Citroen Cactus is just so comfy
CITROEN has long made comfort a priority in almost every car it produces.
However, the level of comfort in the latest C4 Cactus is an absolute revelation.
Here’s a car the size of a Vauxhall Astra that rides better than most Audis and BMWs. It takes speed humps and pock marked town surfaces at low speeds completely in its stride and even shrugs off the worst of country roads at speed as if crossing a snooker table.
This is the kind of comfort that used to be exclusive to Jaguar, Mercedes and BMW’s best, but the minimalist Cactus beats or matches them with ease.
I say minimalist because that’s exactly what it is.
The original Cactus was aimed at those who wanted basic, simple transport – rather like the buyers of the quirky 2CV in the 1950s and ’60s.
It could happily be taken across a few fields –though only front-wheel drive – but leaned like a racing yacht in the corners.
This Cactus too would probably make it across the fields without too much trouble, but despite some roll through the corners, it can take them remarkably quickly because it rarely loses grip and always feels well balanced and immensely safe.
I recently drove the only diesel in the range, the BlueHDi 100, in top Flair trim. I say top trim, but in fact there are only two trim levels available.
It has the latest and very smooth Peugeot/Citroen 1.5 diesel engine, driving the front wheels through a sweet changing six-speed manual gearbox.
It’s decently quiet – rarely showing itself as a diesel at all – and also gives very good performance, covering the benchmark 0 to 62 miles an hour sprint in just 10 seconds.
There is plenty of space for four and enough for five inside, with good storage all around the light and airy cabin.
The Citroen C4 Cactus Flair BueHDi 100 I drove costs £20,895.