That there’s more Citroen C3 than Citroen C4 under the Cactus’s skin is not necessarily a great thing. DS3 aside, these underpinnings haven’t produced the most appealing small cars to drive, and the Cactus is no exception.
In a way, there’s merit to Citroën’s intentions here. It seems to want the Cactus to have a gently loping gait, in the manner of famously relaxing and quirky Citroëns. And it does, of a fashion.
On some models the wheels are fairly sizeable for a supermini, but the tyre sidewalls have a generous profile so there’s compliance in the rubber, as well as in the suspension.
But there’s more to making a car comfortable over distance than just making sure that it’s relatively soft, and here the Citroën falls down. We had testers say they’d have been more relaxed on a motorway cruise or on an extended drive in a hot hatch or sports car, because at least that way they’d get some respite from having to make continual corrections.
It’s also slightly surprising on a car like the Cactus that the button to disable the traction control is given quite such prominence on the dashboard. Not that we mind. All it does is allow more wheel slip up to an indicated 30mph.
Once it has cut back in, the traction and stability control systems are pretty well judged. Some of the more sudden body movements that you get from aggressive braking and steering inputs — like the sort you’d apply in an emergency — get the light flicking and the sensors acting quite quickly. Do that and understeer is quelled relatively swiftly, and oversteer doesn’t really get a look in at all.
