Citroën C4 Cactus 1.6 HDi 92 CV ETG6, road test and review

There are eye-catching cars, others that are more conventional, and others that don’t go unnoticed wherever they go. The Citroën C4 Cactus is the latter. Some people say it’s beautiful, others say it isn’t, but it’s no ordinary car on the road.

Sales are going very well, and it has become a regular sight on our roads. We wanted to try the diesel engine with the automatic gearbox, that is, the Cactus 1.6 HDi with 92 CV and the ETG gearbox (which isn’t really an automatic gearbox, since it’s the clutch that is automatic, though we’ll discuss this later).

Exterior design: Airbumps as the protagonists

In 2007, Citroën unveiled a concept with a curious name: Citroën C-Cactus. It offered a design different from the typical compact we see on the street. The C4 Cactus can be many things, but ordinary is not one of them.

The exterior is dominated by the roof, which appears to float (thanks to the black pillars), and then there are some elements that are a real revolution in design: the Airbumps. Until now, plastic protections rarely harmonised with a car’s design, but on the C4 Cactus they not only harmonise, they are part of that design.

The Airbumps are those soft plastic panels on the sides and beneath the front and rear headlights. They are fairly flexible and absorb knocks very well. Moreover, if they get scratched they can be replaced at a lower cost than painting the door or the whole car. In terms of design, the colours can be matched to the bodywork, and you may like them more or less, but the side ones at least do their job. That said, the ones at the front and rear under the lights make no sense (beyond design), since bumps and scrapes will hit the bumper, which protrudes further than the Airbump.

The Cactus’s front is not conventional either. The headlights are divided into three groups, in the style of the C4 Picasso, with the LED daytime running lights in the upper area drawing attention. The A-pillar is painted black, giving the impression that the roof floats above the body.

On the side, together with the Airbumps, there are also marked wheel arches that give a slight SUV feel. The mirrors and roof bars can also be personalised with a different colour from the bodywork. And precisely along the side line we find a money-saving detail that is very improvable: the rear windows, which cannot be opened fully, using a typical solution from a city car on a car that isn’t one.

The rear is also very distinctive, combining the black plastic parts with the body colour.

Interior design: spacious and minimalist

When I sat down, the first thing that came to mind was the interior of the Visa Club or Super, which was very futuristic yet sober, concentrating the controls around the steering wheel. The years have passed, but the concept seems to have endured: at the Cactus’s driving position we find a minimalist setup (it doesn’t even have a rev counter) and all the controls concentrated on the sober central console.

The dashboard has parts in soft-touch plastic and others in hard plastic, which abounds throughout the car’s interior (the Renault Captur also offers an interior of similar quality).

The front seats are wide and comfortable, but in the automatic version it isn’t entirely true that the bench is one piece (that is, there is a small separation between the seats, but this separation is upholstered, and there is also an armrest).

Forward visibility is good. The steering wheel only adjusts for height, not reach, and the curious thing is that the automatic gearbox buttons are located at the centre of the central console. That said, there is enough space in the front seats for both legs and head.

In the rear seats there is also plenty of room. There are no individual seats, but a bench that extends across the entire rear space. Access to the rear seats is also good, with enough space for both legs and head, similar to what a compact car offers.

The rear window detail is totally improvable, especially since fitting conventional windows would not be very expensive.

Boot and storage

The boot has a capacity of 348 litres, normal for its segment, with regular, very usable shapes. But where the Cactus really stands out is in storage, since there are numerous places inside to leave your things.

In the central console there are several spaces where a phone or keys fit, but the rear door pockets are especially large. Since they have no windows, they make very good use of that space as glovebox-style compartments (a small one at the top and a large one below).

Engine and performance

The unit we tested hid under the bonnet the well-known 1.6 HDi engine that delivers 92 CV in its current version, though it is paired, without exception, with the six-speed ETG automatic gearbox. The other diesel engine, with the manual gearbox, is also a 1.6 HDi but produces 100 CV (in its latest update).

Are 92 CV enough? Absolutely. The performance of the Citroën C4 Cactus with this engine is more than adequate to move the French compact with ease. Partly because the engine offers sufficient performance (230 Nm from 1,750 rpm) and also because the car isn’t heavy (1,145 kg).

On the road and in town we won’t miss more power. However, if we get onto the motorway with two or more people on board, that’s when we notice it’s 92 CV, although the response is correct. As always, the automatic gearbox (although it’s really an automatic clutch) is not as comfortable as we would like, especially compared with a CVT, but it is inexpensive and works correctly without fuss.

From the paddle shifters you can change between the different gears (6 speeds), and the gearchange buttons are located in a very visible place on the central console. When driving dynamically is when the lack of refinement of the gearbox is most noticeable, while in relaxed driving it is comfortable, especially in town.

Handling

We were very pleasantly surprised by the tuning of the Cactus’s suspension, which is firmer than other models from the brand. It is also an agile car, even more so with this turbodiesel engine, and it is stable even on the open road.

In town, the automatic gearbox makes it a comfortable car, and its slightly higher ride height compared with other compacts gives better visibility. It is not a very big car, so parking is not a problem.

On the open road the C4 Cactus is agile, easy to drive and stable, and it can even be somewhat fun. On the motorway it is stable and comfortable, but it falls short on sound insulation (an area for improvement).

Citroën C4 Cactus consumption

Without doubt, the consumption figures are where this French car with its own personality stands out most, since on the open road it manages with just 4.5 litres per 100 km on our usual test route. On the motorway it doesn’t fall short either, and on our usual trip between Madrid > Vigo > Madrid the average consumption was 4.9 litres per 100 km.

In town consumption rises somewhat, and the automatic gearbox also takes its toll, but it stays at 6.5 litres per 100 km.

Equipment

The C4 Cactus’s equipment is structured across five trim levels and three special editions: Live, Feel, Feel Edition, Shine (and Business, aimed at fleets). Even so, it comes with generous standard equipment: front airbags (with the passenger airbag emerging from the roof rather than the dashboard), side and curtain airbags, ABS, ESP, speed control, a 7-inch touchscreen, USB port, among other features.

Our car was the Shine trim, which adds a leather steering wheel, climate control, Bluetooth, specific alloy wheels, a second USB port, satnav, rear-view camera, among other features.

Worth noting in the equipment is that everything is controlled from the central “tablet“, since both the sound and the climate control are managed from there. The climate control is complex, because when it is switched off everything shuts down (including the air direction, for example), something that doesn’t happen on other cars with climate control, where if you turn it off but the air was set to the windscreen, it keeps that setting. On the Cactus, it doesn’t.

Citroën C4 Cactus price

It is available with discounts and the PIVE scrappage scheme from 12,900 euros, while our test car (Shine) starts at 19,500 euros (without discounts). The diesel is available from 16,850 euros (without discounts). Given the brand’s discount policy, it is advisable to visit a French brand dealership to get updated pricing information with the current discounts.

Photos | Test team, R. Rodriguez