Citroen C4 Cactus review - Practicality, comfort and boot space
The C4 Cactus is a fairly roomy car, but some rivals have more storage and boot space
Inside, the C4 Cactus feels fresh and modern, but that hasn’t come at the expense of passenger space.
The driving position is more than spacious enough, but some people may find the pedals too closely spaced. The updated model addresses two criticisms of the old car: the steering wheel now offers reach adjustment, and the seats feature variable lumbar support.
In fact, the updated seats are fantastic. New seat materials ensure the driver and front passenger have loads of support. They’re the most comfortable you’ll find at this price by some margin.
The top-hinged glovebox provides 8.5 litres of storage and the lid won’t bang your passenger’s legs when it’s opened. It’s also pretty big, partly because the passenger airbag has been moved into the roof of the cabin to cleverly maximise space on offer without compromising safety.
Size
At 4,170mm long and 1,714mm wide, the C4 Cactus has the same basic area as a conventional hatchback. However, the Citroen is 1,480mm tall thanks to its raised suspension, so it has different proportions to hatchback rivals.
Leg room, head room & passenger space
The low roofline doesn’t hurt headroom, with enough space in the back for taller adults, while there’s plenty of leg and shoulder room, too.
The biggest compromise in the rear is the lack of wind-up windows – instead, they only pop out at the rear a few centimetres. It means back seat passengers might find things a little stuffy, although they do get spacious door storage bins as a result. Isofix child seat mounting points are standard in the rear, but fitting a child seat is tricky because they're quite hard to reach from behind the seat cushions, and the doors don’t open as wide as in some rivals.
Boot
The C4 Cactus was initially fitted with a one-piece rear bench, but 60:40 split folding rear seats were added at the facelift and are now standard across the range. The boot has a 358-litre capacity with the rear seats in place, which is slightly less than you get in a Volkswagen Golf.
Fold the seats flat, and this rises to a maximum of 1,170 litres. The load lip is quite high though, and this setup means you have to trade carrying rear passengers for luggage if you’ve got larger items on board. There’s also exposed metal in the boot which could scratch if you’re carrying harder, bulkier items.
