Citroen C3 Picasso

Expert Rating:

What is it?

It's a boxy people carrier built on the small C3 supermini platform. Naturally, you'll be thinking about the C3 now and asking 'how is that possible?' But fret not: the Picasso version is massive.

The C3's floorpan has been stretched by a small but significant eight centimetres, and a whopping great box slapped on the top, creating quite unfeasible amounts of interior space, yet a body that's garage and multi-storey car park friendly. And if you think about it, it's not really that different to a load of the other 'tiny outside/massive inside' hatchbacks we're seeing at the moment. As driving huge cars becomes less and less acceptable, so do the big engines generally needed to power them, so makers are doing big things with small packages. The C3 Picasso has a purer people carrier remit, but it's not actually that different in essence to, say, the new Toyota Urban Cruiser or the Kia Soul, though its principal rivals are actually the more traditional mini-MPV pack epitomised by the Vauxhall Meriva and Nissan Note.

Is it any good?

It is, actually, but it suffers from frustrations familiar to many a Citroen: namely suspect ergonomics, patchy cabin design, inconsistent quality and a general air of softness behind the wheel. Let's get the bad stuff done with first, lest we leave you with the impression that we don't like the C3 Picasso, which we do.

Base your visual opinion of the car on pictures (which we all do, after all) and you might be pleasantly surprised when you first see one of these on the road; its big box of a silhouette doesn't photograph very well, but it's actually a very interesting looking people carrier. Perhaps the most interesting, we dare say. Inside's slightly different, however, because while the quality is mostly ok (akin to the bigger C4 hatch), the driving position is poor and it looks a bit of a mess of shapes and textures. Still, you might like its quirks, though the driving position is harder to justify, with its angled, bus-like steering wheel position and high-set, cramped pedals. There's no left footrest either and the seat doesn't go down far enough. Basically, sitting with a 'long arm, short leg' driving position of the most uncomfortable kind is pretty unavoidable.

But, the headroom this thing offers is phenomenal, which in turn lends itself to a feeling of spaciousness in the cabin that's probably slightly deceptive. There's definitely enough room for four decent-sized adults and the boot is big too, but it's probably not quite as big as it feels. That said, the Picasso's overall practicality is second to nothing of similar dimensions. The seats fold flat easily, liberating over 1,500-litres when they're all down - class leading by some way - but the lack of cabin cubbyholes is annoying. Take the glove box, for example. which has an opening the size of a shed door but will barely hold a packet of seeds.

But that still can't detract from the Picasso's competence as a family wagon (for families with up to two kids, anyway), because it's easy to drive (if terminally dull), airy, has loads of safety kit (airbags all round, ISOfix, ABS - that sort of thing) and rides as well as any tall Citroen ever has: it soaks up potholes rather than see-sawing over them like the C4 Picasso does, making for a far more unflustered, relaxed passenger experience.

Should I call the bank manager?

Yes, you probably should: this thing is cheap as chips. For less than the price of going to McDonalds and asking for 11,500 regular fries, you can have a C3 Picasso powered by a 94bhp 1.4-litre petrol engine. Granted, it will be about as well equipped as a Big Mac - but it will be big, if space is all you're after. If you want alloys, air conditioning, coloured door handles and all the other residual-essential things that make the average buyer happy, however, it's a mid-spec VTR+ you're going to want. Buy a 1.4-litre one of those and you're looking at £13,695.

As ever it's the diesels that make most sense. There's a 1.6-litre petrol engine too, which isn't bad at all thanks to a free-revving sort of nature and 118bhp, but the extra torque on offer from the two 1.6-litre diesels (one with 89bhp, the other 108bhp) make them the better choices, particularly the latter. A sum of £15,595 is the most you'll pay for a diesel equipped 'Exclusive' model, which you'll probably agree still isn't so bad, and it'll give you 56.5mpg - while the lower-powered diesel returns 60.1mpg. One of our only gripes is that Citroen has reserved some practicality features for the top-whack model - stuff like illuminated tables for the rear seat passengers, under floor storage and a boot net.

Summary

The C3 Picasso gets all the basics right, but just falls short of greatness by leaving the bitter tastes of being a slightly dull, slightly uncomfortable drive and lacking a little in the cabin storage department. However, in all other areas it's a fine effort by Citroen, most laudably because the maker has entered the terminally bland mini-MPV niche and made it interesting. And more importantly, it's cheap. As an easy to drive, easy to use and comfortable cruiser - be it in town or on the motorway - the smallest Picasso is difficult to fault, but its flawed Citroen DNA makes it frustrating in some ways.

Mark Nichol