Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2007 | Page 121

MOTORING Seven seat heaven Despite sharing its name with the existing Xsara Picasso, the new C4-based peoplecarrier isn't intended as a direct replacement for the current car. While the Xsara Picasso carries on competing at the budget end of the MPV market the C4 Picasso is intended to take the fight to bigger and more upmarket rivals. To that end it comes with seven seats as standard, with the third row folding down flat into the boot floor when not in use. It also looks and feels like a far more high quality item than the Xsara ever did. There are some distinct Espace overtones to the design, especially the large quarterlight windows next to the windscreen, but the overall effect is sleek and pleasing, dominated by Citroen's trademark double chevron radiator grille. The cabin is very impressive, too, with decent quality materials and some clever design features making the C4 a supremely comfortable place to spend time. Both front Island Life - www.islandlife.tv and second-row occupants enjoy plenty of space, and even passengers relegated to the third row still have a decent amount of legroom by the standards of such things. The rear five seats can also be slid and folded into all kinds of different spacemaximising combinations. On the road the C4 puts up a decent performance. The suspension is tuned for comfort, giving decent ride quality over rougher surfaces and, cornering is composed and confidence-inspiring, too. Two petrol and two diesel engines are available from launch, with all but the most basic 1.8 litre petrol unit offering decent performance. The more powerful versions are only being offered with Citroen's "electronic gearbox system" - a semi-automatic manual 'box that is operated by paddles behind the steering wheel. Overall the C4 Picasso is another very impressive car from Citroen. Contact: Central Garage, Riverway, Newport, IW. Tel: 01983 526541 life Honestlyit's a Skoda Skoda have come on leaps and bounds since their early days. Do you remember when we all used to see who could come up with the best Skoda joke. Well, we can't do that anymore, or can we? Well sadly not, those days have truly gone and Skoda have now earned the respect they deserve. A real popular model, or should I say a safe model is the Fabia, the previous Fabia launched in 1999 was a supersize mini, one of the biggest small cars of its time. The 2007 Fabia has not chaged in size, Skoda commented "how can a small car get bigger and bigger, it gets to the stage where it's no longer a small car." However saying this they have made the new Fabia exactly 47mm taller, increased the boot size and the nose has moved forwards and upwards. The Fabia starts with a three-cylinder, 1.2-litre producing 60bhp, the turbo diesel option is a three-cylinder, 1.4lt producing either 69bhp or 80bhp according to tune. For the sporty person there is the 1.6-litre, 105bhp which is used in other VW cars. Skoda is Volkswagen quality at a lower price which for the buyer is a great deal. When driving the car it feels solid and rattle free, and all the controls feel robust and are laid out well for the driver. The car is roomy and airy which makes you feel relaxed when driving, and there is plenty of head room even for me at 6'1". I could not beleive the grip on the corners, and the suspension seemed to cope well with the island's roads. The brakes are well balanced and brought the car to a standstill in an ordely fashion. There are a good range of standard features as well as optional features the best thing to do is to pop down to F.H Winter, Havenstreet or call 01983 882455 and see for yourself. 121