Citroën C4 Cactus 2018
Citroen C4 Cactus 2018
According to Citroën and the clearly settled dress, the C4
Cactus restylée leaves the urban crossover segment to join that of compact
sedans. The facts follow the speech: enriched staffing, reinforced soundproofing.
And extra comfort thanks to new seats and shock absorbers.
The first C4 Cactus was born the rear train between two
chairs. Neither really low-cost, nor really premium, nor really SUV, nor really
sedan, it has too much blurred tracks with a public more amused by its original
Airbump than really ready to sign his order.
Its sales figures attest to this: 17,000 copies registered
in France in 2017, when its technical cousin, the Peugeot 2008, sold 68,000
units over the same period. What will persuade the C4 Cactus restylée to soften
its features and, finally, to hold a key argument: to offer the best comfort of
the compact segment.
Let's quickly go over the stylistic evolutions that have
thrown the famous Airbump, the black banner on the tailgate, the big buffers on
the shields, but also the roof bars in order to "berlinize" this old
SUV (the world upside down !). The evolution that interests us for this first
test concerns comfort, promised exceptional thanks to two new equipment.
First, new shock absorbers with hydraulic stops (in
expansion as in compression), supposed to gradually retain oscillations at the
end of the race and allow to soften the calibration around the midpoint.
Then, seats labeled "Advanced Comfort", which
receive an additional layer of high-density foam to avoid sagging seats (on
long trips, but also on the life of the vehicle).
We note unfortunately that these famous seats are to be
checked additionally on the three available finishes, and that the new shock
absorbers with hydraulic stops will not equip the C4 Cactus first price, driven
by the PureTech 82 gasoline.
Citroën C4 Cactus Award 2018
At first glance, prices of the restyled C4 Cactus seem to
have increased a lot: between € 1,100 and € 2,300 inflation depending on the
version, and a call price up € 1,750 (€ 16,950 for the PureTech 82 Live). An
additional cost quickly justified by a rise in series.
The Live level gains air conditioning, the Bluetooth kit,
the 60/40 bench and the de-icing retro, the Feel level receives the alloy
wheels, the recoil radar and the lights, wipers and automatic climate control,
and the Shine level. adopts reversing camera, front parking radar, hands-free
key, Mirror Screen and Safety Pack
Driving the C4 Cactus PureTech 130
If the soft optional seats do not jump to ... buttocks, it's
the opposite for the new suspension, impressive at low speed.
"Pointless" supermarket parking slow-downs, unregulated speed bumps,
poorly gauged sidewalks, the worst obstacles are still found in the wheel
arches but no longer generate any jarring in the vertebrae of the passengers.
This "flying carpet" effect becomes more
caricatured at a higher speed, when the deformations of the road generate
oscillations reminiscent of the old Citroen and the beginnings of the hydropneumatic
suspension. But that the passengers subject to nausea reassure themselves: the
C4 Cactus is flexible, never "marshmallow".
The general comfort also benefits from other evolutions such
as the significant improvement of the soundproofing on the highway (less noise
of air and rolling thanks to the new joints, the thickened windows and the
caulked floor), the arrival of a adjustable steering wheel in depth (on a short
range, but the driving position still benefits), and the correction of some omissions
of the previous model (impulse glass controls, rear light ...).
Some congenital defects, however, remain: no vanity mirror
on the passenger's sun visor, no blackout blind for the optional glass roof,
and rear windows with a compass instead of a downward one
