Citroen C4 Grand Picasso – Comfort At an Affordable Price
French cars have always been known for extreme passenger comfort – and the Citroen C4 Grand Picasso, imported and distributed in Malaysia by Brooklands Motors, is a 7-seater MPV not only offers great value for money, but lives up to the French tradition. Fully imported from France, the home of Citroen vehicles, the C4 Grand Picasso is a true continental brand offered at the very competitive price of RM168k.
Built on the C4 platform, the driver and passengers sit higher up in the tradition of MPVs, with plenty of legroom and all the amenities associated with this type of vehicle on hand. The seats split and fold to offer all sorts of possible configurations, making the Grand Picasso a very versatile vehicle for family use.
Powered by the same 2.0 litre, 143 horsepower engine that is found in the C4, there is ample power to propel the Grand Picasso along, not like a sports car, but with enough torque (147 lb.ft @ 4,000 rpm) to suit most of the people likely to buy such a vehicle. I tried it with six people on board, and the power was adequate. All the seven designated eats are equipped with a full lap and diagonal belt, with the centre sitting passengers in the middle row having belts that come down from the roof. Legroom is very generous, except in the third row; anyway, the third row is more of an addition for smaller sized people, and is made to fold neatly into the floor panel to provide a flat loading area. If required, the middle row seats fold forward, again extending the flat floor area even further. All the seats are quite comfortable, and are good even for long journeys.
Power from the engine is transferred to the road through the front wheels, via a 4-speed automatic gearbox. The gear ratios are evenly spaced to get the best compromise between a good take-off and reasonable top speed, which in our test car was about 170 km/hr. The ride is on the soft side of comfortable, very good for city driving, but could be a little soft for long distances, especially at the rearmost seats, where the passengers would fell the pitching and yawing motions more. At the driver and front passenger end, the ride is actually quite nice. The French are good at making soft suspensions, and the C4 fits the mould perfectly; for techies, the front suspension is made up of independent MacPherson struts, while the rear is an offshoot of the torsion beam arrangement in the C4. Wheels are 17-inch alloys with Michelin Primacy tyres as standard. Seats are leather covered, and in the tradition of French cars, are very comfortable.
In terms of safety, the Grand Picasso comes equipped with ESP, ABS, EBD and EBA, plus seven airbags, surpassing most of its competitors available in the market here.
The Grand Picasso comes with many features that make it even more appealing. One feature popular with young children would be the sunroof. Creature comforts include an air-conditioning system that has a rear blower, and vents along the B-pillar with individual controls for fan speed and temperature control.
In the final analysis, the C4 Grand Picasso offers top-of-the-range features for a very competitive price; its next French rival sells a similar sized MPV for at least a hundred thousand ringgit more. The only thing that works against the Grand Picasso is that its Japanese rivals with the same capacity engine and similar size are selling at slightly lower price levels. However, if you want something that not many other people have, this is it!
