Picasso paints a family picture
A FRIEND of mine has just said goodbye to his ancient Mark 1 Citroen Picasso, which had 178,000 miles on the clock.
There was a time when Citroens didn’t have a great reputation for reliability but this one just went on and on, with no major problems in the whole time he had it, and he was still getting 40mpg from the 1.6 petrol engine.
The latest Picasso is quite a different beast, with much more in the way of equipment as standard.
But its ethos is the same – a vehicle with excellent family space, loads of storage, a huge boot and top comfort.
And that sleek body is far better looking than the old ones could ever manage.
I recently drove the Puretech 1.2 turbocharged petrol – now the only non-diesel offering in the range.
And it drives so well, and costs so little to run, that for private buyers, certainly, and even for some business users, it could be a better bet than the diesels.
The little 1.2-litre threecylinder turbo produces an excellent 130bhp and there are no gaps in the performance whatsoever.
It’s a lovely smooth engine, sounding sweet all the way through the rev range and pulling well from low speed all the way to the red line.
Real economy in my hands was 38mpg but I could have raised that quite easily with more careful driving during the test.
The clutch is very light, the six-speed gearbox has a lovely sweet change and the brakes are superb.
The ride is excellent even over some very poor country and town road surfaces and the road holding and handling are brilliant.
Overall, it is very impressive family transport and I thoroughly enjoyed driving it.
Inside, there is plenty of room for five and a massive boot and the three individual rear seats fold and tumble to make even more luggage space.
The Citroen Picasso Touch Edition I drove costs £20,770.