The Overview
Here we have Citroen’s revamped C4 Cactus. Now in its fourth year Citroën have tamed the design down quite noticeably while making some changes underneath. In short, the Cactus is a sort of hatchback SUV crossover built to a price while saving weight by not including items Citroën deem superfluous for this kind of car like. Gone are the air bumps and bulky patches on the bumper. Instead, we have the new corporate front but still retaining the unusual interior. We take the Flaire Blue HDi 100 diesel for a drive.
The Drive
The first thing you will notice immediately is the ride. It’s soft. Really soft. It’s a throwback to a bygone era of the French automotive industry where the French roads were appalling and their cars rode softly. Ironically with the rise of the pothole in the UK, it’s the French that comes out tops again and the ride is not unpleasant.
Citroën has invested a lot of time and money into developing a ride system that almost mimics that of the hydropneumatic cars. It’s compliant, wobbly and lollops over undulated roads and badly repaired parts.
There is, however, a downside to this and that is it has a tendency to amplify the noise of some ridges within the road. It’s no worse than in any hard riding car except it feels a bit more amplified because it’s such a change from the usual soft quiet ride.
All this ride and handling would be nothing if it didn’t have an engine to suit and while l was critical of the new C3 that we had the same engine. It thwarted good progress. All that is forgotten in the Cactus. The engine felt alive and engaging. There is also an extra 36 Ib.ft of torque available now and that really does make the difference. The Cactus is a fun car to drive.
The Cabin
There haven’t really been any changes done to the cabin except the seats have been tweaked to feel a little softer. I can’t even say to you if they are too soft or not. What probably gives the feeling of being even softer than they actually are is their use of soft fabrics. Again I can’t complain.
The infotainment systems speeds do however appear to have been made to respond quicker to the touch and their actions.
Owning
The Verdict
I’m at a loss with the Cactus revamp. By losing the mid panel air bumps and smoothing off the edges, it takes away the fundamental designs that made the Cactus unique. You could almost call this the Citroen concept car for the road. It’s still a good car, just lacks the stand out feature it once had.
Instead of the looks making it different from the crowd it’s now that ride that is where the magic is. It’s good and I give it the big thumbs up.
What I can’t accept is the build quality. While the inside is well put together, it’s the paint on the outside that isn’t. We noticed unpainted areas within the boot shut, tailgate and A-post. For the £20k asking price, this is unacceptable. With that said I had no trouble selling this to a friend who has one of the first. A returning customer says it all really.
Likes
Engine willingness
Ride
New front
Loathes
Paint quality
Delayed screen wash wipe
Toned down looks
The Lowdown
Car – Citroën C4 Cactus Flaire Blue HDi 100
Price – £22,200 (as tested)
MPG – 76.3 (combined)
Power – 100 bhp
0-62mph – 10.7 seconds
Top Speed – 114 mph
Co2 – 96 (g/km)