I expected to hate it. The last courtesy cars I had from Citroen didn’t impress me. The DS3 was horribly hard riding, as if set up for a racetrack, yet its gutless engine said shopping trolley. The C4 Picasso had a tortuous gearbox that I never really understood. My expectations weren’t high for the Cactus.
However, I quite like the bumpy side bits, and the overall bearing of the car said “fun” rather than “aggression”, like so many other current cars. I drove off happily, with a bog-ordinary manual gearbox, generally old-fashioned non-automatic bits and bobs (wipers, lights), and a digital display binnacle visible through the steering wheel which reminded me of the C6, which was just then being driven onto the ramps. To my left, somebody had glued a tablet from Tesco onto the dashboard, but no matter- I could deal with that later, and the Cactus trundled cheerily to join the commuter traffic, high-sidewall tyres soaking up the potholes.
It’s fun enough to drive, and feels light and actually quite chuckable. I may not be the best judge of handling: I soon get used to whichever car I’m in and find everything normal. It’s only the odd roundabout anyway and I get scared well before cars lose grip on dry roads. All the reviews say the Cactus is soft-riding. I found it about right (and certainly harder-riding than my Merc W123, which I’ve never had a problem with, even though it’s ancient).
Mine(!) has a petrol engine. I’m not sure which one- haven’t opened the bonnet- but there’s a fancy 3 cylinder turbo available, and I don’t think it’s that one. Not very turbo-y. Fine though, good for 80+ cruising, only suffering on the steep bits of the A30 in cornwall, but most small cars do. I only got 40mpg (motorway+mixed, heavy foot), which didn’t impress me particularly given that I get 37 from the C6, which is about twice the weight and engine. It’s probably much better around town though, which is where the Cactus feels happiest.
The tablet. This thing dominates the dashboard in the middle, and it is a calamity. Most of the ordinary dash controls (ventilation, heating, stereo) have been relegated to touchscreen controls. This alone, is an interface disaster, because it removes tactility from your feedback: you have to look at your hand as you adjust things. Nothing can be done by feel... which just reminds you how used you are to adjusting this stuff by feel. The (basic) Cactus doesn’t have climate control, so I should have adjusted the heater often: not a problem normally, but when you have to prod at one of the most heinous GUI’s in years to effect change, it may be easier to just stay cold.
It really is dreadful. The user interface is -firstly- UGLY: no coherent aesthetic, 2D and 3D effects randomly mixed up, elements aligned as if by paintball; and secondly, functionally awful: screen space is woefully wasted, touch targets are often tiny, functions are scattered randomly across the different screens, and stupid yes/no dialogs confuse simple operations. It all looks like a fansite Winamp skin from 2002, and works like Windows 95 at best. The interface in the C6 isn’t better, but it is more recessive: you don’t have to touch it, and most controls can be handled manually.
Strangely, the main dash is much better designed. It’s even quite nice. The main digital typeface is boxy and playful and fits the car well, and the red-line element that contains it is both a bit silly and a bit stylish, (exactly like a Citroen GS!). The 80’s Tron aesthetic is characterful and feels right. If only the characterless and dysfunctional main display had a bit of its charm!
There are, as I’ve intimated, fundamental reasons why a touchscreen is a bad idea for critical controls. But seeing as it’s there, it could be made much better. I would humbly suggest to Citroen, to start again with a blank slate for the interface. Keep whoever did the Tron display to head up the graphics team, and poach some decent UI designers from SOMEWHERE. Apple, Google, Microsoft might be out of reach, but there are enough clever apps on the app stores, and someone made them. I mean it: redesign the software totally, and the Cactus could become a much lovelier place to be.
The thing is, it almost is quite lovely. I’ve not liked a newish car as much in ages. The interior is minimal, imaginatively designed, quirky, but not childish. The seats are square-edged and nicely shaped, there’s a comfy padded bit on the door armrest, and good quality plastics everywhere. A low point was the chi-chi faux picnic hamper for a glove locker, but maybe I just don’t have quite the right sense of humour for that.
I’m looking forward to getting our car back tomorrow, but I’ll miss l’il Cactus. I never got to try the bumpy sides out either (honest)
In my defence, the Cactus seemed obsessed with this station, and I was scared to change it in case of crashing...
TRON!
, so I'll have Cactus a few more days yet while they investigate. I'm happy to answer any questions about it! I'm getting quite used to it now.