Automotive

Review: The perky little free-thinker that is the Citroen C4 Cactus

Review: The perky little free-thinker that is the Citroen C4 Cactus
The C4 Cactus makes economical motoring fun
The C4 Cactus makes economical motoring fun
View 27 Images
The navigation system on the Cactus is easy to use
1/27
The navigation system on the Cactus is easy to use
Everything from climate control to the navigation is controlled through the touchscreen
2/27
Everything from climate control to the navigation is controlled through the touchscreen
Considering the horrendous traffic we forced it to sit through, the Cactus was very efficient
3/27
Considering the horrendous traffic we forced it to sit through, the Cactus was very efficient
The shift on the Cactus isn't too bad, but also won't go down as one of the all time greats
4/27
The shift on the Cactus isn't too bad, but also won't go down as one of the all time greats
The seats are a highlight of the Cactus' cabin
5/27
The seats are a highlight of the Cactus' cabin
Rear seat passengers get plenty of room for legs, although their windows don't roll down all the way.
6/27
Rear seat passengers get plenty of room for legs, although their windows don't roll down all the way.
The Cactus' steering is light and takes a bit of twirling
7/27
The Cactus' steering is light and takes a bit of twirling 
The cabin of the Cactus is all about lightweight, pared back design
8/27
The cabin of the Cactus is all about lightweight, pared back design
The Citroen C4 Cactus gets on the move around Collingwood
9/27
The Citroen C4 Cactus gets on the move around Collingwood
Those airbumps garner a fair bit of attention
10/27
Those airbumps garner a fair bit of attention
The C4 Cactus is comfy around town
11/27
The C4 Cactus is comfy around town
You don't get a rev counter in the Cactus, instead there's just a big speedo
12/27
You don't get a rev counter in the Cactus, instead there's just a big speedo
The door grab handles are leather straps
13/27
The door grab handles are leather straps
The Cactus is powered by a 1.2-liter, three-cylinder motor
14/27
The Cactus is powered by a 1.2-liter, three-cylinder motor
The engine is a peppy little unit
15/27
The engine is a peppy little unit
With 205 Nm shifting just 1020 kg, the Cactus doesn't ever feel too slow
16/27
With 205 Nm shifting just 1020 kg, the Cactus doesn't ever feel too slow
Room for plenty of gloves in here, thanks to the roof mounted airbag
17/27
Room for plenty of gloves in here, thanks to the roof mounted airbag
The airbumps on the outside of the Cactus protect against urban scrapes
18/27
The airbumps on the outside of the Cactus protect against urban scrapes 
It's not prickly, but it is called a Cactus
19/27
It's not prickly, but it is called a Cactus
The oval motif from the bumper is replicated inside
20/27
The oval motif from the bumper is replicated inside 
The C4 Cactus makes economical motoring fun
21/27
The C4 Cactus makes economical motoring fun
Even the back corners are protected by Airbumps
22/27
Even the back corners are protected by Airbumps
Citroen will let you personalise your Cactus to within an inch of its life, but we like the way this one looked
23/27
Citroen will let you personalise your Cactus to within an inch of its life, but we like the way this one looked
Bluff is the best way to describe the Cactus' nose
24/27
Bluff is the best way to describe the Cactus' nose
We achieved some impressive fuel use figures in our week with the Cactus
25/27
We achieved some impressive fuel use figures in our week with the Cactus
The C4 Cactus is a cool alternative to the slew of same-same city crossovers out there.
26/27
The C4 Cactus is a cool alternative to the slew of same-same city crossovers out there.
The C4 Cactus is well protected from rear bumps
27/27
The C4 Cactus is well protected from rear bumps
View gallery - 27 images

In a world of cookie-cutter city crossovers, you could be forgiven for thinking there were no alternatives out there for free-thinking individuals. Well, you could be forgiven, but you'd also be wrong, because the Citroen C4 Cactus is the perfect antidote to the dreary sameness you get from most economical cars. It's a bit weird, but the Cactus lets you celebrate economical motoring rather than forcing you to simply endure it.

Check out our video showcasing the Cactus below.

Citroen's Bizarre C4 Cactus

We're going to start at the beginning here: the Cactus isn't actually built on the same platform as the C4, or the C4 Picasso for that matter. Instead, it shares its underpinnings with the compact DS3. That's because this is, first and foremost, a car for navigating choked city centers with a minimum of fuss.

With this goal in mind, Citroen has fitted the Cactus with a turbocharged 1.2-liter, three-cylinder petrol motor. Down a cylinder and 800cc compared to the Mazda CX-3's petrol motor, the 81 kW (109 hp) Cactus gives away 28 kW (38 hp) to the Japanese SUV, but counters with 205 Nm (151 lb.ft) compared to the CX-3's 192 Nm (142 lb.ft). It also gets a leg up on the competition with a bubbly, effervescent character that makes it pleasure to hustle through traffic.

Those airbumps garner a fair bit of attention
Those airbumps garner a fair bit of attention

Thanks in part to its healthy torque figure, the little Citroen never really feels underpowered, although there is a bit of turbo lag if you find yourself in the wrong gear. Some scribes treat turbo lag like the devil and, to a certain extent, it can kill your experience of an exotic that demands razor sharp throttle response and a howling exhaust note.

But in a little car like the Cactus, the wait gives way to a fun little rush. Chalk it down character, or maybe I'm just a child, but waiting for the C4's engine to come on boost never seemed like too much of a hardship when the turbo kicked in.

Although there is a robotized-manual available on diesel Cactuses (or is it Cacti?), petrol cars come exclusively with a five-speed manual. We have no problem with shuffling the shifter ourselves but manuals are an increasingly rare breed, so this could be seen as a slight commercial oversight on Citroen's part.

It's largely unobtrusive, but the C4's manual shifter won't go down as one of the greats, thanks to a loooong throw and slightly rubbery feel that caused a few missed shifts. You'd get used to it, but such a perky little engine deserves a better shift to back it up. It's also worth bearing in mind how tightly spaced the pedals are. Once again, it's not a deal breaker, but the tight clutch and brake layout is better suited to dainty pointe shoes than clumsy workboots.

The Cactus is powered by a 1.2-liter, three-cylinder motor
The Cactus is powered by a 1.2-liter, three-cylinder motor

Engine aside, the other factor giving the Cactus its perky feeling is weight, or lack thereof. A Mazda CX-3 weighs 1226 kg (2703 lb), a Nissan Juke tips the scales at 1334 kg (2941 lb) and the Chevrolet Trax tips the scales at a positively portly 1371 kg (3023 lb). The Cactus, on the other hand, is a featherweight at just 1020 kg (2249 lb).

This lightness is manifest everywhere you look in the cabin. You sit behind an oblong speedo display, with a massive digital readout that could've been nicked from your high school calculator, and there are no buttons anywhere on the dashboard. Instead, the seven-inch touchscreen looks after climate control, navigation and infotainment. It shares its basic hardware with the system in the Peugeot 308, although there are some minor design differences between the two.

Bluetooth worked seamlessly, picking up my iPhone within seconds of turning the key, and calls came through perfectly every time. The only real quibble with the infotainment system was the time it took to boot up, especially when you started the car and put it straight into reverse. Although we'd never (ahem) rely on tech like a reversing camera to keep us from an accident, having a clear feed of what's happening behind you is reassuring when you're backing up a car with C and D pillars capable of hiding a road train.

Citroen hasn't just done away with unnecessary buttons and knobs, it's subbed conventional door grabs for leather straps and dropped rear window winders in favor of pop-out items, a'la the VW Up. There's something refreshing about the cabin's minimalism, and although it's stripped back the Cactus' interior doesn't feel overly cheap. Special mention must go to the seats, which trade faux-sportiness for soft, welcoming support, like a warm hug from that fat aunty you only get to see once a year.

The seats are a highlight of the Cactus' cabin
The seats are a highlight of the Cactus' cabin

There are still a few ergonomic oddities lurking within the Cactus' cabin. For one, the steering column doesn't adjust for reach, forcing taller drivers to slay their legs awkwardly around the wheel. Alternatively, you could raise the wheel to the top of its rake adjustment and drive around with knuckles brushing the ceiling, but neither choice is ideal considering the problem could be solved with one swoop of an accountant's pen.

My only other complaint about the cabin is the armrest, which is unfit for use by anyone with arms. It's mounted high to leave space for the gearstick and handbrake, but also actively gets in the way whenever you try and change gear. Lifting it up is one solution, but then you run the risk of whacking your elbow on it as you row the loooong throw shifter between first and second gear.

Okay, so that second point is unique to people with gangly arms and pointy elbows, but the fact French cars always seem to have some sort of ergonomic quirk or issue is annoying considering the Germans, Brits, Americans, and even Australians have been getting it right for years.

These complaints aside, the interior of the Cactus is logically laid out. There's also plenty of space for, well, all the things we bring with us in the car. By doing away with regular climate controls, Citroen has freed up an iPhone-sized space under the touchscreen, and the lack of a big center console jutting out means there's room for a wallet and coffee beneath that phone-sized spot.

The navigation system on the Cactus is easy to use
The navigation system on the Cactus is easy to use

Both the driver and passenger get big storage bins in their doors, and the glovebox is massive because the airbag has been moved to the roof. Meanwhile the deep boot offers up 358 liters of space, although that can be expanded to over 1,000 liters with the rear seats folded.

Speaking of rear seats, there's actually an acceptable amount of legroom back there, although headroom is a bit limited if you're trying to transport long-limbed teenagers. The long-limbed teenager we used to test rear legroom did complain about the pop-out windows, but it's worth remembering he's 17 and a bit of a whinger.

Thankfully, there are more benefits to defying convention than just a bigger glovebox. Citroen has made this a bit of a habit over the years, and the Cactus is yet another example of unique french design solving problems. The problem? Door dings and bumper scrapes, the kind you pick up in railway carparks and shopping centers.

The solution? Air bumps. That what those black panels scattered around the outside of the car are called. Made of a resilient rubber material, they're designed to repel almost anything the city can throw at them by being way more absorbent and less prone to scratching than metal or plastic. They're also why Citroen chose the Cactus name: just like the plant, the car can defend itself against the outside world. Clever, huh?

The airbumps on the outside of the Cactus protect against urban scrapes
The airbumps on the outside of the Cactus protect against urban scrapes 

One side effect of the decision to cover the outside of the little C4 in decidedly non-spiky panels is its, er, unique look. Whether you like the look will, more than likely, be the deciding factor in whether you buy one or not. With that said, we needed all week to work out whether we actually liked the exterior design or not, and settled on a resounding mostly as the answer.

From certain spots the car looks seriously cool, but there are a few awkward angles there. Then again, that seems like a small price to pay for unbeatable confidence come time to leave it in a carpark. We threw everything from a trolley to Loz's heavy-hitting right hook at the air bumps, and they came up looking pristine. If that's not evidence of functional design, we don't know what is.

Enough about the practical stuff though, how does it drive? Well, the soft feeling you get from the seats is perfectly in tune with the suspension, which favours a loping, languid ride over quick responses and tight body control. Besides the odd crashy moment over particularly vicious speed bumps, the car does an exceptional job at isolating you from bumps and potholes, even if the tradeoff is a bit of body roll when you toss it into a corner.

Then again, to toss the Cactus into corners is to miss the point, by an absolute mile. No, the little Citroen does its best work driven at half speed, where you can make the most of its effortless steering and peppy engine, the benefits of which become clear at the bowser.

It's not prickly, but it is called a Cactus
It's not prickly, but it is called a Cactus

Often you'll struggle to get close to claimed fuel economy figures, but in the worst possible conditions – horrendous, bumper-to-bumper traffic – I saw 7l/100 km (40 UK mpg), which is reasonably close to the claimed 4.8 l/100 km (59 mpg). Okay, so it's almost fifty percent more than the claimed figure, we've seen fuel use figures blow out by much more than that in start/stop conditions.

With this parsimonious attitude to petrol, perky little engine and funky styling, would I buy a Cactus? It's a no, but that's not the Citroen's fault. This is one of those "it's not you, it's me" scenarios, where the car isn't the problem. The Cactus is a really likeable little car, and its charms will appeal to a very certain type of free-thinker.

I am not that free thinker, but if you're content to slow down and enjoy the C4 Cactus for its comfy ride, peppy engine and completely unique exterior, then it will make you very, very happy. Meanwhile, I'll be off scuffing dents out of the door on my boring, conventional Subaru because some idiot smashed their trolley into it.

Pricing starts at $26,990 (US$20,150) in Australia, while UK buyers will have to fork out at least £12,900 (US$18,700). Unfortunately, those in the US can't get their hands on a Cactus – unless they're willing to swing by the local nursery, of course.

Product Page: Citroen C4 Cactus

View gallery - 27 images
2 comments
2 comments
Mel Tisdale
". . .considering the problem could be solved with one swoop of an accountant's pen." In my days in the research department we did not call them accountants, they were known as progress prevention officers'.
If this is a city car, it needs automatic transmission, especially if the turbo lag is as bad as stated. It would also be nice if the sat-nav had inertial navigation as back up for when it loses the satellites - a frequent and very annoying occurrence in cities, especially ones with a lot of high-rise buildings. (They are now surprisingly small.)
Jugen
This car has been design for the euro market. It's illegal to park a car in Paris in gear or with the handbrake on, the streets are packed with cars people push cars to make space or exit driveways. That's why autos aren't too popular in Paris. Peddles are often more cramp on a left-hand drive version as the wheel well next to the accelerator has to be worked around. Right-hand drive cars often have a foot rest for the left foot over the wheel well. It's safer to drive a manual in snow or frosty conditions, as it's easier to control the traction, which it often snows in Europe. This car is designed for the female market and in Europe is very affordable, here in Germany Citroen is considered a budget brand.