50mpg in everyday use, though the only way you'll emit less is by getting the lower powered 90hp Airdream ETG6 model, which comes equipped with Citroen's electrically actuated automated manual. Citroen claims it has massively improved the shift of this, but we don't agree and we'd always stick with the manual and take the slight tax penalty for it.

Summary

Citroen's new C4 Grand Picasso is quiet, comfortable, airy, practical and well-equipped. Add genuinely head-turning looks and epic economy and emissions figures and it's difficult to argue against it if you've got children. Hardly surprising to hear then that the C4 Picasso makes up over 25% of Citroen's UK sales.