Over the past four decades of writing about a variety of subjects that include cars, I have discovered that some of the most alluring words in the English language start with the letter ‘C’. Although you might feel that this is an unusual conclusion to reach, stick with me for a few moments, as I hope to illustrate the importance of ‘C’ to the creative writer and reader.
‘C’ is one of those letters that encourages alliterative emphasis. Whether adding an adjective to result in ‘colourful canary’, or a ‘canny character’, it can be installed within certain words to harden their sounds and definitions, like ‘obfuscate’, or ‘panic’. In fact, along with the letter ‘G’, it is the only other letter in our language that can have both soft and hard pronunciations in conjunction with other letters. As such, it lends itself to erudite comedians, like Rowan Atkinson (of Blackadder infamy), who uses it as a device to create comedic milestone comments.
Among the most famous ‘Cs’ are Charlie Chaplin, Charlotte Church, Cassius Clay (later known as Muhammad Ali) and Christopher Columbus but the Citroen Cactus does offer great automotive competition. First launched in 2014, now four years of age, the Citroen is calculated to have reached its model mid-life period, which usually heralds a redesign, but a great run of success has assured it an upgraded place within the broader Citroen line-up.
The Cactus was always an interesting machine. Based on a blend of Citroen C2 and C3 components, it was never intended to be a C4 next-model-up, although its British designer, Mark Lloyd, was adamant that as much of the original motor show concept should be incorporated within the confines of its C4-rivalling wheelbase, which included an unusually low and practical dashboard and the intriguing ‘Airbump’ panels on both flanks.
In case you wondered why the flip-up lid of the glovebox was so useful, it was because the space normally reserved for the airbags had now been allocated to the headlining above both front seat occupants’ heads. It was an alternative design gesture that was a clear nod towards the avant-garde Gallic engineering introduced by Andre Citroen, the original company’s founder, and it remains an unique model attribute today.
It is worth noting that the former Airbump feature is now somewhat reduced to a strip at the base of the cabin doors, which helps the Cactus to maintain a family-look that has become a signature of Citroen’s Aircross SUV models. While the term SUV is now accepted so broadly, along with front-wheel-drive in the class, rather than the higher cost of 4WD, the Cactus sits more comfortably within the C4 classification.
Of course, the dashboard is an important feature, especially as more than half of our motoring lives are spent within our cars, looking at the dials, rather than observing from outside. Since the outset, the Cactus’ dash has been predominated by two digital screens, the panel directly ahead of the driver and the touchscreen in the dash top-centre, which feature across the entire range. Conveniently, arising from the designer’s desire to reduce dashboard clutter, the air-con controls are also contained within the touch-screen. Apart from a gentle reshaping of the seats, which are now significantly more bolstered, as a result of employing denser foam that is both softer and more cosseting than before (Citroen calls its seats ‘Advanced Comfort’) and a trim-dependent inclusion of mobile-phone induction charging, even the hinged rear windows are retained from the original model.
The majority of alterations have been made to the exterior detailing, which now follows a pattern set by the other Aircross models. Both front and rear lower bumpers feature upward kinks that carry the front foglamps and rear reflectors respectively. As stated already, the Airbumps are now much smaller, with the leading ‘bump’ highlighted in the same coloured plastic trim as the front fogs. The rear hatchback is completely new, as are the tail-lamp clusters. Behind it is a decent boot of around 358-litres capacity, a load space which can be trebled by folding forwards the split rear bench.
At the front, it is all change. Below the daytime running lamps is a behind-glass light structure that also contains the indicators and the ‘Double Chevron’ grille badge now sits above a hatched intake that also provides a home to the front number-plate. Where the original Cactus featured hints of a floating roof, the revised C-pillar is now more integrated. As part of an ingenious plan to include Cactus in the Citroen model range, I would venture to suggest that it works admirably.
Powering the test car is PSA Group’s now ubiquitous 1.2-litre, three-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that features PureTech frugality and a low CO2 rating. With all the hubbub surrounding diesel power, while the option remains available, there is scarcely any need, as the 1.2-litre unit can return a healthy 62.8mpg, while emitting around 104g/km, which equates to the standard £140 annual road tax fee.
Developing a sound 108bhp, allied to a punchy 151lbs ft of torque, towing a caravan should present few issues. However, it is enough to propel the Cactus from 0-60mph in a surprisingly zesty 9.1s, before topping out at a reputed 117mph. The car certainly feels capable of it and the five-speed manual gearbox provides nicely-spaced ratios to enable good mid-range performance and relaxed cruising.
Finally, now equipped with Progressive Hydraulic Cushion suspension (a cleverly developed bump-stop system not available on the base model), the ride quality is soft and billowy, proving to be more than capable of ironing-out the British ‘3rd-World’ roads network. Light power steering and positive brakes support an excellent dynamic package.
