When you develop a car in the hotly contested family hatchback segment, you have a vast amount of great cars to compete with the Golf and Focus along with the Astra and Peugeot 308 are just a small amount of cars that you would be competing with.
So, you really have to have something special to draw sales away from those market leaders, and sometimes you develop a car that is good, very good in fact, yet does not sell in the numbers that you would like it too, this car is one of those, the Citroen C4 hatchback is a brilliant car.
So, you really have to have something special to draw sales away from those market leaders, and sometimes you develop a car that is good, very good in fact, yet does not sell in the numbers that you would like it too, this car is one of those, the Citroen C4 hatchback is a brilliant car.
The current C4 is part of a range of products, in name if not in build, the C4 Cactus, C4 Picasso and Grand Picasso, these cars are very successful, which begs the question why is the standard car not as popular, could it be that it it not as beautiful or dynamic as other cars in this segment, could it be that the car does not offer the same tech as others, or, maybe, its just a car that does not float peoples boat, i dont know why.
The C4 is a great car, regardless of what other magazines and online motoring sites say, the C4 is a must when you're considering a new car, yes the car might not have the most modern of looks, but as you sit inside the car, the outside is of little concern, but inside the car is right up there, modern, great looking, nice soft touch materials, easy to reach switchgear, easy to use touchscreen and far more besides.
This model we tested is the C4 Flair PureTech 130 S&S 6-Speed Automatic, so a step up the scale, the Touch is the entry-level trim for the Citroen C4. It comes with 16-inch steel wheels with plastic hubcaps, heated door mirrors, a black cloth interior, a multi-function steering wheel with buttons to control the radio on it, six airbags, cruise control and storage drawer under the front passenger seat.
You then move up to the Feel trim level which adds 16-inch alloy wheels, a leather steering wheel and gearknob, cruise control with a memory function for your most regularly used speeds, stop/start to save fuel in traffic and DAB digital radio. You also get Bluetooth to let you make hands-free phone calls, and there's a USB socket to let you play music from your mobile devices.
And lastly you come to the top trim level, the Flair takes everything the Feel model has and adds tinted rear windows, chrome-look door mirrors, rear parking sensors, automatic headlights and windscreen wipers, a noise-reducing windscreen and a seven-inch touchscreen to control the DAB digital radio.
The interior has some nice touches like being able to change the colour of dash dials, something simple but a nice touch, the auto gearbox display shows which gear you are in, and if you move it into selectable, it shows which gear you're in and whether you need to move up or down the gear range.
The exceptionally comfortable seats offer suitable bolstering where needed, the nice sized steering wheel, decent and proper hand brake lever, nicely damped buttons and soft feel stalks as well as well weighted doors, so that they close without needing to be slammed all make for a nice interior.
There is loads of space for the driver and passenger, and once the seats are in place, the rear passengers are well catered for, again with really comfortable seating, which then brings us to the boot, this is superb in available space, the car also comes with a number of cubby holes and spaces for oddments all around.
The drive is equally as good and quiet, the car tested is the 1.2 litre PureTech turbo, it goes really well, and grips to the road equally as good, being a large car with a smallish engine, does affect the fuel consumption where the manufacturer's claimed figures being :-
Not the best mpg in the world, but also far from the worst, the car swiftly get to its top speed of 122mph, with a 0-62 time of 10.9 seconds, quite sedate, but should you give the car some "beans" you wont feel left wanting, it really does get up and go.
Being that it is the top spec car you can be assured that it will come well equipped, and you wont be disappointed here either :-
Just a short selection of the available equipment that is fitted as standard on the car, along with many safety features giving the C4 a Euro NCAP Five Star rating, something that many people regard as a must have these days.
The car also comes with 113g/km CO2, and is rated in the "B" road fund licence, together with a one year or 16,000 mile service length and a three year 60,000 warranty that the car comes with, making this a really good car to have.
OVERALL
The C4 is an extremely good car to own, ot goes very well, and stops equally as well, has comfortable seating along with nice touch plastics and fabrics, easy reach soft touch buttons, well weighted power steering and a raft of standard equipment.
The car is great around town, with the start & Stop system helping to save a few pennies on fuel, and at motorway speeds, you can cruise along at 70mph and have a conversation with your passengers without having to raise your voice.
The glass area makes for a brilliant all around view, with the addition of the panoramic sunroof, with multi position cover, means you can position the cover where you want it, to block out sunlight or have it right open to allow a very light and airy interior.
Yes you could buy a Golf or a Focus, a Megane or Astra or maybe the sister brands 308, but with a little checking online, you will see that you can locate the C4 with thousands of pounds off retail, bringing the asking price down to a really ow level..
The C4 is a great car, regardless of what other magazines and online motoring sites say, the C4 is a must when you're considering a new car, yes the car might not have the most modern of looks, but as you sit inside the car, the outside is of little concern, but inside the car is right up there, modern, great looking, nice soft touch materials, easy to reach switchgear, easy to use touchscreen and far more besides.
This model we tested is the C4 Flair PureTech 130 S&S 6-Speed Automatic, so a step up the scale, the Touch is the entry-level trim for the Citroen C4. It comes with 16-inch steel wheels with plastic hubcaps, heated door mirrors, a black cloth interior, a multi-function steering wheel with buttons to control the radio on it, six airbags, cruise control and storage drawer under the front passenger seat.
You then move up to the Feel trim level which adds 16-inch alloy wheels, a leather steering wheel and gearknob, cruise control with a memory function for your most regularly used speeds, stop/start to save fuel in traffic and DAB digital radio. You also get Bluetooth to let you make hands-free phone calls, and there's a USB socket to let you play music from your mobile devices.
And lastly you come to the top trim level, the Flair takes everything the Feel model has and adds tinted rear windows, chrome-look door mirrors, rear parking sensors, automatic headlights and windscreen wipers, a noise-reducing windscreen and a seven-inch touchscreen to control the DAB digital radio.
The interior has some nice touches like being able to change the colour of dash dials, something simple but a nice touch, the auto gearbox display shows which gear you are in, and if you move it into selectable, it shows which gear you're in and whether you need to move up or down the gear range.
The exceptionally comfortable seats offer suitable bolstering where needed, the nice sized steering wheel, decent and proper hand brake lever, nicely damped buttons and soft feel stalks as well as well weighted doors, so that they close without needing to be slammed all make for a nice interior.
There is loads of space for the driver and passenger, and once the seats are in place, the rear passengers are well catered for, again with really comfortable seating, which then brings us to the boot, this is superb in available space, the car also comes with a number of cubby holes and spaces for oddments all around.
The drive is equally as good and quiet, the car tested is the 1.2 litre PureTech turbo, it goes really well, and grips to the road equally as good, being a large car with a smallish engine, does affect the fuel consumption where the manufacturer's claimed figures being :-
- Urban 46.3mpg
- Extra Urban 67.3mpg
- Combined 57.6mpg
Not the best mpg in the world, but also far from the worst, the car swiftly get to its top speed of 122mph, with a 0-62 time of 10.9 seconds, quite sedate, but should you give the car some "beans" you wont feel left wanting, it really does get up and go.
- Cruise Control with Speed Limiter
- TPMS
- Stop & Start
- Rear Parking Sensors
- ABS
- EBD
- EBA
- ESC
- Traction Control
- Auto Activation of Hazard Lights in Rapid Deceleration
- Power Steering
- DAB Digital Radio
- 7" Touchscreen
- Panoramic Sunroof
Just a short selection of the available equipment that is fitted as standard on the car, along with many safety features giving the C4 a Euro NCAP Five Star rating, something that many people regard as a must have these days.
The car also comes with 113g/km CO2, and is rated in the "B" road fund licence, together with a one year or 16,000 mile service length and a three year 60,000 warranty that the car comes with, making this a really good car to have.
OVERALL
The C4 is an extremely good car to own, ot goes very well, and stops equally as well, has comfortable seating along with nice touch plastics and fabrics, easy reach soft touch buttons, well weighted power steering and a raft of standard equipment.
The car is great around town, with the start & Stop system helping to save a few pennies on fuel, and at motorway speeds, you can cruise along at 70mph and have a conversation with your passengers without having to raise your voice.
The glass area makes for a brilliant all around view, with the addition of the panoramic sunroof, with multi position cover, means you can position the cover where you want it, to block out sunlight or have it right open to allow a very light and airy interior.
Yes you could buy a Golf or a Focus, a Megane or Astra or maybe the sister brands 308, but with a little checking online, you will see that you can locate the C4 with thousands of pounds off retail, bringing the asking price down to a really ow level..
