Citroen Cactus - what a disappointment.

[Huntsman]

I had a hire car for a couple of days this week, a Citroen Cactus. On seeing it parked outside reception at work my first thought was 'oh good, a Citroen, at least it'll have a nice comfy ride'.

How wrong I was, hard, bumpy, crashing about all over the place. Just like every other current hatchback.

The best thing about Citroen has always been the ride, it was their unique selling point, but they thrown it away for an ill thought out current trend.

Gear Cutter Andre Citroen is off my chrimbo card list!

[Matt UK]

I think it's the unintended consequence a building cars with a higher centre of gravity.
They need a stiffer chassis in order to keep everything upright and under control during high speed lane change / slalom / elk testing.

[Hackney]

I also had one as a hire car recently.
The biggest disappointment was the auto gearbox. By the time it had changed out of 2nd and into 3rd the revs had dropped so much you needed to be in second again.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

I love mine, but you're right, the ride on bumpy roads is poor. But they've compensated by giving us armchairs for seats.

[bristolracer]

Huntsman said:

The best thing about Citroen has always been the ride, it was their unique selling point, but they thrown it away for an ill thought out current trend.

Sorry to tell you, all the fancy hydro suspension has been replaced by the same conventionally springed stuff that Peugeot use.

Costs matter

[P5BNij]

Makes me wonder if the C6 was the last 'proper' Citroen.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Hired one in Austria - seemed absolutely fine to me.

[thepeoplespal]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Hired one in Austria - seemed absolutely fine to me.

Austria has proper roads of a 1st world country, over here in Blightly with our 3rd world infrastructure and potholes that would have shamed the Irish Republic in the 1970s (anyone who drove there knows what I mean), mean we pay the price in uncomfortable riding cars.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Fair point! Round my way in UK the council may be doing something, somewhere, but it certainly doesn't care about the roads.

[Huntsman]

P5BNij said:

Makes me wonder if the C6 was the last 'proper' Citroen.

Sadly, I think you are right. A great shame that the manufacturers that gave us the most interesting options are lost.

Lamborghini and Bugatti are nothing more than corporate brand names. Lancia? SAAB? and now Citroen.

What are we left with? A load of indistinguishable mass market blandness.

[TwigtheWonderkid]

Huntsman said:

What are we left with? A load of indistinguishable mass market blandness.

The Cactus may have many faults, but being mass market blandness isn't one of them.

[Bill]

TwigtheWonderkid said:

The Cactus may have many faults, but being mass market blandness isn't one of them.

This. Unfortunately I suspect magic carpet ride quality involving complicated airbags etc is too expensive to develop for a mass market hatch.

[swisstoni]

P5BNij said:

Makes me wonder if the C6 was the last 'proper' Citroen.

I believe some C5s were available with the fancy suspension until relatively recently. But most were steel.

[confused_buyer]

swisstoni said:

I believe some C5s were available with the fancy suspension until relatively recently. But most were steel.

They were but to be truthful the steel ones rode better in some circumstances than the hydractive ones, particularly over small sharp bumps which UK roads seem to specialise in,

[saaby93]

Surely the Xantia Activa was the pinacle of active suspension.
Did it carry through at all to the C5/C6?

[6pi]

saaby93 said:

Surely the Xantia Activa was the pinacle of active suspension.
Did it carry through at all to the C5/C6?

The Activa is a very interesting suspension but it's more focused on handling than comfort.
C5 et and C6 had a very different set-up.

Regarding the Cactus, it's a passive suspension but as far as comfort is concerned it's a rather good one.

[ABC 123]

thepeoplespal said:

Austria has proper roads of a 1st world country, over here in Blightly with our 3rd world infrastructure and potholes that would have shamed the Irish Republic in the 1970s (anyone who drove there knows what I mean), mean we pay the price in uncomfortable riding cars.

I heard somewhere that Britain's roads are so terrible because they've been made to withstand lots of rain, which makes it generally uncomfortable. Sadly, we can't have the nice stuff here because they weren't made for loads of rain

[Ninja59]

Citroen deleted it in 2015, however interestingly in June this year they were reintroducing the citroen advanced comfort programme.

"Whereas a conventional suspension system is comprised of shock absorbers, springs and mechanical stops, Citroën's new system adds two progressive hydraulic cushions - one for rebound and one for compression - at the top and bottom of each suspension unit. In this way, the suspension functions in two ways depending on the road surface:

• In cases of slight compression and rebound, the springs and shock absorbers work together to control vertical movement without needing the hydraulic cushions. However, the new cushions provide the vehicle with greater freedom to deliver a ‘magic carpet’ ride, creating the impression that the car is flying over any bumps and dips in the road;
• In cases of more significant compression and rebound, the springs and shock absorbers work together with the hydraulic cushions at the ends of the suspension travel. These new cushions gradually slow the movement, rather than having abrupt stops at the extremes of compression and rebound. Unlike a conventional mechanical stop, which absorbs the energy then partially returns it, the hydraulic cushion absorbs and dissipates the energy."

A quick summary on how it works.

[SWoll]

Huntsman said:

Sadly, I think you are right. A great shame that the manufacturers that gave us the most interesting options are lost.

Lamborghini and Bugatti are nothing more than corporate brand names. Lancia? SAAB? and now Citroen.

What are we left with? A load of indistinguishable mass market blandness.

Driver of old cars in 'all new cars are boring' shocker!

Explain to me how Lamborgini, for example, are just a brand name? They still make ridiculous looking, incredibly powerful and very expensive sports cars that are now more reliable and use-able than they used to be. How is that a bad thing exactly?

[SidewaysSi]

Slightly off topic but how are C5s and C6s for reliability?