► 2025 Citroen C4 X facelift
► New front end
► Just one engine available
Citroen is currently undergoing a bit of a brand makeover, with facelifts taking place across the lineup from the dinky Ami quadricycle to bigger family cars like this, the C4 X. According to the manufacturer, this is Citroen getting its mojo back. We’re only talking minor evolution in the case of the C4X – there’s been no dynamic ejection of the rulebook out the window, but rather a few modernistic tucks to reassert the French marque’s presence at the turn of the quarter century.
The facelifted C4 X you see here is the manifestation of Citroen’s vision. If you’re wondering what the X does to modify the Citroen C4, it essentially turns the base hatch into a saloon, with more luggage room in the boot but not a lot else.
Citroen says the longer-bodied C4 X has more appeal in certain European markets as an affordable saloon option and has so far played an important role in the internationalisation of the brand. Since it’s also on sale in the UK, we thought we’d give it a go.
Read on for a full review of the Citroen C4 X, as we cover the car’s driving characteristics, its interior quality and price point. If you’d like to find out how we reached our verdict, head over to our how we test cars page for everything you need to know.
At a glance
Pros: Comfortable ride, handles nicely, spacious in the back
Cons: Rear headroom compromised in certain areas, interior feels cheap, lacking power
What’s new?
Let’s start with the exterior. The front end has been redesigned to incorporate Citroen’s new logo, which sees the brand’s famous chevrons contained within an oval shape, ditching the extended chrome louvres that once ran across the grille.
A pair of revised headlights now feature three mini LED light bars on either side, with a fifth and sixth located below. They certainly help the C4X to impose itself on the road, as when you’ve got all six bars of the headlight signature glowing in your rear-view mirror, you bloody-well know about it. A couple of new colours and some fresh alloy designs aside, though, and that’s about it for the surgery. Facelift zero-sugar.
What are the specs?
The Citroen C4 X is available with just one engine: a 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol that produces 134bhp and 170ftlbs of torque. A tickle of extra push is supplemented by the engine’s 48V self-charging electrical system, though it’s primarily used for the sake of greater fuel efficiency. The engine is hooked up to a six-speed, dual-clutch automatic gearbox for a 0-62mph time of eight seconds and a top speed of 130mph.
With the help of the electrical power, the C4 X has an official combined range of between 51.1 and 62.1mpg according to WLTP figures and produces between 106 and125grams of CO2 per kilometre. It’s a light car, the C4 X, with a kerb weight of just 1335kg, but that can be added to considerably with a high luggage capacity of 510 litres in the boot.
What’s it like to drive?
Citroen has been a heavyweight in ride comfort for the last seventy-odd years, and we’re pleased to report that the C4 X wears its genealogy proudly in the way it glides along. The car doesn’t waft up and down on its suspension but rather floats steadily, soaking up bumps adroitly with its clever damping tech. The hydraulic cushions – that’s what Citroen calls them – prevent bouncing by absorbing and releasing kinetic energy at the end of the damper stroke. Trust us, it really works.
Now of course, something’s got to give for all that squishy comfort, and that something is dynamism. The C4 X truly has no dynamic capabilities to speak of at all. Its steering offers little-to-no connection to the road, and when taken at medium speeds its body work will only just about keep its cool through the bends. The rolling motion wasn’t quite alarming enough to scare us into submission, but it certainly served to remind me of exactly what this car wasn’t bred for when handled too aggressively.
All that notwithstanding, the C4X is an incredibly easy-going machine to drive. The steering may be devoid of all feel, but it is light, fairly direct and was conducive to the effortless carving up of our test route’s mountainous roads, albeit at a slow pace to keep the rest of the car in check.
The brakes felt a little spongy but they were perfectly adequate for a car of this type, and curiously the power deficiency doesn’t really impose itself, either. 134bhp is a paltry figure but with the help of some electrical power and by virtue of the car’s low weight, the C4 X didn’t struggle to get going like we might’ve expected it to.
It’s no dragonfly, but so long as you’re at peace with comfort as the car’s principle focus, then the eight seconds to 62mph probably won’t bother you much. The engine itself treads a line between endearingly throaty and quite gruff. It probably just about falls on the side of latter, but it never became irksome during the two hours we had at the wheel.
What’s the interior like?
It’s not plush, but the C4 X’s interior does at least have a modern feel. The deeply quilted seats are comfortable and served well in warding off fatigue. They’re nicely bolstered in the front and we felt securely placed while sitting in them, but whether the extra 15mm of cushioning is discernible or not, we couldn’t really say.
Head and shoulder room are both decent in the front and reasonably good in in the back despite the sloping roof line, but the rear central seat’s headroom is compromised by a plastic lighting unit. It’s quite clumsily located, as any six-foot-plus adult passenger will feel the plastic brush against the top of their head while in this position.
A bit of an oversight, perhaps, or maybe an implicit nudge to save the middle seat for more shoulder room. The latter would certainly complement the amount of leg space you get in the back, which is abundant and impressive, but who knows…
The C4 X’s dashboard is a little dreary. It appears that not a lot of imagination went into its design process, as there’s little to split each plastic panel in terms of textural difference, though the monochrome black colour palette doesn’t help.
For a car at this price point, however, it’s a forgivable sin. The cabin reflects the simplicity and easy-going nature of the driving experience and for that it must be commended. The infotainment software is crisp in its presentation and easy to navigate through via the big and simple-to-use menu buttons, while the graphics of the instrument cluster are also neat in their arrangement.
The cabin is a little harsh in places and quite clearly manifests the budget price point of the car, but it’s nonetheless agreeable and no worse than a Dacia. If you know what you’re getting into as a buyer, then it’ll likely do just fine.
Before you buy
The Citroen C4 X’s trim range is split into two grades: PLUS and MAX. The former, which starts from £24,735, features a healthy provision of features as standard. They include the 10” infotainment display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and the model’s advanced comfort suspension. This trim also features rear parking sensors and a rear-only parking camera.
MAX trim starts from £26,385. Over PLUS, it includes heated front seats and a heated steering wheel, adaptive cruise control with a stop and go function, as well as Citroen’s front, rear and lateral parking aid. If you can afford it, owing to the additional comfort value provided by the seat functions and a dual climate zone feature, MAX is the one to go for.
As for rivals, if you’re looking specifically at jacked-up saloons then the Renault Arkana bears the closest resemblance, on shape alone at least. It does, however, start from a little over £27,000. We don’t reckon you’ll be able to find anything with the C4 X’s silhouette that undercuts it on price, so it’s probably the saloon option to go for if you’re really on a budget.
Alternatively, the Dacia Duster has a bigger boot and starts from just under £18,000, which is a great price for a lot of car. The Duster hails from a different class and doesn’t quite have the stylistic elan of the Citroen, but it’s still possibly worth considering as an affordable family option.
Verdict
The C4 X is a decent car, and unlikely to leave anyone in the market for a comfortable family runaround feeling cold. There’s little to the cabin that evokes decadence, but the cushiness of the ride does, strangely, help to make the C4 X feel more premium than it is. The C4 X glides with a dignity and competence that’s hard to find elsewhere, feeling every bit a product of the shiny new badge it wears. Should you go for the X over the regular C4? As a family car it would make sense to, what with its bigger boot.
The C4 X is also more stylish in our eyes, but abandon all hope ye who want to go chasing thrills in this thing. It’s not a sporty car at all, it has no unruly side to speak of and will punish you for attempting to coax such a character out with wayward body roll and howling tyres. Drive this thing with dignity and it’ll feel like far more car than its price tag would suggest.