C4 VTS End of Term Report
Discussion
I bought my Citroen C4 VTS in May 2008. At the time the purchase was a case of simple mathematics - I had a £7.5k budget, wanted a car no more than 3 years old with less than 20k on the clock (for that almost new car feeling), and the C4 had the most bhp available within the constraints that I had set. At the time I was running a Citroen C2 Furio (with a titanic 1.4l engine) and it had not missed a beat in the 40,000 miles I had covered in it, so I really wasn't worried about Citroen's reliability record. I looked at a few C4s before I found what was to be my car, in perfect condition on 12k miles with pretty much every available option ticked by the original owner (sat nav, 6 cd multichanger, directional xenon lights, climate control etc etc). After a brief and friendly haggle on the trade in value for my C2 the deal was done.
To be honest I wasn't too bothered about all the toys that it came with, I was just eager to graduate from the C2 (I car which I had run as a student) to what I considered to be my first "grown up" car. The C4 definitely didn't disappoint. I found it just right as a step up, with 180bhp being just about quick enough to see off the majority of the day to day commuter traffic but lacking enough power/torque to seriously endanger myself or any unfortunate passengers.
So the good points. Despite the 2.0l engine being a 13 year old design (it was originally used in the 206 GTi), it was so eager to rev, and while the weight of the car dulled things at the bottom of the range once passed 4.5k the digital rev counter raced for peak power at the 7k red line and the C4 felt genuinely sprightly. The five speed gearbox was a little bit spongey but the ratios were close and stacked very thoughtfully, with each subsequent upshift dropping you right back at peak torque at 4.7k revs. 1st gear ran to 40mph (according to a PSA press release to allow the enthusiastic driver to nail hairpins in first gear), and 5th gave only 20mph per 1000rpm, so at a 0.8 lepton cruise the C4 was buzzing away at 4k revs, and always felt ready to charge after some faster machinery at a twitch of the right foot. Grip was as good as you could find in a mid sized hatch and was never troubled by 149lb/ft even on a wet road. Despite the power disadvantage the C4 could just about keep up with 'proper' hot hatches in the twisties if driven like a getaway driver, before ultimately succumbing when the roads straightened out. I also enjoyed the 'reverse exclusivity' of such an unpopular car. I genuinely loved the coupe shape, cut off rear end and little spoiler on the boot lid, and never once saw another VTS on the road in my 3 years of ownership. Because it was vary rarely recognised, I always had a good chance of catching faster machinery unaware at the traffic light derby on the daily commute.
And the not so good points. Mechanically the car was bombproof and never required a mechanical repair in 3 years/30k miles despite bouncing of the redline with worrying frequency on some over exuberant B road outings, but was plagued by electrical gremlins. Pretty much every extra on the extensive options list went AWOL at some point during the time we were together, leading to a total repair/servicing/MOT/consumables bill that ended up just shy of £3k for 3 years, with a particularly painful £1400 outlay in 2010. When the exhaust blew last year Citroen quoted me a frankly comical £1500 for a replacement, so I ended up replacing it with a 'Pimp-My-Ride" spec stainless steel system from Longlife, which to be honest shouted a little bit too loudly for a car with a 0-60 time just on the wrong side of 8 seconds, even if it did give that junior touring car vibe over 5k/rpm.
So, why did I decide to change? The car obviously still had a lot of life left in it having covered a mere 40k miles, but much like when I chopped in the C2 I felt like I had outgrown the car once again. Although the C4 was just about fast enough to live with, I'd grown tired of bouncing the redline to nose ahead of unsuspecting 320d's and VAG 2.0 TDi's. The C4 was still eager but I was after something a bit more effortless and refined. With the grand old age of 30 approaching more rapidly than I would care to acknowledge, I figured if I was going to own a proper fast hatch it was now or never as I'll probably need a C-Max or something in the not so distant future.
As a last hurrah last month I took a few days off work and drove the C4 from Hampshire to Aviemore, and toured some of the finest roads in the highlands. The C4 was with me all the way, faultlessly covering the best part of 1000 miles over four days.
Watch this space for news of it's faster (and considerably more brightly coloured!) replacement……
To be honest I wasn't too bothered about all the toys that it came with, I was just eager to graduate from the C2 (I car which I had run as a student) to what I considered to be my first "grown up" car. The C4 definitely didn't disappoint. I found it just right as a step up, with 180bhp being just about quick enough to see off the majority of the day to day commuter traffic but lacking enough power/torque to seriously endanger myself or any unfortunate passengers.
So the good points. Despite the 2.0l engine being a 13 year old design (it was originally used in the 206 GTi), it was so eager to rev, and while the weight of the car dulled things at the bottom of the range once passed 4.5k the digital rev counter raced for peak power at the 7k red line and the C4 felt genuinely sprightly. The five speed gearbox was a little bit spongey but the ratios were close and stacked very thoughtfully, with each subsequent upshift dropping you right back at peak torque at 4.7k revs. 1st gear ran to 40mph (according to a PSA press release to allow the enthusiastic driver to nail hairpins in first gear), and 5th gave only 20mph per 1000rpm, so at a 0.8 lepton cruise the C4 was buzzing away at 4k revs, and always felt ready to charge after some faster machinery at a twitch of the right foot. Grip was as good as you could find in a mid sized hatch and was never troubled by 149lb/ft even on a wet road. Despite the power disadvantage the C4 could just about keep up with 'proper' hot hatches in the twisties if driven like a getaway driver, before ultimately succumbing when the roads straightened out. I also enjoyed the 'reverse exclusivity' of such an unpopular car. I genuinely loved the coupe shape, cut off rear end and little spoiler on the boot lid, and never once saw another VTS on the road in my 3 years of ownership. Because it was vary rarely recognised, I always had a good chance of catching faster machinery unaware at the traffic light derby on the daily commute.
And the not so good points. Mechanically the car was bombproof and never required a mechanical repair in 3 years/30k miles despite bouncing of the redline with worrying frequency on some over exuberant B road outings, but was plagued by electrical gremlins. Pretty much every extra on the extensive options list went AWOL at some point during the time we were together, leading to a total repair/servicing/MOT/consumables bill that ended up just shy of £3k for 3 years, with a particularly painful £1400 outlay in 2010. When the exhaust blew last year Citroen quoted me a frankly comical £1500 for a replacement, so I ended up replacing it with a 'Pimp-My-Ride" spec stainless steel system from Longlife, which to be honest shouted a little bit too loudly for a car with a 0-60 time just on the wrong side of 8 seconds, even if it did give that junior touring car vibe over 5k/rpm.
So, why did I decide to change? The car obviously still had a lot of life left in it having covered a mere 40k miles, but much like when I chopped in the C2 I felt like I had outgrown the car once again. Although the C4 was just about fast enough to live with, I'd grown tired of bouncing the redline to nose ahead of unsuspecting 320d's and VAG 2.0 TDi's. The C4 was still eager but I was after something a bit more effortless and refined. With the grand old age of 30 approaching more rapidly than I would care to acknowledge, I figured if I was going to own a proper fast hatch it was now or never as I'll probably need a C-Max or something in the not so distant future.
As a last hurrah last month I took a few days off work and drove the C4 from Hampshire to Aviemore, and toured some of the finest roads in the highlands. The C4 was with me all the way, faultlessly covering the best part of 1000 miles over four days.
Watch this space for news of it's faster (and considerably more brightly coloured!) replacement……
Edited by CptDangerous on Sunday 17th July 22:40
I almost love these cars, the shape is great and they have one of the best spoilers fitted to modern cars. It's a shame to hear about the electrical gremlins, because the interior is nice (imo), but would annoy me if I was scared to flip a switch for the fear of something breaking.
I always thought though, that Citroen missed a real trick in not developing one with around 220bhp to trade blows with the fast Meganes / Focus STs / Cupra Rs etc, or even better by making a 4WD with closer to 300bhp to remind Ford of Citroen dominance in the WRC
Would have sold like hot cakes I reckon!
I always thought though, that Citroen missed a real trick in not developing one with around 220bhp to trade blows with the fast Meganes / Focus STs / Cupra Rs etc, or even better by making a 4WD with closer to 300bhp to remind Ford of Citroen dominance in the WRC
Would have sold like hot cakes I reckon!
Good write up!
When I worked for Citroen I had a few C4's as demos. I have a poxy 1.6 petrol (slow, dull and low spec!) a 1.6HDI EGS (excellent mpg, fun box when shifting manually) a 2.0HDI 6 speed exclusive (great spec and Mway crusing ability) and a 2.0I VTS. Never saw the gremlins due to them all being new when I used them, but apart from slightly flimsy feel to certain panels, they drove well and I really liked the looks.
The VTS was quite fun at times, shame they didnt turbo it!
When I worked for Citroen I had a few C4's as demos. I have a poxy 1.6 petrol (slow, dull and low spec!) a 1.6HDI EGS (excellent mpg, fun box when shifting manually) a 2.0HDI 6 speed exclusive (great spec and Mway crusing ability) and a 2.0I VTS. Never saw the gremlins due to them all being new when I used them, but apart from slightly flimsy feel to certain panels, they drove well and I really liked the looks.
The VTS was quite fun at times, shame they didnt turbo it!
Hi guys!
Thanks for the replies. I also thought it was a real shame Citroen never spent the money to produce a 220bhp C4 to compete with the Golfs, Meganes etc as the Chassis could certainly handle the power, maybe with some slightly wider rubber (the VTS wore 205 section). I read that PSA group basically put the VTS together with a 0p development budget. They just lifted the entire powertrain from the 206 GTi 180 and dropped it into the C4. That’s why it only has a 5 speed box despite a perfectly good 6 speed being available on the HDi VTS – the 206 used a 5 speed because the 6 speed PSA had at the time was too long to fit in its diddy chassis.
As far as gremlins went, the following broke in order – front parking sensors, automatic corner following xenon headlamps and the climate control system. All were £300+ fixes, so not too horrifying but definitely not what you’d expect with the equivalent Honda.
It took a little while to get used to the fixed hub steering wheel but it actually felt pretty intuitive after a while, and it was really useful having all the stereo/cruise/trip functions all in one place. I found the diameter and shape of the wheel more annoying tbh, it's a large wheel but the rim is quite narrow so it never felt properly sporty. My OH actually likened it to driving a bus, which I thought was a bit harsh, although I could see where she was coming from.
Thanks for the replies. I also thought it was a real shame Citroen never spent the money to produce a 220bhp C4 to compete with the Golfs, Meganes etc as the Chassis could certainly handle the power, maybe with some slightly wider rubber (the VTS wore 205 section). I read that PSA group basically put the VTS together with a 0p development budget. They just lifted the entire powertrain from the 206 GTi 180 and dropped it into the C4. That’s why it only has a 5 speed box despite a perfectly good 6 speed being available on the HDi VTS – the 206 used a 5 speed because the 6 speed PSA had at the time was too long to fit in its diddy chassis.
As far as gremlins went, the following broke in order – front parking sensors, automatic corner following xenon headlamps and the climate control system. All were £300+ fixes, so not too horrifying but definitely not what you’d expect with the equivalent Honda.
It took a little while to get used to the fixed hub steering wheel but it actually felt pretty intuitive after a while, and it was really useful having all the stereo/cruise/trip functions all in one place. I found the diameter and shape of the wheel more annoying tbh, it's a large wheel but the rim is quite narrow so it never felt properly sporty. My OH actually likened it to driving a bus, which I thought was a bit harsh, although I could see where she was coming from.
I had (and loved) a C4 coupe a few years ago. (1.6hdi with a whopping 92bhp) slow as anything but did 65+ MPG with ease and i loved how it looked.
No gremlins on mine (but it was in warranty anyway)
Very underrated in most departments execept the engines which were pretty much woeful compared to what could have been (love the 4wd 300bhp idea above!)
No gremlins on mine (but it was in warranty anyway)
Very underrated in most departments execept the engines which were pretty much woeful compared to what could have been (love the 4wd 300bhp idea above!)
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