Road Test: Citroen C4 Picasso 1.6 HDi VTR 5dr

Here's a car marketing mystery. Answers on a postcard, please. By the time someone's resigned to buying a small MPV, do they really still give a toss about it looking sporty?

We've already established that the five-seat C4 Picasso, for all the rakish lines and angles, isn't exactly hot. Especially not as a 2.0-litre diesel.

But, as if determined prove us wrong on this one, the next version Citroen has thrown our way is the smaller 1.6-litre HDI VTR, a car whose lack of performance is even more apparent beneath its sporting badge.

What you get is the exact same - a really very good, five-seat family car - but this time hitting 60mph in 12.7 seconds and topping out at 112mph.

What the VTR spec provides is something called a Mistral dashboard, body-coloured bumper inserts, door mirrors, door handles and rubbing strip. (In car world body-coloured = sporty). You also get 16-inch alloy wheels and, genius this, a rear spoiler.

If this was a Saxo, and you were an adolescent with nothing to do but pull doughnuts in the Aldi supermarket car park, all that would make sense. Sort of. But it's a stretch on a car expressly designed for families to go long distances in. Slowly.

Embrace what it does best and the C4 Picasso is a decent bit of kit. Put a roof spoiler on it, and you'll be disappointed.