How and why Citroen is slipping into new grooves and hitting right note with major C4 Cactus revision

THERE are worse ways to spend a Thursday morning than driving through Provence to the sound of Simon and Garfunkel cheering out that “life is groovy”.

A little chilled groovy at this time of the year, but nevertheless pleasant in a hazy sun beginning its journey back towards a lazy summer.

The Citroen C4 Cactus I was in seemed to match my mood well, the car having among other things a new spring in its step.

In addition to a refresh, this revisit to the car first launched in 2014 is a repositioning.

Tilted originally as a small SUV type, it is now pushed upwards against the heavy competition of Ford’s Focus and VW’s Golf, as a replacement for the C4 compact hatch which previously jousted in that segment.

The car’s front and rear have been streamlined, and by moving the kinky airbumps from the door panels to the lower sills, and playing with shapes, Citroen have created a presentable family hatchback.

Detail changes to the lights and grille, and the extension of the chevron bonnet motif to incorporate new LED daylight running lamps, give the car a new look.

They took away the roof rails too, which makes it seem lower and longer.

The interior of the C4 Cactus was quite original, and sensibly they didn’t mess much with it, though some detail tweaking throughout has raised the overall level of refinement.

It is in parts you can’t see where Citroen have invested both money and inventiveness.

The latter is an underpinning part of the brand’s heritage most remembered with the hydraulic suspensions from the DS 19 of the 1950s, which carried through into several other models down the decades. It was only retired a couple of years ago because of its cost.

The latest C4 Cactus is the first Citroen in Europe to get a new suspension system which also uses patented hydraulics. It is clever, simple, and now cost-effective.

The new car feels like big Citroens used to, but without adding major expense. They intend to roll it out under all their models.

The idea was developed for Citroen’s world rally cars. A normal spring/shock absorber system does the needful most of the time.

But special hydraulic cushions built into the suspension units take the extra punishment when the car hits bumpy, and otherwise, bad surfaces. So the normal very cushy magic carpet riding doesn’t pitch into an oscillating hell when the roads go wrong.

It works. Over surfaces that sometimes rivalled what we’re used to in rural Ireland, including some crunch-making potholes and corrugations, the car never lost its comfort cool.

Citroen has been implementing a strategic direction to become a brand known primarily for exceptional comfort, and the strapline for the Cactus event was ‘Comfort is the new Cool’.

You get the drift. The engineers have also upgraded seats that were already comfortable and which have, anecdotally, done good things for buyers with back trouble.

Better foams, more work on the structural elements, and certainly two days of my extended occupation of the latest car left me without any trace of muscular tiredness.

They also added extra soundproofing, so the Cactus is now a quiet car indeed.

Engines for Ireland will be 110hp and 130hp petrols with Stop and Start, both of which I drove during the event.

There will also be a 100hp diesel manual and a 120hp diesel automatic.

I like these 3-pot petrols. A lot. They achieve full torque from low revs, making them flexible in the ever-changing driving in twisty mountains.

In the manual 130hp – which will be a new engine for the Cactus – it pulled the car without complaint from a point where I’ve found other engines can get grouchy.

The 110hp was matched to Citroen’s 6spd automatic, a partnership that worked happily as long as you didn’t try to mash it around.

Given the soft ride, it took me a while to try throwing the car a bit through the mountains.

When I did, it pleasantly surprised by how well it held course and composure. My only, and picky, complaint is that I’d like a tad tighter steering ratio.

Something of a Marmite car when introduced to Ireland, people loved the C4 Cactus or weren’t interested.

Given that, it did well for Citroen here in its first few years. With the revised version now targeting serious players in a non-niche segment, it remains to be seen if the compact family buyer will consider it.

There will be three grades, all of which will have the new suspension as standard.

Pricing isn’t finalised, but we’re expecting it to arrive in May at below €20,000.

Advice to Citroen dealers: get potential buyers into a demonstrator and let them drive it on the worst roads in the area for half an hour. When they come back, I’m betting they’ll be a fair bit further towards signing papers for a more groovy motoring life.