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.
Cool steering wheel : The steering wheel (leather-rimmed in most versions) doesn't turn a conventional column. Instead it contains an internally-toothed ring gear, which turns a small gearwheel on an offset column. This turns much more quickly than normal, so the steering rack (hydraulic and fed by an electric pump, like a Focus's) has an unusually large pinion to get the gearing right. Glovebox is air-conditioned, CD stacker sits in the compartment between the front seats.
