Well after looking at various vehicles it looks like my father has made a choice on what car to go for as a replacement for his X-type now that due to MS he can no longer drive it.
And the winning car is........................A Citroen C4 Picasso Grand 2.0d. he is getting it on
Motability and is costing him less for 3 years then the insurance alone does on the X-type.
Now about the car, went with him this week to test drive it for him, and I have to say I was quite impressed.
The dealer let us have a go in the top of the range model (the same as my father will be ordering) but this one also had all the options like satnav fitted.
I find the exterior to be quite good looking, but then I think Citroen put a lot of style into their cars ? getting in and out is like most MPV?s being higher it is easier for those with reduced mobility.
Once inside the first thing that struck me was how light and airy the interior was, this was even though the seat fabric was a dark grey/black. Once sat down the reason for the lightness becomes very evident, it is due to the windscreen curving over the top of the car and over your head, this can be partially hidden by sliding the sun visors forward. They can then be swung down in the normal fashion to block the sun. I can?t see that this windscreen gives you any greater visibility, but it does make the car feel much bigger and roomier inside.
Sat in the drivers seat the next thing that strikes you is the steering wheel, this is a multifunction job, with cruise control settings and phone/interior light controls on the left and multifunction display settings on the right. It takes a few minutes to work out what does what, but is not overly complicated to use. Just above the wheel is a mini display unit for indicators and lights. The main instrument binnacle is positioned in the middle, within this the speed is displayed to the left in the centre is the satnav/multifunction display and to the right is the rev counter and gear selection indicator. I would like to have had the rev and speedo round the other way, but I assume this is set for LHD cars. The displays are very clear and easy to read when on the move, but we did notice the Satnav was about 300mtrs out of sync, which could make a difference around town. Behind the wheel is a set of padels, these are to change gear when in semi auto mode.
On the move. Pulling away was easy enough, move the small lever on top of the steering column to ?A? and press the accelerator pedal, the electronic parking brake automatically releases and away you go. The steering feels very light with little feedback, but for this type of car I would expect this, building up speed the car started to move up through the gears, not the smoothest of changes, even my 10 yr old Accord manages smoother gear changes, but then I suppose it is not a conventional auto box. In fact the gear box reminded me somewhat of the semi auto box that Iveco fit to trucks, it has very much the same feel to the gear change, a slight nudge as it goes up through the gears, right the way until it hits 6th gear. But it is more noticeable when slowing down as you get a nudge in the back as it drops down through each gear as you slow down, not too much of a problem but many may find it annoying if not used to it. Whilst on the subject of slowing down, the brakes are typical Citroen, i.e. very good, with little pressure needed to enable you to come to a very abrupt halt!!!!
The gears can be used in fully auto mode or in manual mode, where you can use the padels to change up and down ? but you can over ride the fully auto mode at any time by pressing one of the padels, so personally I cant see the need for the ?M? setting, but each to their own.
The 2.0d engine we test drove was very responsive, and pulled well, but being fitted to a 6 speed box meant it did do a fair amount of gear changes ? I think I would prefer a 5 speed.
The route I took had A roads, B roads, dual carriageway and a Motorway in it. The C4 coped well on all roads with wind noise only really noticeable on the motorway over 75mph. The cruise control was easy to use, as was the speed limiter, which is handy for 30 zones and roadwork reduced speed areas.
All in all the C4 was a very nice comfortable drive, with some very nice design features built into what I think is a very good looking car ? would I have one? Well I hope in 3 years time we will be able to buy my fathers one off of Motability to replace what will then be our aging Honda Shuttle.
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