Skip advert
Advertisement

Citroen C4 Cactus review - driver appeal of a different kind - Citroen C4 Cactus performance and 0-60 time

Not an 'evo' car in the traditional sense, the Cactus is nevertheless quite a likeable car

Evo rating
RRP
from £12,990
  • Interior design, comfort, light weight
  • Overly light steering, quirky styling may put off some

There’s not a lot to see here, performance fans – even the quickest Cactus, the PureTech 110 with a manual gearbox, takes 9.3 seconds to reach 62mph and eventually runs on to a modest 117mph. Next past the post is the manual-equipped diesel, which covers the 0-62mph run in 10.7sec and hits 114mph.

Advertisement - Article continues below

For some clue as to how much the automatic ‘box hampers progress, the ETG6 diesel is half a second slower to 62mph than its manual equivalent.

No Cactus feels particularly rapid on the road either, though in the PureTech 110 that’s partly as a result of how quiet and refined the thrummy little three-cylinder is. At idle it’s nearly silent and crawling around town it hardly intrudes either. Use all the revs (guessing when to change gear, with no tachometer to observe) and there’s a little more din and vibration, but there’s not the sporty exhaust note you get with some threes.

The diesel is a little more vocal but not excessively so, while the naturally-aspirated petrol models do require a few more revs and a little more noise as they scoot down the road. It goes without saying that it’s the turbocharged three-pot that we’d recommend – with a kerb weight of 1020kg, it can be bundled along quickly enough.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

New Porsche ‘Mission S’ supercar central in plan to tackle Ferrari head-on
What the new Porsche supercar could look like, edited with AI
News

New Porsche ‘Mission S’ supercar central in plan to tackle Ferrari head-on

Porsche’s plan to recover its profits involves pushing upmarket to widen margins, with more customisability and a new supercar
7 Oct 2026
​Best hot hatchbacks 2026 – fast, fun and family friendly cars
Best hot hatchbacks 2026
Best cars

​Best hot hatchbacks 2026 – fast, fun and family friendly cars

The new Peugeot 208 GTi and Vauxhall Corsa GSE join a great variety of current hot hatchbacks that we've ranked
6 Oct 2026
Ferrari Enzo v LaFerrari – analogue hypercar meets its digital successor
Ferrari Enzo v Ferrari LaFerrari
Features

Ferrari Enzo v LaFerrari – analogue hypercar meets its digital successor

When Ferrari launched its first hybrid hypercar, the LaFerrari, Henry Catchpole pitted it against the Enzo, its iconic analogue predecessor
4 Oct 2026