(first posted 9/1/2017) We have a keen Citroen fan here, who must have gotten in early to secure the rather clever personalised plate “C4CTUS”. And not a shrinking violet either, to have chosen this colour. As is the way with Citroens, the Cactus is an interesting car, even the name reminds me of the old Deefa name given to a few dogs.
The infamous “air bumps” are the signature feature on the C4 Cactus, being designed to prevent door dings. While it may look strange when you compare to 30+ years ago when a thin rubber strip used to do the job, having seemingly half the door covered is not such a silly idea given the wide range of competing door heights around today. It certainly makes quite the contrast to most cars that have completely unadorned, and vulnerable, door skins! The air bumps can be had in four different colours; black, grey, Dune (a sandy-beige) or Chocolate (brown, above).
While writing this, I noticed that the roof rails are unusually-shaped too; those protrusions could make good tie-down points! They are available in black or white too – between the various different colour combinations inside and out there are apparently 21,000 different options!
There are many other unusual aspects to the Cactus, such as the pop-out rear door windows or the frontal airbags that come out of the roof rather than the dashboard. Having just a single cupholder is worthy of note. Needless to say the styling is quirky and original with the headlights almost hidden compared to the running lights above.
The powertrains are a little more conventional. In Australia you have the choice of a 1.2L turbo petrol (81 kW/108 hp) and manual transmission or a 1.6L TD (68 kW/91 hp) with an automatic – which is actually a robotised manual gearbox, which for me at least sets alarm bells ringing. Thanks to the predominance of manuals, and consequent lesser development, European automatic gearboxes used to be worthy of suspicion. I don’t think a robotised manual has ever been done well (cue Paul’s experience with the Fiat 500L), and road testers have not given the robotised manual good reviews in the Cactus either. There will soon be a conventional automatic available with the petrol engine!
The Cactus is an unashamed love-it-or-hate-it car, which certainly stands out from the crowd. This one was away from the crowd; being at the far end of a small suburban shopping centre on a quiet weekday morning.
As a bonus feature, here is a car you wouldn’t expect in a similar retina-searing shade of radioactive lime – a Toyota Corolla! Or a (former Scion) Corolla iM, if it was in the US. Apart from the colour, and the fact it wasn’t even a “sporty” model, I don’t know there is a lot to say about this car, which is why it has ended up as a footnote here.
Further Reading:
Future Curbside Classic Capsule: 2012-15 Scion iQ – A Smarter smart
Future Classic: 2006-2011 Honda Civic – The Final Progressive Civic?
Future Classic: 2015 Porsche Macan – Even Better Than The Real Thing
Future Classic: 2015 Dodge Challenger V6 – The Rarest Challenger
If PSA is going to return to the US, this would be the car to start with, IMO.
Bingo. I’ll bet this thing would sell like hotcakes, er… crèpes here in the U.S. 😀 !
+1 (though I surely would have loved to have had the chance at a C6!)
Oddly enough Daniel I did have the chance of a C6 2.2 twinturbo 4 with 6 speed manual in RHD then the ad went on to iterate just how rare the car was which put me off the idea, I was at the time driving a borrowed C4 an 07 with 2.0 HDI 6 speed auto which I liked except for the seatbelts and the high wear of the car itself.
I bought a 08 MK2 C5 2.2 HDI 6 speed auto, Aisin Warner 6 trans not the robotised effort, Ive driven those in trucks and am not a fan, I recently had a C4 1.6 turbo petrol loan car while my car was having a heaterhose implant and that was a rapid little car but without the linear power and comfort of my C5 diesel, max torque some 370NM kicks in at 1350rpm and stays untill 4000rpm, 2400rpm in 6th is a shade over 220kmh and not flat out, you would like the steerable headlights I’m sure, it is a very clever car.
Strangely enough the suspension and powertrains in the C6 is exactly the same as whats in my C5, I could get either the 3.0 V6 diesel or the 2.7 TT right now or a C6 for sale locally, the 2.2 4 has plenty of grunt and isnt too bad on fuel I can drive it all day anywhere and never go past 1500rpm, Ive taught it to lug down below 1000rpm and not downshift,(its a learning transmission) or you can give it some jandal and it will suck diesel like theres no tomorow 30L/100kms is easy to see on the readout, there is zero lag thanx to a twin scroll turbo, it goes where ever you point it at any speed as do C4s, which are an update of the Xsara/306 ask Sebastian Loeb how Citroens handle
Or this. The C5 Aircross, their brand new SUV. With its “progressive hydraulic cushions”-suspension. That’s right, the successor to Citroën’s hydropneumatic suspension.
Interior
The interior isn’t bad(minus the ever ubiquitous and loathsome LCD instruments) but the exterior looks way too Chevyish to my eye
No thanx, I like the hydra active3 my C5 is fitted with, hydropneumatics went away in the late 90s with the last Xantias which had hydra active 1 suspension.
On one hand this is like a permantly installed car bra/door edge guards – so in order to keep your car looking nice, you’re going to make it ugly the entire time you own it? – on the other hand this may be the only truly distinctive CUV design there is. Without the air bumps it would simply look like a Jeep Cherokee spliced with a Mini Countryman. So I’m going to give it props for daring to be different. I like the color too, fittingly it’s most visible color on the road.
I do genuinely like the idea of bring back contrasting panel protection in a decorative way, as those little strips of 30 years ago were indeed small but very effective. Body coloring them in the 90s-00s just meant they needed to get repainted/replaced when scratched, defeating half the purpose, and eliminating them all together in the 10s, well, I’m sure any owner of a newer car probably has an unsightly door ding that wouldn’t be there had there been protection.
I like that solution to the door-ding problem, bumps or not. One could image the same handsome shape devoid of that — or any — texture ? The quasi-rectangle harks back to the woodies of the ‘forties, perhaps . . .
Some wag in the ‘sixties suggested that French cars “all look like fish.” He must have been thinking of Citroens, no ? This neat little buggy is no fish, to me.
I drove one last year or so. On the plus side there are some very pleasing trim options such as the tan leather shown in the article. On the downside it was utterly unremarkable to drive. Although it’s shorter, the Opel Adam is a fabulous micro-brougham and beautifully made too. I would opt for that.
Please excuse my posting of this which is my review: https://driventowrite.com/2015/05/28/second-opinion-2015-citroen-c4-cactus-1-6-diesel/#more-10338
The Citroën XM, BX, Axel and SM are weird and gorgeous at the same time, anyway the Cactus is weird and ugly at the same time…
Well, Axel not that gorgeous?
But SM, yes!
Weird and gorgeous, what a great combination. I am all for PSA bringing this to the States, not a damn DS overpriced repetitive boring hatch/sedan/crossover that is being considered. The whole point of French cars is their differences. Sort of like Tatras, they stand out for what is so decidedly different from the norm. Love them or hate them, they make a statement.
Despite my reservations and unhappiness with the detail resolution of the a-pillar, I don’t consider this an ugly car. Not very many are. A few are unsatisfactory, many have detail failures. Few reach the depths of the Pontiac Aztek which is a recent benchmark. The Ssang Yong Rodius is another though still not Aztek bad.
Maybe I have high expectations of “ugly”. This doesn’t meet them.
What about the 2CV? Those were weird and ugly in a lovable sort of way
Wish automakers didn’t remove bump strips off new cars.
This car simply confirms the French mindset… It might be unsightly, or weird, but it’s indeed effective. In French cities, push parking, door slamming on other cars is a reality and happens very often (as you can see on Roger’s posts during his trips to France), so the Cactus neatly solves that. And actually now I have a hard time imagining it without the airbumps
A lot of very skinny parking lot spaces in the EU. And of course generally skinnier vehicles parking in them. The spacing probably goes back to the average EU car being skinnier than it is today though.
…not to mention many EU city streets being quite skinny, often predating the existence of automobiles entirely.
I’d rather take my chances and do without the air bumps. Door dings look better and you won’t be judged on them.
Oh, how I love these! So quirky and cool!
A friend of a friend – a real lover of French cars – was one of the first people in Australia to buy a Cactus. Hell, this might be his.
I had never heard of these before a few months ago when a friend of mine sent me a picture he took of one overseas. It’s not my type of car at all, but somehow it intrigues me nonetheless, which is high praise. I’d love to see one in person.
Very cool i had a look around a white one on a recent trip to my local dealer for an airfilter, I personally would prefer a diesel manual, but robotised transmissions are quite common in trucks these days and while it takes some getting used to can be quite ok to drive, though I’m glad my new job is DAFs with proper 18 speed Eaton Fuller manual gearboxes their automated shift version in a least favourite.
Love it or hate it? I absolutely love it!
I like the looks. And the minimal console. Pop out rear windows, not so much. Looks a lot better than so many CUVs out there. The lines make sense rather some jumble of random, disconnected sheet metal pressings
Little bro and his wife just bought a new Jeep Renegade in this color. Lots of visual impact and nice to see in the midst of a constant parade of silver, black and white transportation units.
The Toyota in the last picture is called the Auris here. Available as hatchback and wagon.
(gasoline / diesel / hybrid)
About the same size, yet more expensive, is the rather unconventional Toyota C-HR.
(either 1.2 turbo gasoline or hybrid)
I looked up our 2017 car sales numbers. The “old-school” Auris is at number 39, whereas the “weird” C-HR is at number 24. Granted, the C-HR is a new model, introduced near the end of 2016. By the way, the C4 Cactus is at number 48.
Here’s the whole 2017 January-July chart: https://www.autozine.nl/verkoop-top-100
With the C-HR, it looks like Toyota might have finally closed the weirdness gap with the French. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing.
But in a bad way. It does seem like (six years later) Japanese car companies are getting over the random angular sculpting all over the place with fake brake air inlets and outlets Transformer period. French weirdness is of a different kind.
Nice car, but the rear windows don´t roll down, and that is a shame. For that reason I pass…
C4s have power glass on all 4 doors but why the hell would you want the rear windows down.
Ive driven a few C4s both turbogas and turbo diesel but not the Cactus version it is only a trim level when all said and done both were 6 speed automatics not the AMT version, I like the 6 speed auto and bought one but I have whats called the twin turbo 2.2 HDI engine powering my car, it easily smokes Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon 6s especially when the road twists and turns which is what nobody realises about Citroens, they handle far better at speed than anything else.
The external air-mattresses, the gimmicky interior, even the name, they are all displays of the same depressing thing – the endless rise of idiocy-as-virtue.
Citroens once looked weird for function, be it aero, or for getting eggs across a field. They were eccentric because functional needs dictated it. Much of the greatness was of course hidden, especially those beautiful and effective hydraulics.
But this thing is a sad effort to make a sub-brand, largely irrelevant outside France, a Kwerky standout. Pardon my yawn. This is no more than a not-too-interesting Peugeot in a silly dress.
Hell, I know the world changes always, but this seems an especially insulting coda to once-greatness, seemingly by some 25 y.o. influencer marketing twat.
Btw, “cactus” is an old Australianism for “dead”.
Seems about right.