THE seven-seat version of Citroen's Grand Picasso brings with it bags of French flair and new levels of economy, comfort and practicality.

It has always been amongst the top seven-seaters but the new model took the Picasso to new heights.

The Grand Picasso prices start at £19,200 and go all the way up to £27,855 an average of about £2,000 more than the standard five-seat models.

For that extra cash you get bags of extra space, two more seats and specification levels that match or even beat some premium brands.

Better looking crossover vehicles have resulted in significant sales drops for slab-sided MPVs but the Grand Picasso looks great - a thing I don't often say about this type of vehicle. It is a very stylish car with a clean design and its chevron grille and slender LED running lights give it a futuristic look.

It has been stretched by 17cm to provide the extra room but it does not look bulky and its unique rear lamps help it stand out from its smaller sibling. The windscreen is huge so visibility is excellent and the cabin is bright and spacious.

The dash has an upmarket feel to it with soft plastics and it is dominated by two screens. A 12-inch TFT screen provides all the information and a smaller touch-sensitive screen allows you to control things.

Specifications are generous throughout the range and bags of luxury kit is included in the more expensive models.

The extra dimensions mean the Grand Picasso is considerably roomier inside and with five seats in use you can have between 632 to 793 litres of space depending on seat configurations.

If you fold flat the middle seats you can have a van-like 2,100 litres of space. Even with all seven seats in use you can still utilise 165 litres of space.

It is extremely easy to find a comfortable driving position as there is plenty of seat and steering wheel adjustment and on the move the ride is good and the handling composed.

There is a fair amount of body roll but there is decent grip and you can make good progress even on the twisty stuff.

I sampled the popular 1.6 diesel earlier this year but this time I have been trying a more powerful and luxurious model in the shape of the 2.0-litre Exclusive+ Blue HDi.

The smooth engine is good enough for 0 to 62mph in just 9.8 seconds and can go on to a top speed of 130mph.

Combined with stop/start and a six-speed manual gearbox Citroen claims it is good for 65.7mpg on the combined cycle with emissions of 113g/km. I never got near that figure in real world driving but I did average 48.6mpg which is still great for this size of vehicle.

The Grand Picasso has all the latest safety equipment and gets a five-star Euro NCAP rating. This model is packed with just about every gadget you would want and the goodies are too numerous to mention.

My main criticism of the car remains the same. Its futuristic display and controls which are situated in the middle of the dash lead to simple tasks causing problems as you are forced to take your eye off the road to choose a radio station or change the temperature. The steering wheel also has far too many buttons and in an effort to make things simpler Citroen have made things difficult.

Otherwise the Grand Picasso is a superb package if you need loads of space and seven-seats but the cheaper models in the range make more sense.