Citroen C4 Cactus (2014-2021) Review

The Citroen C4 Cactus is 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) is pitched as a rival to sensible family hatchbacks that look as conservative as a stiff white collared shirt, so the Citroen is still an interesting and quirky alternative buy.

If you want 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 is tailor made to fit your needs, but there are caveats.

Mainly, these are to do with the way it drives. It has light steering with an artificial, disconnected feel, grabby brakes and a notchy gearbox that isn’t very precise. The very soft suspension shoudl be comfortable, but it's not 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' are not known for their 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 are more comfortable and it's 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 has the style and personalisation options to attract small SUV buyers, but rides lower than most rivals. It's not 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 will still stand 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 have fewer compromises than the Citroen is 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.

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

Everything you'll touch regularly has a reassuring heft and decent finish, but the Cactus was designed to be affordable and in places that cost-cutting is more obvious. Most of the trim below your eyeline is hard black plastic - as are the door cards - but it's the stark contrast with the interior's posh bits that makes them stand out.

Few family hatchbacks have such an interesting looking interior, but most of them deliver a more consistent level of build quality. One moment your hand is met by soft stitched leather, 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 be controlling its media functions through a smart-looking 7.0-inch colour touchscreen that's mounted within convenient reach of the steering wheel. It's surrounded by a black bezel with two rows of touch sensitive buttons, which let you quickly snap between its different functions.

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

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

That's a generous feature set, but trying to use all of those functions can be a test of patience. The shortcut buttons are particularly inconsistent in their response, sometimes requiring several presses to work properly.

Combine this reticence with a main screen that is glitchy and slow when scrolling and usability isn't great.

There are no separate controls for the heater either, so if you want to change the fan setting or temperature it's a three or four-stage process instead of being able to just twist a dial, hardly ideal when you are driving.

As with so much about the Cactus, practicality is a frustratingly mixed bag. There's 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 give you a fantastic feeling of space in the front and two adults will fit comfortably in the back seats, with knee-room to spare. Headroom is tighter though, especially if you fit 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 is 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.

There are no charging ports or cupholders and pop-out rear windows mean you can't let a cool breeze in.

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

Unlike many small SUVs, you can't slide the rear seats to increase the amount of room, but they do split and fold. 

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

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

The original Citroen C4 Cactus had a one-piece rear bench, but the newer model gets a traditional 60/40 split-folding layout that gives you a lot more flexibility, but there's still a significant hump in the floor when they're folded.

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

There are two engines offered in the Cactus, a petrol and a diesel, each offered in two power outputs. There is no hybrid car or PHEV option while Citroen never offered the Citroen C4 Cactus as an electric car.

The PureTech petrol is 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 are paired up with a six-speed manual, while the quicker cars get a six-speed automatic, although Citroen did previously let you have the 1.2-litre 130 with a manual gearbox.

That's a decent spread of choice, but for our money the best option is the entry-level petrol. Its 1.2-litre PureTech is a terrific engine. Zingy, eager to rev and more than quick enough to keep up with other traffic. 

Citroen used to offer it without a turbo (and just 82PS) making the Citroen C4 Cactus very slow and quite hard work.

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

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

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

All of these engines have decent performance, but the 1.5-litre diesel is incredibly economical and has a useful extra slug of torque, so if you plan on many long journeys with a fully loaded car, it'll save you money.

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 took lots of 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. Even going to the trouble of putting in new door seals and adding sound proofing to the dash. This was all in an effort 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 is rarely intrusive, but you'll hear more wind noise in the Citroen than its rivals from Volkswagen or Skoda.

The 1.2-litre petrol is smooth at low speeds around town, and settles down when cruising (especially now it comes with a six-speed manual gearbox) but can be gruff at higher revs when pushed. It also sends a gentle buzz of vibrations through the pedals and gearstick, but that's quite common with three-cylinder engines.

Pick a diesel and rumbling engine noise - especially clatter when cold - will be a constant companion. Once again the later model does a better job of disguising it than the older version, which has a five-speed gearbox.

The Cactus features an impressive array of safety kit, especially later models that were only offered in top Citroen C4 Cactus Flair trim.

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

That little bundle helped the Citroen C4 Cactus to gain a four-star (out of five) Euro NCAP crash safety rating back in 2014. That's not too bad, but bear in mind most of its rivals achieved the five-star score. Those cars also do better in the individual categories, with rivals such as the Skoda Scala getting a near-perfect 97% for adult protection.

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

Driver attention alert warns you if the car thinks you're getting sleepy and drifting out of lane. It monitors your distance from the road markings and pings a visual and audio warning if you start driving too erratically.

Add to that lane departure warning, a system that shows you the local speed limits, hill start assist to get you going again on steep junctions, front and rear parking sensors plus a parking camera and it's an extensive list. Auto-emergency braking is also standard, which will stop you if you're about to have an accident.

There's a red 'SOS' button next to the interior lights which uses the car's inbuilt sim-card to call the emergency services if the worst does happen. If the full kitchen sink isn't enough, you can also add Blind Spot monitor and a space saver spare wheel as options, although you do get a foam repair kit as standard.

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

In the 2021 HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index, Citroen was placed 25th out of 30 makes, behind Peugeot and Alfa Romeo,

There's a wide spread of insurance groups for the Cactus. The most affordable model is the woefully slow 82PS 1.2-litre petrol, which was in Group 9 in the pre-facelift model, but Group 11 in the updated version.

From the current line-up with its bumped up spec sheet, the low-powered diesel is actually the cheapest, it's in Group 14. The popular petrol is in Group 16, while the automatic version with more grunt is in Group 21.

That's about on a par with conventional hatchback rivals like the Skoda Octavia, but a Volkswagen Golf costs less.

Another benefit of the C4's featherweight design is low running costs across the board. According to the old NEDC tests (later replaced by WLTP), non of the line-up emitted more than 110g/km of CO2 - impressive considering its decent size.

If you buy a car registered before April 1st 2017, those low tailpipe emissions will decide how much tax you'll need to pay, but most of the range is either totally exempt, or will cost you no more than £20 a year in VED.

Any Cactus built after that date will have to pay a fixed VED road tax rate per year. If you want to use the Cactus as a company vehicle then the Blue HDi 1.5-litre diesel with a manual gearbox is the most affordable option from the current range, with a 26% BIK rate, the PureTech petrols start at 29%.

If you're buying a later Citroen C4 Cactus the range was paired back to a single specification. The good news is that the fully loaded Citroen C4 Cactus Flair model comes with all the goodies you could want.

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

If you're buying an entry-level Citroen C4 Cactus Touch trim don't fret, you're still be fairly well catered for, with the same touchscreen, DAB radio, USB connectivity and cruise control, but no air-con or Bluetooth. It also has a nasty plastic steering wheel and misses out on the excellent safety features standard in the Flair.

The better value Citroen C4 Cactus Feel trim has a nice balance of kit and is the the one we'd recommend with plenty of used models to choose from.