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Citroen C4 Gallery
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Citroen'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 after 2005 there won't be a WRC version of the C4, so for the forseeable future 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.
The five-door has a rounded tail a little like the smaller C3's, while the three-door Coupé has a chopped-off rump reminiscent of an early Honda CRX or, given the shape of the rear side windows, an Alfasud Sprint. Its rear window's upper surface cuts far into the roof, a panel shared with the five-door even though the latter gives the illusion of a higher roofline.
Underneath its unique clothes (complete with Citroen's new-look nose featuring a chevron-centre air intake and 'boomerang' headlights), the C4 is much the same as Peugeot's 307 and shares that car's PF2 platform with minor changes to the suspension settings. That means a similar range of engines: the petrol units, all with 16 valves, are a 90bhp 1.4, a 110bhp 1.6, a 138bhp 2.0 and a 180bhp 2.0 for the Coupé-only VTS, while diesels are two 1.6s, of 92 and 110bhp, and a 138bhp 2.0. Once again, we see diesels matching similar-capacity petrol engines for power while far exceeding them for torque. There's also a 143bhp, 2.0-litre petrol engine matched to an automatic transmission for the top Exclusive five-door. A Sensodrive sequential-shift semi-auto is also offered with some engines.
That all sounds conventional enough; the radicalism comes when you sit inside. The steering wheel has a broad, fixed centre boss containing four switchgear zones, which are easy to reach and render the rest of the facia uncluttered. The central facia-top LCD instrument display is see-through to make it easier to read in sunlight, there's an aroma diffuser built into the centre vents and the options of both a lane-wander warning device and a speed limiter. The idea is to make the C4 a calm, relaxing place to be, which will - says Citroen - encourage safe, considerate driving.
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