Full of bright ideas! We drive the new Citroen C4 Picasso a month before it goes on sale and discover it's a clear winner.

Byline: By Edward Stephens MOTORING EDITOR

CITROEN is taking a "lighter look" at the compact MPV market with a new model that has so much glass you could almost grow plants inside it.

The vast expanse of windows in the new seven-seater Citroen C4 Picasso means it's not only superbly light and airy inside but all round vision is brilliant from every angle.

The huge panoramic windscreen, which curves directly into the roof space, offers an unprecedented 70 degrees of forward vision.

Opt for one of the huge glass sunroofs too and you have an expanse which goes from the bonnet to the rear hatch with almost no intrusion.

Narrow windscreen pillars and the largest glass quarter lights of any compact MPV dramatically reduce the traditional front-three-quarter blind spot as well as letting even more light in.

But the "lighter look" tag goes far beyond the natural light through the windows aspect.

In the new C4 Picasso Citroen engineers have created a whole host of new illumination features. In fact, there are no less than 32 different interior light sources.

Put your hand into the door pockets, for example, and a sensor triggers a beam within the pocket to light up the contents so you can see what you are reaching for.

And pencil thin strip lighting has been built into the lower part of the dashboard, the doors and the roof headlining to emit an adjustable, subtle warm glow in the cabin to relax the occupants. If that was not enough there are "puddle lights" set into the exterior door mirrors to light the ground below when you approach the car, in the luggage area there is a rechargeable torch which illuminates the boot area when in place but can be removed for use away from the car and you can even opt for reading lights in the backs of the front seats - triggered when you lower the built-in aircraft-style trays.

One of the major concerns among MPV buyers is seating flexibility, and here the C4 Picasso is certainly at the head of the class.

The seven seats are arranged in a two-three-two seating configuration and to lower any or all of the seats in rows two and three takes seconds and you can do it with one finger if you want.

The rear row disappears into

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TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC... glass stretches almost uninterrupted from the bonnet to the rear hatch on the new C4 Picasso.