C4 Cactus stands out from the crowd

Quirky is as quirky does and — in automotive terms — Citroen is the king of quirk.

Sat, 29 Sep, 2018 - 01:00

By Declan Colley

Quirky is as quirky does and — in automotive terms — Citroen is the king of quirk.

For many years the French outfit has bamboozled us with broadsides of innovation and oodles of left-field-ness that has engendered lots of purebred fans and little mainstream success.

Citroen, by its very nature, simply has to be different from the norm; that trait is embedded in its DNA.

And, with such as the C4 Cactus which arrived with us in 2014, the company has consistently provided us with the inimitable and the unique in an insouciant and devil-may-care sort of way.

I mean, what normal car company would make a big deal out of putting a plastic shopping trolley scrape-saver on the side of one of its cars and make out like it was a piece of modern art?

And who would design a couple of roof rails shaped like grotesque ski-jump skis? Well, Citroen would — bien sûr.

The design of the C4 Cactus caused much debate, not least because it was different from the norm and that of course was its’ raison d’etre.

For all that chatter, however, the ‘vive le difference’ factor did not truly translate into a shed-load of sales.

People liked the look — complimented it, even — but that did not necessarily mean they were going to lash out hard-earned shekels for it. Not in their droves, anyway.

Of course the look of the 2014 car echoed the rush to the altar of the SUV, but the C4 Cactus was never an SUV or a crossover, it was much more of a normal small family car in the same way as a Focus or a Golf.

And now that time has come around for the look to be face-lifted Citroen has dialled back on the modern artiness and the company’s inviolate need to stand out from the pack.

So, gone are the shopping trolley scrape-saver ‘airbumps’ and the ski-jump roof rails as the C4 Cactus tries to gain some mainstream traction — à la Golf or Focus.

Sure the Citroen people have kept faith with the car’s unique twin-level headlamp arrangement and the colour contrasted fog lights which are now nicely incorporated into the front bumper, but much of what made it so visually individual, has been ditched.

Turns out the airbumps were not actually so effective at preventing minor supermarket dings and that appears to be the reason they have been shrunk and relegated to a lesser location than previously at the bottom end of back and front doors with much less visual impact.

Even so, with a little touch of colour contrasting, they do still have a design function (if not a practical one).

All this means that if Citroen has moved away from building something that is as much a design statement as it is a mere car, they are actually trying to increase its appeal in order to provoke a few extra sales rather than pub chatter.

They may very well succeed in this regard as the primary aim is now to shift units rather than provoke discourse and the focus has thus shifted to the practical abilities of the car and also on more traditional Citroen characteristics such as comfort levels.

To this end, the company has introduced such innovations as their trademarked Progressive Hydraulic Cushions which sit atop the front and rear suspensions and are aimed at providing more of the cushioned, floaty, driving sensation which has been so much part of the Citroen experience down the years.

Also fitted to the ‘Feel’ specification model we tested was the EAT6 six-speed automatic gearbox — alongside the Puretech 1.2 litre turbocharged petrol three-cylinder engine — and this too is aimed at further cossetting driver and passengers.

It might be that the keener driver will not be hugely impressed by this ‘box given its sluggish and lethargic operating characteristics — you practically have to give it written notice when you want it to kick down — but it does generally offer a level of sophistication not generally seen at the price.

The 109bhp three-pot engine is a very capable rather than outstanding engine, as evidenced by the 11.2 second 0-100 kph time and the 190 kph top speed, but it is quite economical and is capable of returning an impressive 5.3 l/100 km (52.8 mpg), while also emitting just 105 g/km of CO2 for a sub-€200 annual tax bill.

On the road, the Cactus will not startle you with its performance, but the package as a whole will immediately strike you as being terribly comfortable indeed.

Citroen’s — trademarked — ‘Advanced Comfort’ seats are fantastically supportive and, well, comfortable and, when you are finished languishing in them, you can take in what is a surprisingly generous specification package.

Aside from stuff such as automatic lights and wipers, Citroen has thrown stuff like leather trim (steering wheel, handbrake, gear knob and door handles), rear parking sensors and camera, cruise control, hill start assist, air conditioning, LED daytime running lights, 7” touchscreen with all manner of connectivity functions and 17” alloys at the Cactus.

Also, worth noting is that this car comes with a full size spare wheel and, for those of us who spend large tracts of time in rural Ireland, this one addition is completely vital and I am delighted that Citroen seems to have ditched those truly useless repair kits which have become so popular and given us back something so rudimentary and so necessary.

It may be that the C4 Cactus is somewhat dynamically challenged by comparison with some of its more popular rivals and does not provide the same levels of driving enjoyment that are dispensed in such as the Golf and the Focus, but it has dramatically upped its game in terms of driving refinement and passenger comfort.

It has also upped the ante in terms of the overall sophistication of the package and those looking into the car more closely will be pleasantly surprised by the amount of kit on offer for the money.

As ever with Citroen, this is a car that allows you stand out from the pack in a very identifiable and unique way, even if the company had toned down some of the more outré elements of the original design.

It looks fantastic and is lovely to live in and with.

It might not be the greatest driving machine ever conceived, but it has very many other attributes and, being a Citroen, idiosyncrasy is very definitely one of them.

Of course, that does not necessarily mean you have to be mad to buy one.