911 for 2011: Picasso gets new rubber

DEVELOPMENTS with our new 911 for 2011 purchase are gathering pace quicker than we ever expected.

We’ve only had the seven-seat C4 Picasso for a few weeks, but now the car has a new set of boots courtesy of Continental, and ably fitted by National tyres.

But we need to rewind time a little to remind you what’s happened. The car came from Citroen’s contract hire fleet and with a bit of generosity from the French maker, we paid a measly £8k for 19,000-miler, 58-reg diesel MPV.

Although it was in good nick for £8k, the tyres were pretty worn and the car sported a few dings. While we accept these are perfectly acceptable for a car of this age, we realised that to get the most money for BEN, we needed to do something about it.

Enter Continental. A few phone calls and emails by us resulted in the tyre firm offering to pay for a new set of Continental ContiEcoContact 5s. This was very generous as the tyres are not only brand new boasting improved fuel economy, braking distances and noise reduction, but they retail, on average, for around £155 per tyre.

‘They’re so new I haven’t got them on my stock shelves yet,’ jokes Carl Page, National Tyre Centre Portsmouth’s manger. Page and his team were the men tasked with the job of getting rid of the balding Michelin rubber, and shodding the Picasso in lovely new Continentals.

Within 40 minutes Page and his two strong team of Connor and Vic had transformed the Picasso into a car that actually handles, stops and rides better. The wheels were balanced, and an off-hand piece of gossip by me that the tracking was out resulted in Page doing the tracking too – free of charge!

The only thing we’ve got left to do on the Picasso is sort the paintwork out. It’s not bad – far from it, but we want to get as much as we can for the car; more money for the Picasso means more money for BEN. ChipsAway are generously helping us out with that soon.

We’re so close we can ever hear the distinctive sound of a 911…. almost.