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on electricity? on gasoline? The mark! Citroen's family trick - voila! vehicle

2023-01-20T16:12:49.240Z


Citroen is expanding the range of versions of the C4 with a sedan configuration that appeals to those looking for practicality and also to the markets in which it wants to grow. It will also come to us soon


We haven't seen a new sedan from a European car manufacturer in a long time.

Unique design, based on an existing crossover (Photo: Walla! System, Kenan Cohen)

Approximate price:

from NIS 160,000 for 1.2 liters of gasoline


We liked:

comfort, human engineering, trunk volume


We didn't like:

gasoline performance, gearbox, brake pedal



For too many years it has not been really clear what Citroen is doing with itself, or especially what it wants to represent.

At the beginning it was with a distribution of models completely identical to those of Peugeot such as the C1 and 108, sometimes it was with too casual cars like the C Eliza, sometimes brilliant ones but it is not clear who their target audience is like Picasso/Spice- a 5-seater tourer, then there was the design differentiation and the approach of simple, minimalist and efficient with a whole lot of style - see the entry for the Cactus, whose second generation suddenly became more mainstream, and there is the C3 and C3 Aircross, where it is not really clear where one ends and the other begins, and the flagship -C5X which is a kind of crossover-coupe-liftback that is hard to fit in a slot.

And maybe this is actually where she is most comfortable?

Where it is not bounded by the usual definitions.



But despite all these, in reality, more than enough customers found answers with her despite all the questions around her.

Their concentration mainly around the more "obvious" models like the C3 or C5 Aircross also made it clear to Citroen that sometimes you also have to go with the flow.

And the trend in the markets where Citroen is growing (Middle East and Africa) and in the markets where it has ambitions to grow (Central America and India) is going in the direction of the sedan cars, the ones with the separate, large and useful trunk.

And since they don't have one and since the cost to develop one from the ground up is high - they engineer one from what is available.

It looks like it was born this way, and it doesn't look like any other sedan (Photo: Walla! System, Kenan Cohen)

Source: C4 Crossover (Photo: Kenan Cohen)

Design:

What appears at first to be an indistinct clash between an angular and tall crossover and a traditional sedan turns out in reality to be something that manages to escape the fate of hatchbacks that have had their butt glued to their tails by forced plastic surgery.

Up to the rear wheels it is actually a vehicle that is completely identical to the C4, but from there on the roof descends at a less sharp angle towards the added trunk.

This is a case where the pictures do an injustice to the actual result.

The bottom line is maybe not a "beautiful" car in the classic sense of the word, but certainly an unusual and unique design.

Citroën's bet here is whether the conservative crowd of the neat and traditional girl like the sedans will digest it even when it goes up in heels.

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A minimalist dashboard in front of the driver, but there is an elite display (photo: Walla! system, Keinan Cohen)

Passenger compartment:

just like the story with the addition of the trunk, here too in everything related to the passenger compartment and the driver's environment it is a normal C4.

A successful arrangement of controlling the vehicle systems through the touch screen and physical controls in a balanced mix.



The quality of the materials is good, although not exceptional.

The seats themselves are excellent, one of the best on this side of NIS 200,000, you should give up the ones with the leather upholstery.

The feeling in them is too cheap and they don't really hold the body well.

There is a reasonable amount of storage compartments and some highlights such as the built-in tablet holder in front of the passenger, a separate storage drawer from the glove compartment alongside oddities such as a seat belt that does not adjust for height.



In front of the driver is the same data layout with the same small and minimalistic digital dashboard, above it an overhead display and a large multimedia screen.

According to Citroën, the new system is faster than the previous one, we did not detect any unusual agility in it.

What it did get was the ability to receive over-the-air (OTA) software updates so performance might improve later.

It has wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and at least the function of the first one we tested - and it's excellent.

Citroen C4x (photo: Walla! system, Kenan Cohen)

The headroom in the back is better than in the C4 crossover

The legroom in the back seat is good as long as you remember that this is not a full-size family car, but a fairly compact crossover base.

As in the front, the seat itself is very comfortable, with a thick layer of padding and a spacious structure for two adults and certainly reasonable for three children.



The design of the rear part of the C4X allowed two bonuses for the rear seat - the first is an increase in headroom by a few cm due to the possibility of "pulling" the roof line further back and the second is the possibility of a more moderate angle on the back of the rear seat backrest. In addition to the (standard) air conditioning vents, the higher equipment also featured two USB sockets.

An impressive volume of 510 liters, but sophisticated storage solutions are missing (Photo: Walla! System, Kenan Cohen)

Trunk: The

25 cm that the car added to its overall length compared to the C4 is reflected in a trunk with a very impressive volume of 510 liters. Together with the possibility of reclining the rear seats and with the opening in the back bench, you get a very respectable carrying capacity. What the numbers do not tell is that the compartment itself has a fairly high loading threshold that requires objects to be lifted to a height, beyond the threshold, a narrow loading opening due to the structure of the lighting units at the back and a deep structure that makes it a bit difficult to "hunt" objects that have rolled into the depth of the compartment. By the way, relative to a creative company that emphasizes usability, it was nice to find in the compartment The cargo storage places, hanging or other devices. 4 anchor rings is all we found.



Accessories:

The launch cars came very well equipped.

It is difficult to derive any meaning from this regarding the level of finish that will arrive in Israel, but at least from what we were told - what we saw here will also be in the local market, at least at the higher level of finish.

Panoramic roof, overhead display (on a screen, not the windshield), option for two-tone leather upholstery, heated seats and steering wheel, wireless charging for mobile phones and more.

On the safety side, it is equipped with all the usual warning and repair systems.

Automatic braking, distance warning, adaptive cruise control, reading traffic signs (and synchronizing with the cruise control), lane deviation correction and "dead zone" vehicle warning.

The C4X has not yet been tested in the European crash tests, the C4 on which it is based received 4 stars in a test conducted for it in 2021.

As comfortable as a Citroen, a slow automatic transmission does not help performance (photo: manufacturer's website, пресс-служба)

Performance: The launch of the C4X included impressions of the model's two main powertrains.

Electric and gasoline.

We started the driving day with the first one.

In terms of the system, it is the one known from Stellentis models.

A 136 hp electric motor powered by a 50 kWh battery and a 400 volt electrical system.

The gasoline version has a 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine with a capacity of 130 hp.



In both cases, these are not particularly agile cars, 9.5 seconds to 100 km/h in the tram and 10.3 seconds in gasoline.

At least in the feeling behind the wheel, the tram gives a more vigorous pace when leaving the place and during the intermediate accelerations.

A large part of this is due not only to the nature of the power delivery at once in an electric motor, but also to the lack of a gearbox which, at least in the case of the petrol version, was not quick enough in its responses.



The maximum speed of the tram is limited to 150 km/h, as is customary for a large part of the trams in its vicinity. The gasoline version qualifies up to 210 km/h.



Fuel consumption:

It is difficult to refer to fuel or electricity consumption under launch conditions in general and this time, on this trip, it was doubly true.

Apart from the driving which does not constitute driving under normal local test conditions, the weather while driving was extremely cold - around 2-4 degrees throughout most of the time.

Weather like this is a known range killer on a tram.

We will also refer to the manufacturer's statements regarding these capabilities, Citroën talks about a range of 360 km (8 km more than the electric C4 thanks to the aerodynamic structure).

A fast charging option of up to 100 kW will bring the car from 10 to 80% in 30 minutes.

When charging 11 kilowatts three-phase, the charging time will be 5 hours and up to 7.5 hours in a single phase.

It is possible to remain more comfortable than average even without hydropneumatic shock absorbers that mechanics love (photo: Walla! system, Keinan Cohen)

Comfort and Handling:

Ride comfort was one of the C4's great virtues, the C4X does exactly the same.

Excellent dampers without progressive action provide it with a ride comfort that very few cars that are not luxury cars or equipped with adaptive dampers can provide.

The use of 18 inch rims does not destroy the comfort due to the high section (60) of the tires.

This connects to the seats themselves which under the padding hold a layer of extra thick foam and become a hallmark of this manufacturer.

Wind noises from the direction of the mirrors appear around 100 km/h and are more present in the electric version where the engine does not mask them. Road noise, on the other hand, is very reduced despite the use of "green" tires with low rolling resistance (Michelin e PRIMCY).



As far as road behavior is concerned, both in the tram and in the gasoline version, the main preference of the car is a moderate pace.

The grip was good even on roads on the brink of stagnation and the car is very neutrally calibrated.

As long as it is not pushed, it remains balanced and does not show unusual roll angles.

Beyond that, there aren't many thrills to look for.

In the tram, the brake pedal is very unpleasant to use, the feeling is spongy, there is no initial bite and it takes time to get used to the feeling of stepping on a soft plush doll.

In the gasoline version, the business is already done properly.

But with her, the engine gives a slightly anemic feeling and the gearbox is not agile enough in its action to adjust the gear to the speed.

The electric version will have a hard time competing with the range and performance of the Chinese.

The situation is better with gasoline (photo: Walla! system, Kenan Cohen)

Bottom Line:

When measured by meeting targets or statements about the car's purpose, the Citroen C4X passes the first impression test very well.

Transplanting its trunk passes the aesthetic test very well, brings a slight improvement to the well-being of the passengers in the back and of course adds a very large cargo volume to a car that is not very large as a whole.

On top of that is added a second layer of its advantages in the ride comfort which is truly outstanding.



Its weak points are in the areas of performance and range, when the "standard" stabilizes at around 170 to 204 hp in the Chinese and Korean small electric cars such as the Hyundai Kona, BYD Atto 3 and Geely Geometric C and it does not present an overwhelming range advantage. It is difficult for it to present A definite and unequivocal argument on paper.On the other hand, if you're modest about your range needs, it will provide a level of refinement and utility that they can only dream of.


And the bottom line will of course be the price, the price of the electric C4 is NIS 176,000, it is initially more expensive than the Chinese and the C4X is supposed to be more expensive than it.

The official prices have not yet been published in Europe either, so there is no exact indication of the gap in question, but a range of between NIS 10,000 and NIS 15,000 is not unreasonable.

This already places her really on a very, very specific niche of customers.



In the gasoline version, on the other hand, the situation is a little better, with a price of NIS 148,000 for C4 gasoline, also the premium gap for its X Factor still places it against competitors such as Renault Arcana, for example, and there it manages to bring out the advantages of comfort, usability and uniqueness its.



The writer was a Citroen guest

Citroen C4X technical data table (Photo: Walla! System, Kenan Cohen)

  • vehicle

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Source: walla

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