Road test: Citröen Cactus Rip Curl BlueHDI 100

How do you test the family credentials of Citröen’s quirky Cactus? Easy. Stick two teens in the back, all your luggage in the boot and head off for a weekend away in Oxford, then a balloon festival in Northampton, to see how it copes.

This compact “crossover” has been touted as a return to form for the French car-maker, with its fun design combined with great fuel economy, lots of internal space and comfort. I love the look — it resembles a mini safari 4x4 with its high riding stance, short overhangs and big roof rails, even though it’s not a 4x4. And don’t forget those “airbumps” on the side — big plastic pads designed to take the knocks and blows from other people’s car doors and supermarket trolleys. The cabin is eye-catching, too, especially with its prominent seven-inch touchscreen.

The most evident characteristic of the Rip Curl BlueHDI 100 model we drove was its superb ride quality. It cruises comfortably over a wide range of surfaces including city humps, country ruts and motorway imperfections, even if the payoff is that there is a little roll in corners. It’s fun to drive, with nippy handling and nice, light steering. Power delivery from the 1560cc diesel engine is good and smooth but hardly fast, especially with four people on board; you have to make the most of the five-speed manual gearbox to keep up.

The impressive boot easily swallowed all of our luggage, even if headroom was problematic for our 16-year-old son; there simply isn’t enough of it in the back. Even front-seat passengers catch their heads on the sun-visors. The front seats are insufficiently supportive on long journeys — especially when the sat-nav (unintuitive at the best of times) adds to your journey time.

The Cactus is a car with both flair and foibles. If Citröen improved rear headroom, reprogrammed the sat-nav and improved the seats, I’d be a fan. And that balloon festival? Blown right away by the British summer, of course — all that remained was a funfair.

Citröen Cactus Rip Curl BlueHDI 100
Top speed: 114mph 0-62mph: 10.6 secs 
CO2: 95g/km 
Price: £19,210