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As I predicted the real weight is 200 kilos greater than the claimed weight. I do not have a V5C as the car is owned by motability. As you say the hand book numbers are not reliable but Renault Vauxhall to name just two others have the same weight variation problems.

Just been to the public weighbridge and the car weight is 1660 Kilos including a full tank of diesel that's 57 litres weight approx. 57 kilos. Add two people 150 kilos plus all the usual travelling stuff and I will be well in the 80% rule-as long as the awning goes in the car. And we do not overload the caravan. The caravan nose weight is 100 kilos and the Picasso maximum is 70 kilos but at legal speeds in gusty winds this has not been a problem. Off to Findhorn Bay for a fortnight this weekend that's a 3 hour tow up the A9 just hope its a quiet one unlike last years explosive caravan tyre decompression!

I do intend to weigh the Picasso but time pressure to get away to the west coast prevented that. I will post the weight on my return in a couple of weeks. Now up to 900 miles still getting to grips with the cars software. All main functions-gear changing-cruise control-radio-media-navigation etc can be operated from the steering wheel. Sounds simple but in practice fiddly and worse-distracting! The functions can be run more simply off the big touch screen for the sat nav and rear camera only you must take your eyes off the road! The gearbox is a "cleverer" box than first Picasso and my recent Ford Galaxy EG on downhill slopes it senses the slope and unlike the former stays in 4th gear thereby providing downhill engine braking. The pesky previous boxes would change up denying me engine braking! Remember if you have a removable tow bar do not carry it in the car its a hefty bit of iron-leave it in the caravan or your garage when not in use. Remember to remove it when not in use my fitter told me failure to follow this practice results firstly in a lock which rusts solid followed by the removable bar being impossible to remove. Its a very easy car to operate on the very demanding west coast passing place roads fuel economy is way up on my Ford Galaxy 50% better towing the same caravan! My only moan is a stowage area is provided in the tailgate for a breakdown triangle-BUT-its EMPTY!! Come on Citroen £25000 car surely there is enough money in the kitty to supply a plastic triangle!! I am stowing my 15 year old Audi triangle supplied with my old Audi 80.

I took delivery of my 150BHP Picasso C4 Grand on Tuesday put a few hundred miles on it before towing my Swift Challenger 540 150 miles from Livingston to Glenbarr over the Rest and be Thankful down the A83 via Tarbert. To describe the tow as testing every aspect would be accurate in reasonable conditions. The conditions were far from reasonable strong sunshine torrential cloudbursts and very gusty conditions. I elected to use manual control via the much improved paddle shift gear change which I was assured was NOT an option due to the 150 BHP! This resulted in an average of 29MPG over the tow. There were no problems during the trip the car handled the rain and wind without fuss. The maximum downforce is 70K I balanced the van at 60K with no "nodding" taking place. Mostly in 4th gear but travelled at 60MPH on the M8 thought I might have trouble on the Erskine bridge with gusts but only problem was negotiating the single carriageway roadworks! The car is fitted with a removable tow ball which is "seen" by the sensors when reversing so fixed tow bars could be a problem. The reversing camera picks up the tow ball so hitching up will be a doddle when the car is a bit older. I am not risking the days old rear bumper-yet! You must be careful fitting your tow mirrors or you could get a big bill! The folding wing mirrors cannot be disabled by the user Citroen must do it-according to the manual-which took me 2 hours to get through! Sadly you are not going to be able to drive this car and get its full potential without reading the manual. Unless you a 12 year old school boy.

No build date yet I am expecting delivery in June and will proceed to the weigh bridge where I expect it to be overweight. Just contemplating whether to shell out £400[fitted] for the removable tow ball/bar[Witter] or save money on the fixed. The fixed on my Ford Galaxy is a constant source of irritation since the parking sensors "see" the tow ball requiring me to switch them off on the dash. It does not happen every time I reverse but enough to render the sensors pretty ineffective. Must say I am looking forward to the reversing camera at least that will not beep!

I am getting the vehicle under the motability scheme so I have to get authority to tow from them. In a few days I am going to print this thread and submit it to he citroen dealer. Motability will not authorise an unsuitable vehicle. The kerb weight of my present tow car the Ford Galaxy is 1803 kilos quite a difference.

Thanks for information I have the handbook for the new picasso grand it gives the following information HDi115 Airdream kerb weight 1320 mass in service 1610 mass laden weight 2150 max braked towing weight 1500 Blue HDi150 2 litre kerb weight 1430 mass in service 1705 mass laden weight 2250 max braked towing weight 1700 Autocars test vehicle was 255 kilos overweight delivered so well up weight wise 27th November 2013

Hi all had a test drive in the grand 7 seater HDi 115 Airdream with 117 HP diesel engine. Mightily impressed. I expected the old nodding duck French road holding of my previous new grand 7 seater 2 litre diesel of 6 years ago. What a revelation better than my choppy 3 years with me Ford Galaxy- light years better than my old citroen . The cabin plastics are way better than my previous Citroen they look like they will last my required time 3 years and 60000 miles. Quieter than the Ford at 70 plus MPH on the motorway. Now to my question I tow a 1480 kilo caravan the old 2 litre diesel was adequate. Will the 117 HP diesel be ok I am quite happy with the paddleshift g/box since its a lease vehicle. Would I be better getting the new 2 litre BlueHDi diesel with the much reduced MPG?