Cactus is a smooth operator
NEVER travel on a Friday coming back from West country.
I should have heeded my own advice given over many years when returning from a visit to friends in west Cornwall, but I forgot how bad it can be.
Luckily we were comfortably cocooned in the Rip-Curl at the posh end of the Citroen C4 Cactus range, which did a staggering 56mpg all day.
Power comes from a 100bhp version of Citroen’s venerable and smooth 1.6 HDi diesel driving the front wheels through a five-speed gearbox.
It feels very good out on the road and the engine has enough power for the fairly light weight.
It pulls excellently in the first four gears, and has enough urge for all motorway manoeuvres in fifth, although there was a thrum of resonance from somewhere at about 50 miles an hour.
It moves away happily from just above tickover – something which no diesel used to be able to do – and cruises easily at motorway speeds.
There is very little roll and it holds the road beautifully, even coping with me throwing it around unmercifully on a local abandoned airfield down in Cornwall.
Rip Curl spec brings the Citroen/Peugeot Grip Control traction system to help keep you going in slippery conditions, parking sensors, satnav, aircon, folding rear seats and part leather upholstery in black with red stitching.
There’s decent support in the seats through the corners and the driving position is good for all sizes of driver, except that the touchscreen is slightly too far away if you’re six foot or more like me.
The only other complaint is that the rear window distorts the image in the mirror slightly, and that the mirror itself needs to be lower to give a better view behind.
The Citroen C4 Cactus Rip Curl costs £19,570.