First Drive: Citroen C4 Cactus
Ever picked up a car park bump and cursed your luck? The brilliant new Citroen C4 Cactus might just be the car for you
What’s new?: As breaths of fresh air go, the Cactus is like a lung-full of West Scotland’s finest in the middle of rush-hour London. It’s a car designed to fit into real-world lifestyles where you need lots of places to store bits and pieces, where touch-screens are as second nature as a second scoop of ice cream and where people always manage to open their doors into your paintwork. The Cactus is built to take life’s little trials in its stride with a radical re-think.
Looks and image: That’s why you’ll find those curious and distinctive coloured panels along the sides. These ‘AirBump’ air-filled blocks are scratch-resistant and a bit bouncy, so errant supermarket trolleys and swinging coat zips won’t leave a mark. The same material is on the boot and in a few other places too, helping to avoid any ugly and expensive bodywork damage.
The Cactus is the first truly honest Citroen for years. It’s a bit madcap but not so much so to be off-putting. The controls are where you’d expect them, the pedals do what they should and the wheels aren’t made put of cheese. It’s simply very good at the everyday biffabout thing, and there’s no doubt a lot of people will be very taken by this.
Space and practicality: You don’t get as much outright space as you do in, say, a Seat Toledo, but the Cactus has a far greater character garnish to go with its healthy dollop of practicality. There are door pockets aplenty and a panoramic glass roof to give a more spacious-feeling cabin, and it’s fair to say there’s enough rear legroom for adults – just.
A really nice touch is the ‘suitcase-style’ interior detailing on the door pulls and glove box. It adds a sense of travel adventure, but there’s loads of room inside the glove-case to add substance to the style.
Behind the wheel: Citroen openly admits the Cactus is built to a price. That’s half the point; realistic ownership costs. With that in mind it’s amazing how quietly the 1.2-litre 110-horsepower petrol version bimbles around town. At 30mph in the fourth of five gears, the loudest thing is the air conditioning fan, which itself is only lightly breathing away in the background.
There’s nothing remarkable about the way it drives. The soft, chunky seats are unusual these days and very comfortable, the steering is quite slow and unthreatening, and the ride is very smooth over good surfaces and undulating bumps. It’s worse over sharp bumps, mind you, where the suspension crashes unexpectedly and noisily, but on the whole the driving experience is that of a car you’d never regret buying or dislike owning. It feels a bit like a loyal family pet.
Value for money: In terms of raw space there’s more for your money out there. But ‘value’ cars tend to be a bit soulless and that always counts against them. The Cactus definitely has more of a character and a charm that can’t entirely be priced up. In terms of providing family-friendly transport that you’re not afraid to see bumped around now and again, what could be better?
There could be clever finance deals on the cards, too, if the UK follows suit with Spain’s ‘pay as you drive’ mileage-based finance scheme.
Who would buy one?: The brilliant news is that this won’t just appeal to budget-led buyers who hate looking after their cars. It’s a damn fine everyday car with some great quirks and an unusual look, so parents looking for something livelier-looking to put on the drive will love it; as will people bored with the same old hatchback crowd.
This car summed up in a single word: Unconventional
If this car was a…: Fashion revolution, it would be the miniskirt. Among a sea of relative boredom it dares to be different, and while it’ll raise a few eyebrows, it turns heads and creates big smiles.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
Citroen C4 Cactus 1.2 PureTech 110, circa £16,000.
Engine: 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol unit producing 108bhp and 151lb/ft of torque
Transmission: Five-speed manual driving the front wheels
Performance: Top speed 117mph, 0-62mph in 9.3 seconds
Economy: 61.4mpg combined
Emissions: From 105g/km of CO2
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