New Citroen C4 Grand Picasso Exclusive+ : Feedback/questions

[Muppetboy]

Picked up my new car nearly 10 weeks ago (eHDi diesel 1.6ltr semi-automatic). Absolutely love it despite having a couple of issues with it to start with. The amount of knobs, bells and whistles seemed to be daunting at first but being a gadget freak, it didn't take that long to master them. In fact, I think all the controls are very well placed. I know some people have commented (not here) that the steering wheel has too many buttons but I don't think it does. Completely functional and I use them all on a regular basis. Especially Active/radar Cruise Control.*

* During active/radar cruise control, it uses "engine braking" to reduce speed when the vehicle in front is slower but here's a question: Does this method of engine braking use more or less fuel?

The version I have is the 1.6 Blue HDi. When compared to my previous car - Ford Galaxy Titanium - the difference in fuel consumption is vast. The Citroen's Eco mode certainly makes a difference too. Then again, the Galaxy was a 2ltr diesel.

Overall, I can't really fault it. I have five kids and my youngest two sit comfortably in the rear. Done over 3,500 miles so far and none of my kids have complained of being uncomfortable on long journeys. The massage function is great on long journeys. My other half loves the extending leg rest lol. A real neat feature on this car is the seatbelt sensors on ALL 7 seats. I believe this should be standard on all MPV's. When you consider my previous car was the Ford Galaxy (advertised as a family car as the C4 GP is too); only the two front seats had seatbelt sensors so if a child undoes there seatbelt in the rear, you are not going to know unless another child exclaims what they've done.

I've had one major failure with the car though. The main 12" panel blew. As you can imagine, it displays everything including the all important speedometer of which it's illegal to drive a car without a speedo and trying to guess what speed you're doing in urban areas requires some guesswork. The car had to go into a Citroen garage for nearly two weeks as the panel had to be ordered from France. The mechanics had no idea what could had caused this to happen either. A case of one of those things.


Trivial missing/improvements?

Despite all the wondrous gadgets and what I consider to be ahead of it's game when compared to other brand motors in the technology field, I was surprised to notice there is no screenwash low level/out indicator on the dashboard. This is something impossible to judge and I worry that I'd end up knackering the screenwash motor (or whatever you call it) on activating it when tank is empty. Minor oversight but still a little surprised none-the-less.

It would had been nice if the time was permanently displayed without having to hit the Start button.

I've found a silly trivial bug in the software as well. If you "mute" music whilst the engine is running. Then turn off the engine. Now turn on the radio (press on/off button to left of bottom touch screen) and hit the Mute button again (on steering wheel). Then press Start (without Brake pedal depressed). On the top panel in the top left, it shows the music is still muted (red circle with a line through it)... when it isn't. Heh heh.

[momag46]

I've had my 'very grand' but not the 'grand' since March and agree with everything Muppetboy says. My car is the 1.6 Exclusive+ with the ETG6 gearbox and I'm very impressed.

The active/radar 'engine braking' system helps to top up the battery on the engine over-run.

I added speed cameras to the satnav for less than £7 from the Citroen site and also noted that dispite what the handbook says the system does make full UK postcodes.
For a steel sprung car the ride is excellent, even no-car-interested passangers have commented on how good the ride is.

I've only got a few niggles:
1. Sometimes (can't work out why) the jukebox defaults to the first track when starting the car.
2. The electric park brake control is just above the central storage box and is easy to operate in error!!!
3. No visible date (my New C4 had the date visible all the time)
4. I've been unable to find out how to load photos into the system (I know it's minor but I would like to know how to do it)

ALSO - I noticed when looking at the brochure that every body panel is different on the C4P & C4GP (the bonnet may be the same). !!!!!!!

[Muppetboy]

The active/radar 'engine braking' system helps to top up the battery on the engine over-run.

Didn't know that. Thanks for the heads up.

I added speed cameras to the satnav for less than £7 from the Citroen site and also noted that dispite what the handbook says the system does make full UK postcodes.

Blimey. There's me cursing the sat-nav for "not allowing postcodes" when in fact you can! Thought I had digested the whole of the C4GP owners handbook! I've just gone out to my car and tried it (entering postcode in the "City" field) entering my old postcode in Essex and whilst it came with the correct information in the "City" field (Postcode and town), it didn't display the name of the road in "Road" field or allow me to enter door number though. Ngh! Unless it does automatically enter road name with other postcodes, I don't know. Hoping it does as I do a lot of pickups and rely on Google navigation on my mobile when the Citroen satnav can't pick up an address.

For a steel sprung car the ride is excellent, even no-car-interested passangers have commented on how good the ride is.

Whole-heatedly agree. Both myself and wife have medical issues and comfort is essential. Certainly a lot smoother than my previous car (Ford Galaxy). Those speed humps are less noticeable!

I've only got a few niggles:
3. No visible date (my New C4 had the date visible all the time).

Yup. Quite annoying that oversight. Might seem trivial but many cars have this by default. I'd never be surprised if this gets added as I would had thought it would be a simple software update. You can view the date by calling up the Calendar though (not ideal but it's there...). My previous car software got updated when it went in to have the brake lights fixed (again) and the engine temperature had been added to the screen.

4. I've been unable to find out how to load photos into the system (I know it's minor but I would like to know how to do it)

Yet to try that so can't help there. Sorry.

Does anyone notice different length in "boot up" times with the software? Sometimes the Citroen logo is displayed on the touch screen for about 15 seconds. Other times, it's only a few. Whether it's cold start or not, it doesn't differentiate boot up times either.

[vborovic]

The newest sat nave devices are computers in almost full sense, so boot up is random time, until they load everything required ... I have a RT6 (eMyWay), and it too can be anywhere between 5-15 seconds before the Citroen logo disappears (radio/music starts playing after 2-3 secs from ignition, and you can change volume, etc., but the logo is on until it goes away) ... cold/hot start doesn't make any noticeable difference ... you just have to take that as is ...

[Muppetboy]

You are right, vborovic - just one of those things.

Any petrol-heads here (actually, my car is diesel lol) know the answer to the question I had asked in my first post:

During active/radar cruise control, it uses "engine braking" to reduce speed when the vehicle in front is slower but here's a question: Does this method of engine braking use more or less fuel?

[myglaren]

Watch the instantaneous MPG display.
I use engine braking a lot and when doing so the MPG frequently shows 999mpg - i.e. using no fuel whatsoever.
I believe that in all injected engines the fuel is shut off completely on the overrun.

[sparksie]

Yes, and on some carburetted engines too!
Pretty much anything since the '90s has fuel shut-off on the overrun.
I was intrigued by an earlier comment.

The active/radar 'engine braking' system helps to top up the battery on the engine over-run.

Is this in addition to the fact that the alternator is being driven by the over-running engine?
I thought regenerative braking was the preserve of hybrid and fully electric vehicles!
Though I remember an early experiment, involving a large rotating mass being sped up to huge rpm under braking and then connected to the driveline to restore the lost momentum.
I think it was on Tomorrows World at a time when Maggie Philbin was a presenter.

[momag46]

Just a note - I believe the 'battery top-up' setup is in place due to the stop-start system.

[Muppetboy]

Hello again all. Another question. This time about the ICE setup and use of USB memory stick for mp3 files (music):

What's the maximum size in Gb is permitted?
How many folders and/or files are allowed?

The reason I ask is because I seem to be having a problem whereby no matter what size USB stick I use (have tried 16Gb and currently 64Gb (which co-incidentally was shrunk to 8Gb for testing purposes) and once music files are copied across from my PC to memory stick. My ICE system will only show up to the letter "M" when displaying a list of albums. Even if I change settings to show the artist or individual files, I still can't see all the files.

Some of the folders do contain a maximum of two sub-folders to keep artists collated, etc.

I've searched the 'net but can't find any answers.

The stick also has to be formatted to FAT32 otherwise ICE doesn't recognise it. Other info: number of folders (roughly): 25. Number of music files: 400.

Hope someone technically minded with the ICE system can advise. Any responses will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[vborovic]

On the RT6 it is very similar, up to 500 files can be accessible on the USB, don't know if there is an exact number (officially) for the nav units, but this is the knowledge that is passed around

[Muppetboy]

I'm trying something different at the moment. Going through all my music (using a backup in case things go belly up) and:

1. Removing special characters from mp3 files so only alpha-numerical characters remain. Using a program called Renamer for this which allows you to select multiple files and strip files of the aforementioned.

2. Shorten filenames to 20 characters in length.

About half way through now so will report back in a few days to let you all know if this method works. Fingers crossed....

[vborovic]

I don't think file names make any impact, only the file/folder count, but tbh I didn't have time to make a test like you're doing on my RT6 unit

[Muppetboy]

I've finally finished renaming files and remove folders within folders. Everything copied onto USB stick. Will try it in car tomorrow. Fingers crossed....

[Muppetboy]

It worked! Every folder and mp3 file is now accessible.

Although the very first track started playing as soon as the USB stick was inserted, I purposely left it for a good five minutes before I started selecting other tracks so that ICE could read everything first and build a "playlist" (as per car handbook userguide).

So basically, the trick is (in my case anyway), is to ensure there are no folders within folders. And to ensure not one mp3 file contains special characters and only alpha-numerical. Shortening the name of files might help too.

I love my car but even now, it still seems that while it is technically innovative and advanced, there is little support / information on the ICE system. I had even asked my local Citroen dealer about this and basically got blank responses.


*Post edited* Missing words. Tsk.

[Hell Razor5543]

Well done, not only for resolving the issue, but for explaining it clearly for anybody else who might have the same problem.