Citroen Grand C4 Picasso vs Renault Kangoo

What's the difference?

The lack of third-row airbags and AEB could be enough for you to rule this version of the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso out of contention as a family vehicle. We’d understand that.

But there are plenty of other reasons that it could be a contender on your people-mover shopping list. It’s a largely thoughtful car in a small and beautiful package… no matter what badge is stuck on the back of it.

The latest petrol-powered Kangoo has the pricing, practicality and performance to win friends in Australia’s small commercial van class. If you can afford an option pack or two, like those fitted to our test vehicle, it's even better.

If you were to suggest there isn’t anything interesting about the design of the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso, it would pretty much intone that you’re vision impaired. This is - without question - one of the most intriguing and interesting looking vehicles on the market today.

With its front-end design mirroring the other models in the French maker’s range - sleek LED daytime running lights sitting either side of a chrome grille with central chevron, the main headlights below and some chrome trimming on the lower bumper - this is easily distinguishable as a Citroen. There’s no confusing it with a Kia, Honda, or anything else, in fact.

The large windscreen and panoramic sunroof help give it that two-tone look, and the beautiful silver C-shaped rim that surrounds the glasshouse is one of the best styling touches in the automotive business.

Our car rides on the standard 17-inch wheels wrapped in grippy Michelin tyres, but there are optional 18s if you want something that fills the wheelarches a little more. 

At the rear there are some nicely styled tail-lights, and its hips are broad, giving it a nice amount of presence on the road when you’re sitting behind it in traffic. 

I think Spacetourer works better as a name: Picasso was known for artworks that were challenging to make sense of. This vehicle presents no such conundrum.

The interior is also one of the most stunning in the business: I love the two-tone dashboard, the stacked twin screen layout, the minimalism of the controls and the massive windscreen with innovative adjustable headlining - yes, you can move the front part of the headlining back and forth, and the sun-visors move with it.

Our car had the optional 'Leather Lounge' pack, which adds dual-tone hide trim, seat massage functions for both front seats, plus heating for both front seats, and the front passenger seat has an electrically operated leg/footrest. This interior trim is nice, but it comes at a price… ahem, a big price: $5000. 

As you might expect, that’s hard to justify if you’re trying to save money on your seven-seat people-mover. But ignore that: let’s take a deeper dive into the cabin.

Our test vehicle is less than 4.5 metres long (4488mm) and well under 2.0 metres in width (1859mm) and height (1830mm), making it ideal for those with either limited parking space and/or needing to access space-restricted areas in their working roles.

Its compact 2716 wheelbase results in an 11.3-metre turning circle. This is larger than you might expect, given it’s no tighter than Toyota’s shortest HiAce mid-sized van.

However, it’s also line-ball with its small van rivals, which highlights the restrictions in steering lock shared by front-wheel drive vehicles compared to rear-wheel drivers like the HiAce.

The Kangoo features MacPherson strut front suspension and its rear suspension uses torsion bar primary springing supplemented by a pair of secondary coil springs for carrying heavy loads. There’s also rack and pinion steering and a quartet of disc brakes.

Bodywork and wheels confirm its no-frills work focus, with unpainted dark grey plastic prominent on the hubcaps, front/rear bumpers and along the sides where bumps and scrapes usually occur.

It has tidy styling for a commercial van, including the sharp cabin design that combines a tasteful blend of grey and satin chrome hard surfaces with the practicality of wipe-clean fabric upholstery and vinyl floors.

It’s kind of amazing just how much Citroen has managed to fit into the Grand C4 Picasso. It measures 4602mm long - which is just 22mm (an inch) longer than a Mazda3 sedan! As for the other dimensions, the width is 1826mm, and the height is 1644mm.

How many seats does the Citroen Picasso have? The answer is seven, whether you choose the petrol or the diesel - but notably, the petrol model has a space-saver spare wheel under its boot, where the diesel misses out because it has an AdBlue system. 

Yep, by some marvel of packaging magic, the brand’s engineers managed to pack seven seats, a reasonable boot (165 litres with all seats up, 693L with the back row folded, 2181 with the five rear seats folded), plus a spare tyre and a lot of style into a very compact package.

That’s not to say this is a seven-seater to suit all the needs of buyers who want seven seats. The back row is tight for anyone nearing 183cm (six-feet) tall, and there is no third-row airbag coverage. According to the French brand, the occupants of those rearmost seats are inwards enough of the sides of the car that they theoretically shouldn’t need airbag cover. Depending on your safety stance, that may rule it out for you - or perhaps make you change your mind as to whether you use the back row regularly or not. 

Even so, there’s a huge amount of practicality to the cabin. You can fold the third-row seats and stow them away under the boot floor, or if you need to use them there are vents as well as a fan speed controller and a set of rear reading lights. The boot also has a light that doubles as a flashlight, and there’s a 12-volt outlet. There is one shallow cupholder and two small storage boxes on top of the wheel-arches.

In the second row the seats are also individually operable, with all three sliding and/or folding as required. The outboard seats also have a clever seat base flip-up function, allowing them to move all the way forward for easier third-row access. 

The space in the second row is easily good enough for three adults to slot across, though the roof-mounted middle seatbelt is a bit annoying. There are air-vents with fan controls mounted in the B-pillars, and the front seat-backs have clever flip-down tables with lighting, and there are mesh map pockets below. There is another 12-volt outlet, a pair of slim door pockets (not big enough for bottles), but no cupholders.

The front cabin is better sorted for storage of odds and ends - there is a pair of (small, shallow) cupholders between the seats, an enormous central console box that’s easily copious enough for phones, wallets, keys and the like, plus another storage area near where you plug in your USB/auxiliary device. The way the owners manual/logbook slots under the steering wheel is neat, and the glove box is fine, too, plus there are reasonably good sized door pockets, but again they lack sculpted bottle holsters.

One little issue I had was with the steering adjustment toggle - it’s quite springy… so much so that it sprung back and hurt my finger every time I adjusted it. That mightn’t be an issue if you’re the sole driver, but it’s worth noting.

As striking as the lovely leather trim is, the dashboard design is what I love most about this car. There’s a huge 12.0-inch high-definition top screen that shows you an enormous digital speed readout, plus you can have it show you the mapping and sat nav, or the car’s vital measures, or see where your car is positioned by way of the standard-fit 360-degree camera.

The lower 7.0-inch touchscreen is where the action happens: it’s your point of control for the media system, including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring, the dual-zone climate controls, car settings, and phone. There are supplementary volume and track controls, plus the steering wheel has things sorted pretty well in terms of ergonomics, too.

Okay, to clarify: I love this set up to a degree. I don’t like that the air conditioning controls (apart from de-mist for front and rear windscreens) are all within the lower screen, which means - on a really hot day, for instance - you have to fumble through menus and tap the screen repeatedly, rather than just turn a dial or two. Every sweaty second counts when it’s 40-degrees-plus outside.

Our test vehicle’s 1447kg kerb weight and 2010kg GVM results in a useful 563kg payload rating.

It’s also rated to tow up to 1500kg of braked trailer and with its 3510kg GCM (or how much it can legally carry and tow at the same time) it can carry its maximum payload while towing its maximum trailer weight for optimum versatility.

Cargo bay access is through asymmetric rear barn-doors which can be opened to 180 degrees for forklift and loading dock access, or sliding doors on each side with (according to our tape measure) 625mm openings. The walls and doors are lined to mid-height and there’s internal lighting.

The cargo bay’s load volume is a competitive 3.3 cubic metres and with more than 1.8 metres in length, almost 1.6 metres in width and more than 1.2 metres between the rear-wheel housings, it can easily swallow one standard Aussie pallet or two Euro pallets.

The load floor, which does not include a protective liner as standard equipment, offers a choice of six load-anchorage points.

The solid bulkhead doubles as a sturdy cargo barrier and insulates the cabin from cargo bay noise, most of which comes from the tyres emanating through the rear-wheel housings.

Given its compact dimensions, the cabin is surprisingly spacious and accommodating even for someone my height (186cm), thanks to front doors that open to a full 90 degrees, generous leg and elbow room plus a high roof relative to the seating position that adds to the airy feel.

Storage includes a large-bottle holder and bin in the base of each door, single glove box, full-width overhead shelf, large open tray in the centre of the dash-pad and (in standard form at least) a centre console with two cupholders and trays for small items.

However, given our test vehicle is equipped with the optional Business Pack, the standard console is replaced with a more elaborate version, which in addition to a pair of cupholders has a wireless phone-charging dock up front and a box with hinged lid at the back.

There’s also a sizeable clamshell-lid compartment set into the dash-pad ahead of the driver, which includes a smartphone holder on a stalk that can be easily moved to either side of the compartment depending on driver preference.

Our only criticism is the lid on the optional console box. Although it’s been thoughtfully angled downwards at the front to provide the driver with comfortable elbow support, there’s no mechanism on the hinge to hold it in the open position.

This makes it awkward to access the box, as the angled lid naturally wants to keep closing on your hand, so a detent in the hinge would be useful.

And, in a similar context, we’d also like to see hinge detents (or struts) to firmly hold the rear barn-doors open in their 180-degree positions, given their propensity to slam shut if hit by wind gusts during loading/unloading.

This can potentially injure the operator, so these devices should be standard issue, not only for Kangoos but all barn-door vans.

The Kangoo petrol range is available in SWB (short wheelbase) with a choice of six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, plus a LWB (long wheelbase) model available only with the auto.

Our test vehicle is the SWB auto, powered by the same 1.3-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine shared by all petrol models, for a list price of $41,990.

That figure sits comfortably between petrol rivals in the small van class, including the Peugeot Partner Pro Short ($39,990) and Volkswagen Caddy Cargo TSI220 ($43,990).

Our example has been enhanced with genuine accessory carpet mats ($167) plus some desirable options including 'Highland Grey' metallic paint ($800) and the ‘Peace of Mind Pack’ ($1500) comprising blind-spot monitoring, front/rear/side parking sensors, driver attention alert, high-beam assist, navigation, overspeed prevention and traffic sign recognition.

It’s also equipped with the ‘Business Pack’ ($3000) which adds tyre pressure monitoring, hands-free key card, body-coloured external door handles, climate control, adaptive cruise control, centre console with armrest and storage, wireless smartphone charger, extra tinted rear barn-door glass, front fog lights, LED headlights and a leather-wrapped steering wheel.

This is in addition to its work-focused standard equipment list which includes 16-inch steel wheels and 205/65 R16 tyres with a full-size spare, plus auto-door lock when driving, rain-sensing wipers, a reversing camera and more.

The two-seater cabin, which is separated from the cargo bay by a solid bulkhead, is equipped with an electronic parking brake, two USB ports, two 12-volt sockets, a colour 4.2-inch driver’s info display and a multimedia system controlled by an 8.0-inch central touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity and smartphone dock.

In addition to its option packs, Renault also offers numerous single options including a 200kg GCM upgrade, different cargo bay sliding-door configurations, a smart digital rear view mirror and more.

Under the bonnet is a 1.6-litre petrol four-cylinder turbo unit producing 121kW of power (at 6000rpm) and 240Nm of torque (at a low 1400rpm). If you think about what other seven-seat people-movers have, that’s only okay - for instance, the cheaper LDV G10 people mover has 165kW/330Nm.

The Citroen may have a smaller engine capacity and outputs, but it’s also quite light - it weighs 1505kg (kerb weight) because it’s so small. The LDV, by contrast, weighs 2057kg. In short, it punches at, but not really beyond, its weight.

The Grand C4 Picasso is front-wheel drive, and uses a six-speed automatic transmission with a manual mode and paddle-shifters… yes, that seems unnecessary. The shifter is up on the steering column, which is an ingenious use of space, but the fact it has a dedicated manual mode means you may often choose M rather than D, particularly if you’re in a hurry.

If you plan to do a lot of towing, this isn’t the car for you. The claimed towing capacity is 600 kilograms for a trailer without brakes, or just 800kg for a braked trailer. The diesel is a better bet if that matters to you, with a 750kg un-braked/1300kg braked rating… though that’s still below average compared to some similarly priced petrol seven-seat SUVs like the Mitsubishi Outlander (750kg/1600kg), LDV D90 (750kg/2000kg) or Nissan X-Trail (750kg/1500kg).

The Euro 6 emissions-compliant 1.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine produces 96kW at 5000rpm and 240Nm at 1600rpm.

Its seven-speed dual-clutch automatic provides the option of sequential manual-shifting plus three drive modes comprising 'Normal', 'Eco' and 'Performance', which alter the shift calibrations to optimise engine efficiency in each setting. They are selected using a button on the dash.

The claimed fuel use for the Grand C4 Picasso petrol model is just 6.4 litres per 100 kilometres, which is rather impressive. It requires 95RON premium unleaded, meaning the cost at the pump can be markedly higher than regular 91RON. 

In the real world, a lot of turbocharged cars tend to be thirstier than the claim suggests, but we saw a relatively decent 8.6L/100km during our time in the Grand C4 Picasso. 

By comparison, the diesel is said to use a miserly 4.5L (17-inch wheels) or 4.6L (18s). 

Let’s do some maths: the average cost per 1000km, based on claimed fuel usage, works out to $65 for the diesel and $102 for the petrol, and you’ll get about 40 per cent more distance per tank out of the diesel, and typically diesel is cheaper. But even so, the extra $6000 outlay on the initial purchase of the diesel will still take plenty of mileage before you break even.

Renault claims average combined consumption of 6.4L/100km and the dash display was showing 7.8 when we stopped to refuel at the completion of our 254km test, of which about one third of that distance was hauling more than half a tonne of payload. We also had the annoying engine auto stop/start function switched off for the duration.

Our own figure, calculated from fuel bowser and tripmeter readings, was higher again at 8.6 which was still within the usual 2.0-3.0L/100km discrepancy between official and ‘real world’ figures.

So, based on our consumption number, you could expect a ‘real world’ driving range of around 630km from its 54-litre tank which should only be filled with premium petrol (min 95 RON).

I’ve mentioned the word ‘charm’ already in this review, and the adjective to describe what I think about the drive experience is ‘charming’.

I love it.

It has that French suspension set-up that just doesn’t get bothered by sharp bumps because it has been tuned to deal with cobblestone alleyways. It rides beautifully at high and low speeds, loping over speed humps with ease, cosseting those in the cabin from the surface below.

It’s also tremendously quiet, with hardly any road noise intrusion in the cabin compared to the vast majority of cars out there. The coarse-chip surfaces of the M4 in Western Sydney usually offer up an ear-bashing, but not here.

The 1.6-litre engine is perky enough.

The steering is like that of a hatchback, with a tight (10.8m) turning circle enabling you to pivot on yourself more readily than you might think. The steering is also quite enjoyable if you like to drive, but don’t push too hard - understeer is an imminent threat, though the grip on offer is quite good.

The 1.6-litre engine is perky enough, and responds well both in stop-start traffic and on the highway - but there is no doubt about it, the 2.0-litre turbo diesel model’s 370Nm of torque makes for motoring with a lot less effort and strain. Not that the engine in the petrol model feels like it can’t get the job done - it just feels like it could do with a little more pulling power… Again, not enough to rule it out of contention, because it’s nicely refined. 

The six-speed automatic is geared towards efficiency, which means that you might find it in third gear before a hill and somewhat hesitant to drop back a gear to gather more pace. I didn’t find this too annoying, but it did help me finally understand why the manual shift and paddles are fitted.  

On the whole, there is a lot to like about this: it’s a family-focused car with family-focused dynamics on all fronts. 

Apart from the huge and unavoidable solid-walled blind-spot over the driver’s left shoulder, the Kangoo feels more like a nippy small car than a commercial van.

The driver’s seat has no adjustments for lumbar support or base-cushion rake and the backrest angle is restricted by the bulkhead close behind it, but there’s still enough room even for tall people to find a comfortable driving position.

Its leather-rimmed wheel feels nice in your hands and the unladen ride quality is excellent, with nicely weighted and responsive steering feel, reassuringly strong braking and suspension settings that combine good handling response with supple bump absorption.

The turbocharged 1.3-litre four is a refined and willing performer, albeit with softer response below its peak torque band which is tapped at 1600rpm.

From there it happily spins its way to maximum power at 5000rpm, with the dual-clutch auto getting the best out of this engine in all drive modes, when either unladen or hauling a heavy load.

Its diminutive size and agility are well suited to zipping through heavy city traffic, squeezing into tight loading zones or negotiating narrow and crowded city lanes for delivery work.

Manual sequential-shifting allows more direct control if preferred when hauling heavy loads, or for those simply wanting a more engaging drive experience (particularly in Performance mode).

It's impressively quiet up to 80km/h in city and suburban use, but at highway speeds tyre noise becomes more intrusive (particularly on coarse bitumen surfaces) and some wind noise is evident.

The engine requires only 2000rpm to maintain 110km/h cruising speeds and the (optional) adaptive cruise control is resolute in maintaining its speed settings, even on long and steep descents.

To test its GVM rating, we forklifted 415kg into the cargo bay which with driver equalled a payload of just over half a tonne, or about 50kg under its legal limit.

The rear suspension compressed 55mm, which engaged the long cone-shaped jounce rubbers positioned inside the rear coil springs to provide a second stage of load support.

The Kangoo coped commendably with this payload, floating smoothly over bumps and with minimal effect on handling, braking and engine performance.

It also made light work of our 13 per cent gradient, 2.0km-long set climb at 60km/h, quickly self-shifting down to fourth gear to easily reach the summit.

Engine-braking on the way down was not as robust, as you’d expect from such a small engine with more than half a tonne on its back, but still within expectations for small vans.

Our only gripes are the absence of a full-width driver’s left footrest and that the thick panel separating the bulkhead windows almost completely blocks the central mirror’s view through the LHS barn-door. You can option a smart digital mirror with rear-facing camera to resolve this issue, but that’s another $800.

Citroen has just updated its ownership promise to consumers, with passenger vehicles attracting a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty plan, which is backed by a five-year/unlimited kilometre roadside assist package. 

Previously, the plan was three years/100,000km - and that’s even what some of the paperwork on the company’s site still suggests. We assure you, though, the five-year deal is legit.

Servicing is due every 12 months or 20,000km, whichever occurs first, under the Citroen Confidence Service Price Promise plan. The costs for the first three services are $414 (first service), $775 (second service) and $414 (third). That cost cover spans nine years/180,000km.

The Kangoo petrol is backed by a five year/200,000km warranty, whichever occurs first. There's also complimentary roadside assist for up to four years/120,000km, with annual renewals available after that.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/30,000km with capped-pricing for the first five scheduled services totalling $2385, or an average of $477 per year.