C4 Cactus Reviewed: The Car For Non-Conformists

You may like to think of yourself as different, in a Jeremy Corbyn kind of a way. 

You might like the feel of wind around your toes whilst sporting a pair of Birkenstocks. 

You may even be drawn to Veganism, but not because you don't like crunching corpses, but because it is different. 

Trouble is, my would-be non-conformist friend, when it comes to buying a new car there isn't too many different, non-conformist models to choose from. So you have to conform if you want to be a non-conformist, and go for the C4 Cactus. 

I bought one because it had a decent-sized boot and was cheaper than a Focus.

Any way, to the review. Having lived with the Cactus for a year and eleven thousand miles I've decided that it’s a pretty decent vehicle. I'll list the good and bad:

Minimalist dashboard with only a digital speedometer directly in front of the driver.

No rev counter.

Most controls are operated via the 7 inch touch screen, which can be slow.

The steering wheel buttons glow a dull red at night making them hard to see, let alone use. 

The glove box is huge and opens upwards.

The passenger airbag is housed in the roof, which takes away some head room.

There’s an armrest that pushes up out of the way when you don’t need it, and inside the compartment isn't quite large enough to hold CDs.

Which is fine, because there isn’t a CD player.

For your own tunes, plug your in your iPod via one of two USB ports, one under the touch screen, the other in the glove box.

Leg room in the back is poor, meaning our toddler Adam can annoy his mummy by kicking her seat from behind.

Head room back there isn’t great either, so sit the tallest passenger in the middle to make use of the recess left by the panoramic roof.

The bench-style seat doesn’t split (but on newer models it does.)

The rear windows push out like a 1990 Vauxhall Nova. But that means you get door storage space. 

The boot space is large, there’s a big lip to lift suit cases over, but I always remove the parcel shelf to make life easier. I can get an adult sized suitcase north to south and a smaller suitcase and a holdall bedside it east to west. Plus the push chair on top with more bags, and it doesn’t obscure my rear view.

Our Flair model comes with a rear camera and parking sensors. Leather seats (£795) and Panoramic Roof (£595) are worth optional extras.

Only yellow paint is free, Obsidian Black costs £595.

To Sum Up

I would recommend the car but it depends on your purpose. The big, foamy front seats are the most comfortable I’ve ever sat on, it gets 65 miles to the gallon on supermarket petrol and the soft suspension makes for a soft ride. It weighs less than a tonne meaning it’s a bit flighty on the motorway, but fine when fully loaded with suitcases.

I don’t recommend it as a motorway cruiser, the cabin noise is annoyingly loud at 70mph.

I almost forgot the air bumps. They are real difference.

Model Tested: C4 Cactus Flair 2015
Engine: Blue HDI 100 Diesel
Fuel Consumption: 65 MPG

https://info.citroen.co.uk for more info.