Granted, most four-cylinder engines tend to be smoother than the new breed of three-cylinder motors, but this Puretech 130 manages to be really quite refined as it thrums away, even when thrashed.
It’s no slouch either, feeling much quicker than the claimed 0-62mph time of 10.8sec would suggest - although you do need to put up with its off/on bottom-end power delivery.
Being a turbo you expect it to feel a little boosty, but if the engine is spinning at less than 1500rpm when your foot goes down, you wait and wait for the revs to climb and then wham (in a manner of speaking), you’re off. Past this point things improve dramatically, and despite its small capacity the engine is gutsy and capable, even at motorway speeds.
There’s no automatic version, just a six-speed manual gearbox, but the ratios are spaced well in order to keep the engine in its torque curve. Top gear works much like an overdrive to make the C4 Picasso a cruiser - a credential that's reinfocred by there being barely any tyre noise. If only Citroën could dial out the constant flutter of wind noise, the C4 Picasso it would have the serenity of a temple.
A new Ford C-Max will be on sale shortly, and on current form we’d be surprised if that car isn’t still a better steer. But that’s not to say the C4 Picasso is without dynamic merit. Predictable, well-weighted steering makes it decent to drive down winding country lanes, but equally it requires pleasingly little effort to steer in town.
If you want to risk making the kids sick and corner with a little verve it will respond with a degree of body lean but not to the point of feeling loose. There’s little doubt though that Citroën has aimed for supple rather than sporty, and as a result the Picasso's suspension takes the sting out of most bumps. That said, it will shake you up if you hit a deep pothole or sharp ridge, and the soft damper settings allow some body-float over crests.
The C4 Picasso's biggest draw is its style, both on the outside where it sports a sharp nose and LED jewellery and inside where there’s plenty of panache thanks to multi-textured surfaces made from soft-touch materials. There’s substance there, too, because it feels well made and ready to take a pounding in family use.
It'll also seat four in reasonable comfort – although a Volkswagen Golf SV offers better rear leg room – and there’s cabin flexibility courtesy of the individually tilting and sliding rear seats. With the rear seats slid forward the boot's volume is a colossal 630 litres.
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lag
The ford is raved about by autocar yet the citroen is not. You decide in the end & not autocar.
While one may be able to avoid off boost events outside town...
Lag!
Anticipatory gearchanges
I reckon the trick is to learn to anticipate the lag, to have changed down already a gear, say when applying the brakes entering a turn as in that case if you don't anticipade the need for a downchange changing down a gear as you're braking you'll certainly enter the engine off boost flat zone you mentioned - in reality driving it like any car with a really small engine which it truly is. If you're in the right gear at all times, you should avoid the off boost part of the rew range alltogether. And you shouldn't at all need to use the trhottle the way you mentioned, bad idea anyhow as that increases fuel consumption. I'm fairly sure the trick is - - more gearchanges and less throttle. And you'll get pretty close to that low mileage advertized.
Anticipatory gearchanges
I reckon the trick is to learn to anticipate the lag, to have changed down already a gear, say when applying the brakes entering a turn as in that case if you don't anticipade the need for a downchange changing down a gear as you're braking you'll certainly enter the engine off boost flat zone you mentioned - in reality driving it like any car with a really small engine which it truly is. If you're in the right gear at all times, you should avoid the off boost part of the rew range alltogether. And you shouldn't at all need to use the trhottle the way you mentioned, bad idea anyhow as that increases fuel consumption. I'm fairly sure the trick is - - more gearchanges and less throttle. And you'll get pretty close to that low mileage advertized.
55bhp