Hands up all those who have sat in a cactus?
Not “on” a Cactus, sat “in” a Cactus, AKA a Citroen C4?
We’re prepared to go out on a spiky limb and say this could be Citroen’s halo car, at least as far as a potential ‘fleeter’ is concerned.
This will likely upset the French, because they’ve been trumpeting about the C3 Aircross recently.
You should know about the C3 Aircross, because it has become what the C4 was, a funkily French compact SUV. So why does Citroen have two of these? It doesn’t.
See, when the C3 became what the C4 was, the C4 became what the C3 still technically is, because the C3 micro hatch is still available to buy.
But the C4 became a mid-sized hatchback to take on the likes of the Ford Focus, the Mazda3, the Toyota Corolla and Holden’s Astra, just to give you an idea of the market the C4 Cactus plays in.
We’ve picked the comparison products we have, to prove Citroen is not messing about here. It’s taking on the conventional heavyweights because it can, kooky name notwithstanding.
The C4 for 2019 has lost some of the things that made it such an oddball in its previous generation – namely the Airbumps® midway up the door panels.
These Lego-like rubbing strips have the dual function of protecting the paint and looking distinctive, if not to everyone’s taste. The new C4 still has the Airbumps®; but they’re subtler now, found on the bottom of the door sills.
The car looks like a slightly-taller-than-most hatch and it appears to be slightly longer too, though it hardly suffers giganticism.
Typically, when a carmaker supersizes a product, it’s design teams have more space to put this, that and the other, but the enthusiasm for sprinkling toys around was obviously curtailed with the threat of guillotine action, because the company has shown remarkable restraint.
Oh, yes, you have the lane keep assist, the autonomous emergency brakes, the adaptive cruise control old uncle Pierre Cobbler and all, but in terms of frippery, non M’sieur. Aside from the chunky command tablet – the main human/car interface – the C4’s dashboard is nicely uncluttered.
The C4’s interior is all business with an ‘executive briefcase’ design motif running throughout. It’s very business-like and yet funkily different from the normal moulded plastics offset with some token leather inserts.
There’s one bit of weirdness, and that’s the raised mini airbumps on the passenger’s side of the dash, but these serve as grip points for anything that might be placed atop them. And they work, even holding magazines in place. Quite remarkable.
Not nearly as remarkable however, as the space. There’s comfortable seating for five in the C4 and a truckload of bootspace. The seating is nicely droppable too, for those long objects that frequently need transporting.
Motive power is through the superb 1.2, three-cylinder Puretech petrol engine found in other French product and hailed as a triumph of economy and performance, while the transmission is the EAT 6 speed auto, which is neither a CVT, nor derived from one.
The combination is a winner and Citroen is all too aware of the fact.
What surprises most about the C4 however, is the quality of ride. Say what you like about Citroen, but this company really knowns its onions when it comes to suspension. The ride will impress.
Frugal, funky and fleet-friendly in terms of spec, space and sophistication. Not badly priced either.
Specifications:
Body type
Five-door hatch
Drive
Front wheel drive
Engine type
3-cylinder PureTech turbo petrol
Engine capacity
1199cc
Max power
81kW @ 5500rpm
Max torque
205Nm @ 1500rpm
l/100km (Combined)
5.3 litres
C02 emissions
119
Boot capacity
358 litres
ANCAP rating
5 star
Price
$35,990
