Spacious interior of Citroen C3 Picasso takes a lot of licking

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Saturday, July 17, 2010

‘Hey mister, where’ja get the mobile ice pop?,’ shouted the young fella as I passed by in my ‘bitter lemon’ metallic-coloured Citroen C3 Picasso.

Sadly, the little tyke had a point; the car does look a little bit like frozen confectionery on wheels, but his pertinent observation aside, it is also not a bad little car indeed.

Based on the C3 which we tested in these columns not so long ago, the ‘Picasso’ version of the French supermini is actually classed as an MPV, in the same way as the similarly named versions of the C4 and Xsara models are.

To be given the MPV designation the car has — despite exterior dimensions only slightly bigger than any supermini — been bestowed with excellent interior space.

This roominess is largely thanks to the higher roofline of the Picasso model which allows for more upright seating.

This in turn makes for rear head and legroom which would embarrass many much more expensive rivals.

The fact too that the 60:40 split rear seats also slide back and forth individually and the already generous boot space can be translated into estate car proportions by the simple expedient of folding flat the passenger front seat and the rear bench, both of which can be very easily done.

In VRT+ trim as tested, the car is also endowed with plenty of specifications, including four electric windows, air con., CD player, cruise control and lots more. It also has the unique wraparound ‘panoramic’ windscreen with skinny pillars.

In fact, there is a lot of car on offer here for the money — not unlike Renault are offering right now — and touches such as the metallic highlights about the (interior and exterior) vents add an element of class which many rivals lack.

The 1.6 litre HDi engine was, I must say, not quite the ‘wow’ I expected it to be, what with only 90 bhp on tap and the 13.5 second 0-100 kph time and 174 top speed. But it is a flexible motor and best seen in action on longer trips where you don’t have to work the gearbox as much as you do on lesser roads.

The 4.5 l/100km figure is not, however, to be sneezed at — that being only a touch shy of 60 mpg in pre-decimal terms.

It is also a grippy beast on the road and despite the fact there is a lot of boy-lean in corners and that the nose pitch of the car is very sensitive to accelerator applications, the handing and ride are more than acceptable.

For a small car, then, this is remarkably family-friendly and a lot more practical than you might suspect. On top of that it is very distinctive — as our young tyke noticed at the outset — as well as being versatile and classy to boot.

Not a bad little number — for a mobile ice lol.