What’s hot?

• You’ll either love or hate the way the Cactus looks, personally we love it and think it’s a massive return to form for the quirky double-chevron manufacturer. Best in bright colours, from the twin headlight arrangement at the front, to the innovative airbump door protectors, you’ll not mistake the Cactus for any other hatch, which is a good thing.
• Inside, the Cactus is equally interesting. Simple comfort seems to be the order of the day here, with wide and squashy front seats and a large rear bench. The instruments are digital and viewed via a small horizontal screen. Another larger seven-inch screen in the centre of the console controls many of the other functions of the car, such as the ventilation and sat-nav where fitted. Neatest design touch of the Cactus’s interior has to be the way the glovebox, which looks like a stowage case sprouts from the dashboard.
• Our Cactus was powered by the 99bhp 1.6-litre HDi turbo diesel engine, which was pleasingly refined, plus had enough power and torque to make the driving experience fun. Although acceleration to 60mph takes 10.7 seconds and the top speed is 114mph.
• You won’t buy this Cactus for its performance, although there’s enough of that, but you will for the impressive fuel economy. Combined consumption is claimed to be 83.1mpg, with CO2 emissions of 87g/km.
• Run this Cactus on your company and you’ll be in the 14% tax band for 2014/15 which considering the Citroën’s size and space is impressive. [contentblock id=10 img=gcb.png]
• Classic Citroën’s such as the DS were known for their pillowy ride, rather than their driving dynamics and the Catus defnitely falls into this camp. Yes, there’s some body roll, but this Citroën is 200kg lighter than the standard C4, which means it sill handles confidently – with plenty of grip.
• Rear passenger space is in Cactus is generous, but other good news for this Citroën is the large and practically-shaped 358-litre boot, which can be exteded with the rear seat folded down .

What’s not?

• The Cactus’s light gearchange lacks precision and doesn’t like to be rushed.
• The ride in the Cactus might be exceptional, but potholes make themselves known in the cabin too easily for our liking.
• This Citroën’s lack of a rev counter is intentional, after all the Cactus isn’t mean’t to be sporty – but we still wish it had one.
• The use of a seven-inch screen is innovative, but there are too many functions on it. It’s not very user intuitive either and you find yourself taking your eyes of the road to make simple changes to the temperature.
• We think the C4 Cactus should be cheaper. Our test car was in top-spec Flair trim and was fitted with extras including leather and sat-nav, but even without, the £17,990 base price is expensive.