Citroen C4 interior, tech and practicality

While it’s not the funkiest interior Citroen has ever built, the C4 gets a modern and smart-looking dashboard. A touchscreen in an unusually shaped bezel sits on top of the centre console, and this is what your eyes will be drawn to. But the C4 marks the return of physical climate controls, which feel solid in your fingertips and are really easy to use.

On the whole, material quality is good enough. Piano black trim and silver accents help stop the interior feeling dull, and the hard plastics used elsewhere do, at least, feel solid. The C4 should stand up well to family life.

Citroen has given plenty of consideration to stashing bits and pieces in the C4’s cabin. There’s a slim phone tray and a larger storage zone beneath the air con controls, big door bins and hidden storage in the centre console and optional armrest. A slide-out tray for the passenger makes up for the half-size glovebox, and some cars even get a tablet holder that also pops out from the dashboard.

What’s not quite so impressive is the rear visibility. The thick rear pillars and the spoiler that crosses the windscreen make it a bit difficult to see where you’ve been. We drove the C4 in wet weather and found that its lack of rear window wiper reduced rear visibility even more. Thankfully, rear parking sensors come as standard and most trim levels get a reversing camera, too.

Used C4s tend to come in Sense, Sense Plus, Shine, Shine Plus and C-Series trim levels, with the latter being a special-edition model.

Entry-level Sense models are surprisingly well-equipped given their positioning in the range. You get LED headlights, 18-inch alloy wheels, two-zone climate control and the touchscreen, plus a host of active safety tech including auto emergency braking, speed limit recognition, driver attention assist and lane-keeping assist.

Sense Plus comes with a head-up display, the tablet holder, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, auto-folding door mirrors and a reversing camera.

Shine trim shines with adaptive cruise control, tinted rear windows, front parking sensors, keyless entry and auto high-beam assist, while top-spec Shine Plus additionally features heated front seats, electric adjustment for the driver’s seat, a premium sound system and wireless phone charging.

C-Series largely matches Shine trim while boasting copper exterior accents.

Cars built from September 2023 come in either You, Plus and Max, as well as a special-edition E-Series trim that’s exclusive to the e-C4. You, Plus and Max trims essentially take the place of Sense, Sense Plus and Shine Plus respectively.

The Citroen C4 gets a 10-inch touchscreen as standard, although its big surround doesn’t make it look quite so impressive. It uses the same software that you’ll find in the Peugeot 2008, which is probably why you can still adjust the climate control through the touchscreen when there are also physical buttons to adjust it – in the Peugeot you have to do it through the screen.

The main features of the infotainment screen are easy to find and it’s usually pretty quick to respond, although lesser-used features and settings tend to be hidden a few sub-menus deep and can be difficult to locate.

Every C4 gets Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you can connect a compatible smartphone to access your media and navigation apps on the car’s touchscreen. Built-in sat nav is fitted to all but entry-level models, and this comes with live traffic updates, speed camera alerts and even local fuel prices – although these features are part of a subscription service that expires once the car is three years old. After this, we’d just use CarPlay or Android Auto, as the main map apps include all these ‘live’ functions for free.

A 5.5-inch driver’s information display is also fitted as standard, including a digital speedometer that’s been a Citroen fixture for the last couple of decades, and it does look more modern than an analogue speedo gauge. But it’s lacking in features and configurability compared to its rivals, and its size means it feels a bit buried in the dashboard. The head-up display fitted to most models also seems to show exactly the same information as the driver’s display, so seems a bit unnecessary.

You’d think that the C4’s sloping roof might make it impossible to get in it if you’re a normal human size, but that’s not the case. The doors are still a good shape to make ingress really easy – which also helps to get kids in and out – and there are cutouts above your head. Unless you’re really tall, you’ll be able to get comfy in the back of the C4.

Legroom is also decent for the size of car – it’s not class-leading but far from the worst in this respect either.

The flat rear seats means it’s wide enough for three adults, but the large transmission tunnel means that whoever’s in the middle will have their feet splayed each side. The rear seatbacks are also quite upright, which may limit how comfortable the car is for rear-seat passengers on long journeys.

Most trims get at least one rear USB socket and seatback pockets, while the materials are just as good as they are in the front.

At 380 litres, the C4’s boot size is pretty average for the compact hatch class. It matches the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus, beats the Toyota Corolla, but falls short of the Kia Ceed and Peugeot 308. Folding the seats down frees up 1,250 litres of space which, again, is competitive.

The boot opening is usefully wide and there’s barely any load lip, so you won’t struggle to load bulky items.