Citroen C4 Review

Citroen's All new 'Green' C4

With global warning spiralling out of control and high emissions from cars not exactly helping matters, consumers are starting to look at alternative fuels in an effort to 'do their bit' for the environment.

With that thought in mind, I started to look at 'greener cars' and with Citroen winning "Green Car of the Year 2006", I decided to road test the new C4 that has the ability to run on bio-diesel fuel specially made for Total garages, which slashes the emissions that long term can only benefit the planet.

The really sad news is that despite Citroen putting a lot of money into the development of this fuel, Joe public cannot purchase it as the petrol stations are still rather loathed to supply. Is it the petrol giants or the government one does wonder?

The beauty of bio-diesel is that it can bring the CO2 emissions below 120g/km that has an extra benefit of being excluded from congestion charges if the government decide, as they have talked about, to waiver the charge on vehicles under 120g/km.

However, I was road testing the C4 SX hatchback mated to a 1.6 litre diesel engine whose C02 emissions are 120g/km thus falls into Band B of the Road Fund Licence equating to £50 per year. The engine is also exceptionally economical achieving 62.8 mpg on a combined cycle with further savings falling into group 5E insurance, service intervals every 12,5000 miles and for company car drivers, 18% Benefit In Kind rating. If these were not enough incentives to purchase the C4, my test car had the EGS automatic gearbox with the option to go off piste in manual mode either using the + or - by the gear lever or the brilliantly fun paddles mounted to the steering wheel. So the final price tag is £15,990 but for January, customers who purchase this model can claim whopping £1,900 cash back. So definitely worth a trip to your local garage to check out all the other deals as well.

The new C4 is the first all -new Citroen to feature the company’s bold new corporate styling. This comprises of the distinctive chrome grille incorporating Citroen’s logo, the ‘boomerang’ shaped front headlights that wrap around the front wings, and L-shaped at the rear, while to profile the C4 is certainly very curvy thanks to the clever use of glass areas.

The interior is very spacious with lots of head and legroom in the front as well as room for three adults in the back. The height adjustable multifunctional steering wheel may look rather daunting at first, as it is not just home to the indicators, lights and wipers, but also has the remote for the CD/radio equipment, (Bluetooth is an optional extra) cruise control and the paddles mentioned earlier. The large digital speedo is displayed in the centre of the dashboard that is a great safety feature and just as well as the C4 is very quick off the mark taking just 11.2 seconds to reach 62mph and a top speed of 119mph. As well as manual air conditioning, the C4 SX has electric front windows and door mirrors, tinted windows and scented air fresheners making the cabin a very pleasant place to be in. There are also some very useful storage solutions including pop out drawer’s, four front pockets and in the lid of the glove box, integrated penholder with clip, ticket holder and other little compartments. The boot is is very large and easily accommodates the weekly shop.

Drive wise, the C4 is equipped with EGS, a six speed automatic gearbox that did take a while to get used to the ‘roller coaster’ take off, prominent at low speeds. The power assisted steering with a turning circle of just 10.7 will breezes you in and out of the parking bays and visibility is pretty good all round with the rear quarter light windows certainly helping.

The C4 SX hatchback is full of safety and security features such as ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution, Emergency Braking Assistance and ESP with traction control. Protecting all occupants are adaptive driver and front passenger air bags, front lateral and side window air bags, front passenger airbag cut off device and energy absorbing side impact protections. The front seat belt has pre tensioners with force limiters and all five seats have 3-point inertial reel seat belts.

Helping the driver are halogen headlights, "guide me home" headlights that stay on a while till you safely reach your front door, and to secure the C4 is remote central locking with deadlocks, a transponder immobiliser, child lock indicators and a visual/audible alarm for all five seats that will inform the driver which naughty child has not put on their seatbelt!

No wonder the C4 achieved a five star Euro NCAP rating for adult occupancy, three stars for Pedestrians and four stars for Child protection.

I was certainly impressed with the new look of the Citroen C4 couple with interior comfort and convenience. The automatic gearbox did make me feel a bit queasy which is unusual as I am a great lover of autos. But the best news of the C4 has to be value for money, with low cost of ownership, low insurance, low road tax, low benefit in kind and of course very low diesel bills.

However, if I were the designer in the Citroen camp I would be a bit annoyed at the governments or petrol giant’s lack of enthusiasm to take on board this bio-diesel. Its not just Citroen, other manufacturer are doing their bit, yet fall at the last hurdle through absolutely no fault of their own. The only thing we can do as consumers is support them by purchasing greener cars ready for the day they are given the green light to go.

Jackie Violet Motoring Correspondent