2018 Citroen C4 Cactus LOSES a bit of its FUNK with a facelift

2018 Citroen C4 Cactus seems to lose a bit of its FUNK

The Citroen C4 Cactus gets a facelift, delivering what looks a more mainstream car with more conventional looks, new engines and new technology.

The Citroen C4 Cactus is a bit of a Marmite car, with its quirky looks and quirky cabin, has certainly divided opinion.

But we loved it, as more for the fact it dared to be different – and saw Citroen doing what Citroen has always done best – than that it was a great car.

But having made a car that was quirky and different, Citroen seem to have back-pedalled with this facelift, toning down the C4 Cactus’s eccentricities and, as Citroen themselves say, making it more like the C4 Hatch.

The front end of the Cactus now looks like the new C3, gets new lights and chrome and less of the black plastic look. It’s certainly more refined.

The biggest visual change though is that the statement Airbumps have now become token efforts along the sills, and the back end gets slicker, with less black plastic and more body colour, and some new lights.

The interior isn’t changed as much as the exterior, but there are new, more comfy seats – which was always a Citroen speciality – as well as more sound insulation and thicker glass.

The 2018 Citroen C4 Cactus gets old-school Citroen-comfy seats

Under the skin, the new C4 Cactus is the first Citroen to hit the UK with Citroen’s new Progressive Hydraulic Cushion suspension which uses two hydraulic stops to better dissipate energy and deliver a more comfortable ride, and improve general ride quality too.

The current engine choices remain, but there’s now new, more powerful, options with a PureTech 130 delivering 128bhp and a BlueHDI 120 diesel too.

Tech stuff now includes autonomous braking, driver attention warning, blind spot, park assist, traffic sign recognition and more.

The new C4 Cactus is certainly a more refined package than the current Cactus, and perhaps Citroen just think the current car is just too Marmite to be a big seller long-term. And maybe they’re right, although we’ll miss the Cactus’s oddities.

The new Citroen C4 Cactus will go on sale in the UK in early 2018.