Citroen C4 Cactus (2014-2021) Review

The Citroen C4 Cactus was an unusual car for unusual people. The first version was a bold style statement that came in outlandish colours and turned heads wherever it went, mostly competing with compact crossovers.

The facelifted model from 2018 (with its toned-down design) was pitched as a rival to sensible family hatchbacks that looked as conservative as a stiff white collared shirt, so the Citroen is still an interesting and quirky alternative buy.

If you wanted your family car to have low running costs, a comfortable ride, and an affordable price (without feeling like a soulless budget option) the Citroen C4 Cactus was tailor-made to fit your needs, but there were caveats.

Mainly, these had to do with the way it drove. It had light steering with an artificial, disconnected feel, grabby brakes and a notchy gearbox that wasn't very precise. The soft suspension was comfortable, but it wasn't for everyone.

If you want a truly distinctive design that looks like nothing else on the road, then the original Citroen C4 Cactus will be hard to beat. It's peculiar - but never dull - although it's strange 'airbumps' were not known for durability.

However, once you look past the aesthetics, the revised post-2018 model is a much better car, with many of its predecessor's irritating kinks ironed out. The seats were more comfortable, and it was quieter with a nicer gearbox.

We like the comprehensive amount of kit in the Citroen C4 Cactus Flair, but you'll save yourself a chunk of change by buying a used Feel version, which still has all the important everyday stuff like air-con, cruise and DAB.

As for the engines, we'd avoid the entry-level PureTech 82PS petrol unless you're desperate for cheap insurance. It’s too slow to keep up with traffic outside city limits. The turbocharged versions of the same unit are a lot more flexible and fun to drive, while still returning decent fuel economy. We'd get the 110PS car.

We could be flippant and say there's nothing quite like it, but that's no longer as true as it once was. It had the style and personalisation options to attract small SUV buyers but rided lower than most rivals. It wasn't as good for carrying luggage as cars like the Renault Captur, Peugeot 2008 or SEAT Arona.

The latest model was toned down a lot (we miss you, curvy roof rails) to compete with conventional family hatchbacks but it stood out in a car park chock-full of the usual Vauxhall Astra, Volkswagen Golf and Skoda Octavia suspects.

While they are less interesting, all of those models had fewer compromises than the Citroen was saddled with.

As a used buy, the Kia Soul checks a lot of the same boxes as the Cactus, with interesting looks, a spacious cabin and loads of standard kit. It's not as softly sprung as the Citroen, but the cabin feels more robust. It also comes with a seven-year warranty from new that's transferable to multiple owners, for total peace of mind.

It's worth checking out the new Citroen C3 and C3 Aircross alongside the C4 and C4 X if a new car is of interest.

The thoughtful design of the dashboard and some stylish interior details made the C4 Cactus look upmarket, with the attractive seat fabrics, dense soft-touch plastics on the centre console and a smart gear selector.

Everything you touched regularly had a reassuring heft and decent finish, but the Cactus was designed to be affordable and in places where cost-cutting was more obvious. Most of the trim below the eye line was hard black plastic - as were the door cards - but the stark contrast with the interior's posh bits made them stand out.

Few family hatchbacks had such an interesting-looking interior, but most delivered a more consistent build quality. One moment your hand was met by soft stitched leather and the next, rough textured plastic.

At least Citroen spent money in the right places. The important areas you'll interact with regularly being nice to hold is preferable to having a beautifully finished fuse box cover, but this patchy overall impression gives you doubts about the longevity of this interior.

Whichever C4 Cactus you choose, you'll control its media functions through a smart-looking 7.0-inch colour touchscreen mounted within convenient reach of the steering wheel. It was surrounded by a black bezel with two rows of touch-sensitive buttons, which let you quickly snap between its different functions.

It was backed up by a charmingly retro LCD speedo, plonked in front of the driver. Weirdly, the second display had no rev counter and was a far cry from the slick 'Virtual Cockpit' digital dials that were available in the Audi Q2.

Indeed, this was far from the best infotainment system around. Earlier entry-level models missed out on many of its best features. All C4 Cactus models have DAB digital radio, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto smartphone mirroring and even a built-in nav and sim card.

It was a generous feature set, but using all those functions could be a test of patience. The shortcut buttons were particularly inconsistent in their response, sometimes requiring several presses to work properly.

There were no separate controls for the heater either, so if you wanted to change the fan setting or temperature it was a three or four-stage process rather than simple dial twisting. 

As with so much about the Cactus, practicality was a frustratingly mixed bag. There were lots to like, with some clever solutions to interior storage - especially the large top-hinged dash compartment - but plenty of niggles.

The slimline centre console and big windows gave a fantastic feeling of space in the front and two adults sat comfortably in the back seats, with knee-room to spare. The headroom was tighter though, especially if you fitted the optional panoramic (fixed) glass roof, so we'd avoid cars with this unless you've got younger children.

Sitting in the back on long journeys was made easier with pockets in the front seat backs, deep door bins for drinks bottles, an armrest each, and a shallower extra cubby in the door for sweets, phones or loose change.

It didn't have charging ports or cupholders and pop-out rear windows meant you couldn't let a cool breeze in.

Both outer seats had Isofix mounts and top tethers for fitting child seats. With wide-opening doors and easy access to the anchor points, doing so was straightforward, but you'd struggle to fit an adult between two.

Unlike many small SUVs back then, you couldn't slide the rear seats to increase the amount of room, but they did split and fold. 

Thoughtful touches like the grippy rubber dots on the top of the dash were tempered by design oversights like the shallow front cupholders and a phone tray that was too narrow to hold the majority of modern smartphones.

The boot was a reasonable size, but gave less flexibility than its rivals, with no false floor or load dividers. With the seats up, you got a 358-litre space, enough for a buggy and several small suitcases, but the access wasn't great, with a high loading lip to lug things over and a narrower boot aperture than many rival family hatches.

The original Citroen C4 Cactus had a one-piece rear bench, but the newer model received a traditional 60/40 split-folding layout that gave more flexibility, but there was still a significant hump in the floor when they were folded.

Regarding external dimensions, the Citroen C4 Cactus measures 4170mm, 1714mm wide and 1480mm tall.

There were two engines available with the Cactus, a petrol and a diesel, each offered two power outputs. There was no hybrid car or PHEV option nor an electric guise.

The PureTech petrol was a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo with either 110PS or 130PS, the BlueHDi diesel a 1.5-litre with 100PS or 120PS. The less powerful models were paired up with a six-speed manual, while the quicker cars got a six-speed automatic, although Citroen previously let you have the 1.2-litre 130 with a manual gearbox.

There was decent variety, but for our money, the best option is the entry-level petrol. Its 1.2-litre PureTech is still a terrific engine. Zingy, and eager to rev and quick enough to keep up with other traffic. 

The newer six-speed manual was a lot better resolved than the shonky five-speed that was fitted previously, with a more direct shift action and better-spaced ratios, so it was easier to keep the engine spinning smoothly. 

Driving smoothly in the early models was challenging because of the oddly weighted controls. The clutch was abrupt, the throttle overly sensitive and the shift action vague, which made stop-start traffic really onerous.

Choosing an automatic didn't improve things much, since the EAT6 transmission was a bit sluggish in its responses and could be jerky when changing into a higher gear. It was at least been improved with the 2018 update.

These engines all had decent performance, but the 1.5-litre diesel was incredibly economical and had a useful extra slug of torque.

How old your Citroen C4 Cactus is will have a big impact on how quiet it will be, especially at speed. In its quest to shed weight, Citroen shaved sound insulation out of the original model increasing road, wind and engine noise.

Customers didn't appreciate this stripped-back approach, so in the 2018 refresh, Citroen added it back in, fitted a new 'acoustic' windscreen and thicker side windows. They even went through the trouble of installing new door seals and adding soundproofing to the dash. This was all to make the Citroen C4 Cactus feel a bit more demure at speed.

Those changes were not as successful as the brand might have hoped for. Road and tyre noise on the newer car was rarely intrusive, but you still heard more wind noise in the Citroen than its Volkswagen and Skoda rivals.

The 1.2-litre petrol was smooth at low speeds around town and settled down when cruising but could be gruff at higher revs when pushed. It also sent a gentle buzz of vibrations through the pedals and gearstick but this was quite common with three-cylinder engines.

Picking a diesel meant rumbling engine noise - especially when cold - was a constant companion. Once again the later model did a better job of disguising it than the older version, which had a five-speed gearbox.

The Cactus featured an impressive array of safety kit, especially in later models.

Previously, every car in the line-up came equipped with passive essentials like six airbags, electronic stability and traction control, you could also set and control your speed with the limiter function on the cruise control.

That little bundle helped the Citroen C4 Cactus gain a four-star (out of five) Euro NCAP crash safety rating in 2014. That wasn't too bad, but remember most of its rivals achieved a five-star score. Those cars also did better in the individual categories, with rivals like the Skoda Scala getting a near-perfect 97% for adult protection.

The later Flair trim brought a generous suite of active assistance systems that would almost certainly help the Citroen gain that elusive final if tested again.

The driver attention alert system warned you if the car thought you were getting sleepy and drifting out of lane. It monitored your distance from the road markings and pinged a visual and audio warning if you began driving too erratically.

Add to that lane departure warning, a system that showed you the local speed limits, hill start assist that got you going again on steep junctions, front and rear parking sensors plus a parking camera and it was an extensive list. Auto-emergency braking was also standard.

A red 'SOS' button sat next to the interior lights, which used the car's sim card to call the emergency services if the worst happened. If the full kitchen sink wasn't enough, you could also add a blind spot monitor and a spare wheel as options, although you got a foam repair kit as standard.

Citroen as a brand doesn’t enjoy the best reputation for reliability and the C4 Cactus followed that trend, with owners reporting a glitchy infotainment system. Some cars have had issues with the automatic gearbox, and even pieces of bumper trim coming unstuck.

In the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index, Citroen was placed 26th out of 29 makes, behind Peugeot and Mini.

Luckily, the Cactus is still fairly cheap to insure if you buy the right car. The 1.2 PureTech Feel (5d) ETG is the cheapest in group 7. The non-ETG car is group 9 while the 110ps variant is group 15. 

The dearest to insure is the 1.6 BlueHDi at group 19. 

Another benefit of the C4's featherweight design is its low running costs. According to the old NEDC tests (later replaced by WLTP), only one emitted more than 110g/km of CO2. The 110 Flair PureTech EAT6 was the culprit, emitting 118g/km.

Most emit around 90-107g/km, meaning they'll cost around £190 per year to tax. It's worth checking, however, as the C4 Cactus awkwardly straddled two tax categories (pre and post-1 April 2017).

Newer Catcus' were a single specification. The good news is that the fully loaded Citroen C4 Cactus Flair model had many goodies to boot.

As standard, the Citroen C4 Cactus Flair received 17-inch wheels, a 7.0-inch touchscreen with integrated sat-nav, rear parking sensors and rearview camera, DAB radio, Bluetooth, climate and cruise control and smartphone mirroring. It was so well appointed that the only options available were the panoramic glass roof and metallic paint.

If you bought an entry-level Citroen C4 Cactus Touch trim, you were still fairly well catered for, with the same touchscreen, DAB radio, USB connectivity and cruise control, but no air-con or Bluetooth. It also had a nasty plastic steering wheel and missed out on the excellent safety features standard in the Flair.

The better value Citroen C4 Cactus Feel trim had a nice balance of kit and is the one we'd recommend.