New Citroen C4 Review – French Fancy

New Citroen C4 Review

There’s definitely something in the water over at Citroen France. Not only do they release a new C3 and the almighty DS3. The C4, has been replaced.

This review took a little time in the making as we had previously been to it’s pre-dealer launch back in January and wanted to see how the public reacted to the new C4. You should know that we only give unbiased reviews so that we can tell you the rough with the smooth.

The new C4 seems to have divided opinion on the way that it looks. Previous C4 owners and Citroen fanatics think it’s become a little to conservative and quite frankly, we agree. No longer does it have mad rear lights that stretch from the roof to the bumper, but instead from the rear it looks nothing more or less than the Vauxhall Astra and other Euro boxes. It’s a shame because from the front, this thing does look aggressive. With no bonnet line, the edge of the ‘hood lips over the headlamps keeping it looking long, powerful and menacing in a rear view mirror. Nice.

The inside does get much better. 99.9% of all the people we have asked, love the interior of the New Citroen C4. It looks like an updated version of the C5’s interior which is honestly no bad thing. High quality materials with soft touch plastics, updated switch gear and a proper Speedo. For you Citroen fans don’t be upset because sitting in the middle of the Speedo is an LCD display, this can display the speed in digital numbers just like before.

There is a multitude of options and firsts for Citroen on this model. How does massaging front seats sound? A Blind-Spot monitoring system to make sure you don’t cause a massive RTC on the M5 or even the ‘Parking Space Gap Measurement System’ which as it says on the tin, lets you know if you can fit into a parallel space. Be warned, the system wants to give you LOTS of extra room so the more avid/gifted parkers amongst you, will be able to get it into spaces even the car itself doesn’t think you can fit in! What’s the point?

The original C4, was launched in a frenzy of clever marketing with the all famous dancing Robot adverts, I can’t help but think the new C4, kind of, just appeared. I personally don’t think the new C4 was an all out trailblazing adventure for Citroen like the old version was when launched. Part of me thinks it was brought out to ‘try’ and keep up and fit in with the other manufacturers that are doing so well in that size segment to maybe try and cash in that kind of success, because lets face it the old C4 never outsold the Focus or Astra did it?

So, it’s a bit above average to look at, it’s the quality it should be in today’s age on the inside and seemed to just appear without to much of a fanfare. Let’s have a look at the pricing.

Before I tell you the current pricing of the New C4. Please…Sit Down. The pricing has probably got the most attention out of all the aspects of the car due the high nature of them when compared to the outgoing version.

Take a look at the prices of the Vauxhall and the Ford and form your own opinion. Remember they have quite a range of different trim levels where as the C4 gets 3. VTR, VTR+ and Exclusive. The middle of the range model, what do you think? 16K? Well, for a slow and unexciting 95ps engine you’ll have to stump up £17,325. Move up to a 1.6HDI and you’re at £18,725. If you want to be super efficient go for the e-HDI which basically means a Stop/Start Semi-Auto…£20,125. Yes…20k for a Middle of the range vehicle. Gulp.

This all seems a little sombre for Citroen. There just doesn’t seem to be that spunk and pizazz that they’ve shown with the likes of the new C3 and DS3. Why not, we’ll come to that in a moment.

With the pre-dealer launch of the New Citroen C4 we were taken to Coventry and more importantly, Mira (Motor Industry Research Association). We all tried the car on various wet grip areas to see how it handled compared to the competition. The Astra, Focus and Golf.

The C4 did hold its own on the Wet Grip and Test Drives. We liked the ride comfort over the Astra and Focus. The car feels quite light on its rubber, is very quiet inside and handled very well around the wet grip track managing to remain in control on an incredibly wet surface at around 40mph into relatively tight corners. This thing is safe. A brilliant 5 Star Euro NCAP rating is something to boast around with the NCAP tests getting harder and harder.

All day, there is no doubt about it, we wanted to jump from the C4 into the Golf to see how they compare. Let’s face it. It’s the benchmark. Size wise the Golf is smaller, with a smaller boot and less room for occupants in the back. However, to drive, it’s sublime. It’s one of those cars you drive and it just feels right, so tight, quiet and smooth.

How’s this for a twist?

The C4 isn’t far from that however it is bigger and has the biggest boot size in its class at a whopping 408 Litres. Can you see what Citroen have yet again managed to do. Place itself in between the competition as the all-rounder. This is no bad thing as the new C4 genuinely is pleasing to look at if somewhat dull from the rear. Has a very nice interior and is big enough to do whatever you want and I’m sure Citroen has offers just around the corner, to make them that bit more affordable.

We genuinely like the car, everybody is bored of the Focus, the Astra is dull and the Golf…people don’t think they can afford. The C4 however…is the understated choice. Find your nearest dealer and go for a drive. You won’t regret it.