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.
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