Citroen C4 review

The C4 uses a mix of the relatively simple and the new in its chassis and suspension. It is based on Stellantis’s Common Module Platform. It’s typically used for slightly smaller, B-segment cars – but then the C4 Cactus before it did the same thing, no doubt achieving a little cost-saving and better economies of scale for its maker. In this case, adoption of that platform has also allowed for there to be an all-electric version. (Had Citroën chosen the more expensive Efficient Modular Platform of the C4 Picasso and C5 Aircross instead, it would have been limited to a plug-in hybrid.)

The decision has little impact on mechanical layout or suspension configuration: combustion-engined C4s use front-, transverse-mounted three- and four-cylinder powerplants that drive the front wheels, and they have strut-type suspension at the front and a torsion beam at the rear, just as they otherwise probably would.

But the detail of the car’s rolling chassis specification is where it diverts from the hatchback norm. The car runs long enough springs to provide more than 150mm of ground clearance (a lot for a standard hatchback) and to make room for 18in wheels that are standard across the range and wrapped with unconventionally sized 195-section, 60-profile tyres, which have been chosen with efficiency and ride comfort in mind.

Meanwhile, Citroën’s Progressive Hydraulic Cushion fluid-filled suspension mountings feature on the compression and rebound ‘ends’ of the front struts, and on the compression side of those at the rear.

Combustion engine choice extends from 99bhp up to 153bhp turbocharged 1.2-litre three-pot petrols and includes 109bhp and 129bhp 1.5-litre four-pot diesels. Our test car was a mid-range 129bhp 1.2-litre Puretech turbo petrol with an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

Much of the success of this car’s positioning rests on its refinement; and it is a quiet-operating car in objectively measurable terms, when the surface is smooth. Tested in comparable conditions, our test car proved 1dB quieter than an equivalent Volkswagen Golf 1.5 e-TSI at both 30mph and 50mph, and 2dB quieter at idle and 70mph. Those skinny wheels and tyres and the hydraulic mountings in the suspension will have made sizeable contributions to that, as will the aerodynamic body design.

The car doesn’t feel particularly calm or especially comfortable in subjective terms, though. There’s an agreeable lope and float about the ride over longer-wave undulations taken at just the right speed (namely, that 45-55mph cross-country gait).

But there’s not quite enough rubber-footed isolation about the secondary ride to complement that sense of glide to really set this car’s ride up for glowing praise.

The axles clump and reverberate a little over sharp ridges and drain covers in a way you just don’t expect them to with that suspension specification, while at greater speeds body control can deteriorate to a point where you certainly wouldn’t call what results comfortable.

Assisted driving notes

Citroën’s trim name for the basic C4 – Sense – hasn’t been chosen by chance. Active safety is intended to be one of this car’s key differentiators, and even entry-level cars get a radar-based autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system, a speed limit recognition system and a driver monitoring system. If you want a fully up-to-date camera-based AEB system that will work at night and detect cyclists and pedestrians, though, you will need a Shine-spec car; while Citroën’s Highway Driver Assist system (which combines adaptive cruise with a lane-keeping aid) is the preserve of range-topping Shine Plus.

Highway Driver Assist is a bit flaky, dropping in and out with inconsistent lane markings; and since it requires only a dead hand on the wheel to work and doesn’t always keep you engaged on the motorway, that can be problematic. The speed limit recognition system shows the current limit in the head-up display but won’t adjust the car’s speed automatically.