Citroen C4 Puretech 155 Shine Plus EAT8 first drive

A year ago, we road-tested the new Citroën C4 – the French brand’s family hatchback, now with a strong but not overwhelming hint of crossover to it – and awarded it a bang-average three stars.

That car was in fancy Puretech 130 Shine Plus auto specification, meaning it had a 129bhp turbocharged 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, an eight-speed torque-converter gearbox and the fanciest of the four trim levels (Sense, Sense Plus, Shine and Shine Plus).

This one that we have here now is a Puretech 155 Shine Plus auto, meaning it’s essentially the same car but with a more powerful (153bhp) version of the same engine. 

What are the differences between 130 and 155? Well, apart from the obvious, you will get from 0-62mph a tad quicker (8.5sec, compared with 9.4sec), do 1.5 miles fewer to the gallon (according to the official WLTP tests) and pay your Citroën dealer £1000 more up front.

Its residual value after three years is predicted to be about £500 better too. If you’re getting it on a PCP finance deal, it will cost you an extra £19.40 per month over 48 months. 

Is it worth that? Perhaps, if performance really is your utmost priority. But if you’re seriously considering a modern Citroën, it probably won’t be, given the French firm’s unashamed focus on comfort and refinement over dynamics. Personally, I’d rather treat myself to a few pints at a concert each month.

Our road testers concluded last May: “There’s a certain relaxing, efficient, long-striding classic Citroën vibe about the car’s character, but here, the real pity is that the C4 doesn’t better deliver on its potential. Although refined in quite particular ways and circumstances, the car’s comfort and isolation levels disappoint at other times; and so many of the tactics that Citroën uses in an attempt to make it more easy to drive just make it less dynamically versatile and intuitive in a broader sense.”

I’m quoting that because I couldn’t have said it better myself. If you’re going to major on comfort, you have to make damned sure that the car is unquestionably relaxing to drive, absolutely more so than fellow class-members that don’t intentionally major on it. But at the risk of sounding like a broken record, Citroëns never seem able to get there.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be quite so blatant were it not for the ghosts of last-century Citroëns. Whereas those cars employed innovative hydropneumatic suspension, to give them the genuine sensation of gliding over road imperfections, the realities of modern volume car-making restrict the likes of the new C4 to mere rubberised bumpstops.

Look, it’s a bit better than the old C4 Cactus, but frankly I would rather put up with the sometimes overly firm ride of something like a Ford Focus than try to ward off queasiness from constant pronounced pitching and rolling. And the C4 still has steering that’s about as confidence-inspiring as England footballers in a penalty shoot-out. Perhaps you feel differently, and that’s fine; just don’t expect to be floating around on a cloud.

At least the engine itself is nice, with enough performance to make all everyday driving scenarios easy. It has good flexibility and real-world economy broadly in line with its lab-derived claimed figures. It even sounds okay. The PSA Group-developed Puretech unit didn’t win a mantlepiece’s worth of Engine of the Year trophies in the past few years for nothing.