Citroën's striking new C4 replaces the lacklustre Xsara just as an extreme version of the outgoing car clinches the World Rally Championship. Because Citroen's pulling out of the WRC at the end of 2005 though, there'll be no WRC version of the C4, so we'll have to make do with the roadgoing version. Or, in fact, two versions: that there are both three- and five-door C4s is no surprise; that the two body-styles look so different is.
Noise elimination : Five-door's watchwords are comfort, safety and quality, says Citroën. All C4s have plastic sacs inflated into most structural box-sections to blank off noise paths.
