My plan executed with some C4

[Vindesh17]

I don't like how the speedometer is in the center and digital, other than that it looks like a great car. Congratulations

[MadMax13]

Shit i thought you were blowing something up...

[NSXType-R]

Cool car.

Too bad we don't get Citroens here.

Their commercials are pretty cool.

[drakkie]

My dad and I drove both the Coupé and the Berline when they came out. Our main criticism was that the suspension was waaaaaaaay too hard. The Coupé even worse than the Berline. The seats we also found horribly short. Do you recognize any of this in your's ?

Looks-wise, price, economy and everything else-wise it is a brilliant car. My personal choice would be the Berline, but in your situation the Coupé is probably better.

Try and find some Citroen-club meeting in your area. You'll find nice people and a really good community feeling. They usually are willing to help you with all kinds of things and show you to a cheap Citroen specialist for cheap maintenance.

Welcome to the club !

[Ferrer]

My dad and I drove both the Coupé and the Berline when they came out. Our main criticism was that the suspension was waaaaaaaay too hard. The Coupé even worse than the Berline. The seats we also found horribly short. Do you recognize any of this in your's ?

It's interesting you mention the seats. When I sat in a C4 5 door a couple of months ago I found the driving position weird. Is that common on C4s or maybe the seat was set up badly?

[Revo]

It's interesting you mention the seats. When I sat in a C4 5 door a couple of months ago I found the driving position weird. Is that common on C4s or maybe the seat was set up badly?

Yeah, the seats are pretty nasty in C4. My company car is a C4 and I really hate going on long trips in it because of the shortness of the seat bottom. Also, the seats are quite soft and oddly shaped which all adds up to a very tiring driving experience...

[2ndclasscitizen]

Nice car mate.

Nice choice Clivey, and it is not too difficult to get about 130 BHP from that engine,,,,

Henk, you crazy tuner kid you.

[drakkie]

Yeah, the seats are pretty nasty in C4. My company car is a C4 and I really hate going on long trips in it because of the shortness of the seat bottom. Also, the seats are quite soft and oddly shaped which all adds up to a very tiring driving experience...

Definately ! I drove it when I didn't even had a license yet, because my dad asked me to test the seats. We looked into buying the Berline very seriously once. We both have very long upper legs, compared to average and had no support at all from the seats. It realy didn't "feel" good. Nothing like a real Citroen should. The speedo in the middle is also very very distracting.

[Revo]

Definately ! I drove it when I didn't even had a license yet, because my dad asked me to test the seats. We looked into buying the Berline very seriously once. We both have very long upper legs, compared to average and had no support at all from the seats. It realy didn't "feel" good. Nothing like a real Citroen should. The speedo in the middle is also very very distracting.

I take it that both of you work as a models then?

Except for the seats, I have no other complaints about C4 ergonomics.

[Waugh-terfall]

My dad and I drove both the Coupé and the Berline when they came out. Our main criticism was that the suspension was waaaaaaaay too hard. The Coupé even worse than the Berline. The seats we also found horribly short. Do you recognize any of this in your's ?

You've never experienced hard suspension until you've chased a 911 GT3CS in a 240bhp 07 SEAT Leon FR at 134mph on the A287 out of a little Sussex village called Cocking...


I've been waiting for some pics, all I'd seen so far were the crappy little images on the Used Citroen Locator thing. Looks great, love those alloys and it's probably the best colour for the C4. As someone else mentioned, is blue you're favourite colour or has it just been a coincidence x3?

[Clivey]

Firstly, thanks to everyone for their compliments and congratulations! And yeah, the thread title is a little "attention whore", but it worked. I did once consider whether I wanted to become a journalist (for a car magazine (or TV-show) of course!).

Nice car. I'm also going to join the diesel camp next week..

Shock horror! What happened Albert? Aren't you a die-hard hater of derv? In all honesty, the type of diesel engines you end-up testing will either turn you into a lover or a hater of them. Effortless torque FTW!

I recommend you take a road trip to Essex over christmas!
Or a road trip now to Kent! LOL!

At some point, us UK members are going to have to have a meet like the Aussies do. However what some Aussie and US members probably don't realise is that our road network isn't like theirs and it probably takes us twice as long to cover the same distance! Sometimes, living in "Ye Olde" country sucks.

ace car, a lot of character and charm! fantastic engine too, apparently a brilliant balance of power and economy.

Thanks, I was searching for this exact model at a price I could afford for a while...and there you were thinking I was a Vauxhall fanboy...!

Seriously though, a 60-litre / 13-gallon fuel tank is massive for a car this size - if I managed to match the official combined mpg (58.9) I could manage over 750 miles on a tank of diesel!!! So far though, I've only managed around 40mpg due to being stuck in urban traffic, doing many hill-starts and playing with the "overboost" function a couple of times. Also consider that I won't be fully used to the car and how to optimally drive it yet (the gearbox is very different to what I'm used to and it's so quiet that it's not easy to figure-out how many revs you should let the engine drop to for pootling around) and it all adds up to being quite promising.

Nice choice Clivey, and it is not too difficult to get about 130 BHP from that engine,,,,

I figured you'd like it! Isn't she the same colour as your C5 ("Oriental Blue")? One of the reasons I plumped for this engine is that I do intend at some point to chip it but I don't know which company offers the best product in the UK.

Congratulations on your purchase Clivey!
I love the C4 coupe!
Such a nice car!

Looking forward to seeing more pictures and how you like the car after you have used it for a while.

Cheers, once again - and I'm looking forward to the chance to take some more (and better) pictures of her! Already I'm noting things that I find good / bad about the car but I have to say that so far it's a hugely positive experience.

Next car, maybe you could try something else than blue?

Lol! Jokes aside, the colour of my cars have so far been pure coincidence. The Corsa was my Mum's car before it was mine (I would have chosen black at the time but now I like the blue equally, especially seeing as it's more unique), the Astra was my Grandad's (he chose the same colour as the Corsa without realising it) and the C4 is actually quite a bit darker.

As I said to Craig (jediali), I was searching for this exact model (VTR+ 1.6HDi 110ps) for a while before I found one within budget. The VTR+ adds a lot of goodies that make the car what it is - lesser models are IMO sort of like buying an XBox 360 Core before realising you need the HDD and wireless controller! (Not to be a snob but why buy a base-model when these can be found at this price?) I found this one on Citroen's UK website for £8,995 (£7,500 below RRP) with 8k miles on the clock, the next cheapest one was £10,995 and 6-months older with 11,500 miles on the clock and was 212 miles away in Edinburgh somewhere. Although it was in "Wicked Red" - a lovely colour.

I do however think that this colour is just as nice - pearl blue seems to really "work" on 3-door hatches IMO, and it's a change from the silver/grey/black that everybody seems to have (at least here)...Although you could hardly call be a "conformist" after buying this car!

I don't like how the speedometer is in the center and digital, other than that it looks like a great car. Congratulations

I used to loath centrally-mounted instrument binnacles, but I have to say that it kinda works on this car. The rev-counter is digital and mounted on the top of the steering wheel, along with the display for the lights. The central "pod" contains the current speed, warning lights, oil temp, fuel gauge, cruise control and speed limiter settings - and positioned where it is is actually beginning to grow on me because with this car's interior shape there's less of a distance to move your eyes to check your speed etc. - you can actually see it in your peripheral vision a lot of the time.

[jediali]

thread title is a little "attention whore",

we rarely get new cars so we will let you off.

At some point, us UK members are going to have to have a meet like the Aussies do. However what some Aussie and US members probably don't realise is that our road network isn't like theirs and it probably takes us twice as long to cover the same distance! Sometimes, living in "Ye Olde" country sucks.

Nobodys that local but I would be up for it regardless .

and there you were thinking I was a Vauxhall fanboy...!

You know way too much about cars to be a fanboy (besides I was as much an anti-fanboy of vauxhall, but i still want a shot of a vx220), besides Fleet has redefined fanboyism.

(the gearbox is very different to what I'm used to and it's so quiet that it's not easy to figure-out how many revs you should let the engine drop to for pootling around) and it all adds up to being quite promising.

I guess many other cars have that effect. My gearbox is silent (and engine at low-mid revs), i generally judge suitability of gearing/rpm on vibration changes and response i guess. Still being a diesel the rpm probably drops slower and you might get rpm jumping on clutch depression.

[Suka]

Once my Luego is finished just try and stop me driving all over the UK!
I can't wait.

[Clivey]

My dad and I drove both the Coupé and the Berline when they came out. Our main criticism was that the suspension was waaaaaaaay too hard. The Coupé even worse than the Berline.
Looks-wise, price, economy and everything else-wise it is a brilliant car. My personal choice would be the Berline, but in your situation the Coupé is probably better.

To be honest I'm actually quite shocked you've come-out with that...I've heard that said in Evo magazine about the UK's VTS (sport) model (I don't know how the mainland European ranges compare to the UK's), but that rides on sports suspension and 17' wheels. After going from the Astra (which had standard suspension and 15" wheels), the VTR+ seems generally just as smooth (read: very) until you hit a big bump (speed-bump or pothole) - But I think the larger wheels (identical 17"s to the VTS) and smaller tyre sidewalls probably cause that.

Also, it is quite often the case that UK-spec cars run a different suspension setup to those in mainland Europe, because of our differing roads. One such example it the Vauxhall / Opel Vectra. The "C" model was always refined but lost some handling ability due to riding on European-spec suspension. When they facelifted it, they altered the suspension and managed to pull-off an excellent job - keeping the refinement and improving the handling. - Just a thought.

Try and find some Citroen-club meeting in your area. You'll find nice people and a really good community feeling. They usually are willing to help you with all kinds of things and show you to a cheap Citroen specialist for cheap maintenance.

Welcome to the club !

Cheers! I've already found a good C4 Owner's club website and forum, so I'll be joining that to begin with - then we'll see where that leads

The seats we also found horribly short. Do you recognize any of this in your's ?

Ironically, one of the reasons I wanted the VTR+ model so badly was that it has "sports seats", with adjustable lumbar support, big side bolsters, different material and a different shape to the standard items.

The main reason for this is that I'm tall (6'2" at least, it's been a while since I was last measured) and I have problems with my feet/legs and back.

I always found the "Sports seats" in my Corsa SXi very comfortable (I could drive that for hours without problems), but when I went to the Astra, the seats were the standard items and my hips and back didn't like me too much for it!

The VTR+ is the equivalent model to a Vauxhall "SXi", and the equipment levels are similar (except for gadgets where the Citroen's clearly ahead). So far with my car I've not noticed any seat-related problems but maybe, as was the case for me with the Astra, the "problems" are only with models with the standard seats?

Yeah, the seats are pretty nasty in C4. My company car is a C4 and I really hate going on long trips in it because of the shortness of the seat bottom. Also, the seats are quite soft and oddly shaped which all adds up to a very tiring driving experience...

Which model is it? I'm quite surprised at all this because Citroens are supposed to be world-renowned for comfort and refinement. Maybe you should fit an aftermarket seat before swapping them back before you hand the car back to the company

Definately ! I drove it when I didn't even had a license yet, because my dad asked me to test the seats. We looked into buying the Berline very seriously once. We both have very long upper legs, compared to average and had no support at all from the seats. It realy didn't "feel" good. Nothing like a real Citroen should. The speedo in the middle is also very very distracting.

As already mentioned, I'm getting used to the speedo, but with the C4, there are a LOT of things that you need to adjust to. It can be VERY distracting when you first start to drive one (especially when you're not well-versed in setting everything up), but I'm becoming more familiar with it all now.

It's interesting you mention the seats. When I sat in a C4 5 door a couple of months ago I found the driving position weird. Is that common on C4s or maybe the seat was set up badly?

I test drove a C4 a while ago (same model exactly as mine), and had no problems just jumping in and driving, BUT when I first went to pick mine up from the dealer, I couldn't even fit in because the seat was so badly adjusted for me (way too high, my knees were tangled in the steering wheel)!

I then forgot where the steering column height adjuster was and started to panic a little (I'd lowered the seat as far as it would go and still couldn't fit in, and was beginning to wonder whether the steering column did adjust, thinking "it must do, I managed to drive it before"), as it turns out, I was a little too soft on the lever (afraid of pulling things too hard because I don't like breaking things).

Still, the driving position is quite high, and doesn't lend itself to "sporty" driving - at least straight away It's a "comfort car" first and foremost. I could get used to it though - if a Porsche Cayenne can handle...

...also, I'm determined that it will be "sporty", I mean, it's a rally car after all!

You've never experienced hard suspension until you've chased a 911 GT3CS in a 240bhp 07 SEAT Leon FR at 134mph on the A287 out of a little Sussex village called Cocking...

I don't particularly want to hear about your "cocking".

Really though, the C4 has softer suspension than my parents' Minis, and that's what I wanted because on the country roads around here the Minis are OK when you want to blast about like a lunatic, but absolutely ridiculous when you want a relaxing drive or have passengers.

I've been waiting for some pics, all I'd seen so far were the crappy little images on the Used Citroen Locator thing. Looks great, love those alloys and it's probably the best colour for the C4. As someone else mentioned, is blue you're favourite colour or has it just been a coincidence x3?

I hope the above (previous post) answer is satisfactory regarding the colour, and yes, the 17"s are gorgeous!

[Ferrer]

Shock horror! What happened Albert? Aren't you a die-hard hater of derv? In all honesty, the type of diesel engines you end-up testing will either turn you into a lover or a hater of them. Effortless torque FTW!

Yes, this is the end of the world as we know it...

I this last few months I have test driven two diesels, one being the 2 litre from VAG and the other a 2 litre from BMW.

The VAG product was as I expected it, fast and frugal but harsh and noisy. Waiting at the lights you could really here the engine, which was quite annoying.

The BMW on other hand was amazing. Smooth and quiet and even faster than the Audi. Didn't have time to check on the fuel consumption though.

I'll deliver my definitive veredict this week, since it seems we are getting it on wednesday.