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But a representative with a very bright and non-budget appearance. Remember Pushkin? “… First Madame followed him, then Monsieur replaced her. The child was cuts, but sweet. Monsieur l'Abbé, the wretched Frenchman … "- damn it, well, it’s impossible! There should have been some words about something French, beautiful and with parallels in the work of Alexander Sergeyevich, but for some reason, from all the work of “ours, everyone” it is these lines when my colleague and I are rolling through Pushkin’s places in new to the French car industry. And this despite the fact that it’s impossible to name any new product on our market. Colleagues who managed to try his “sibling” - Peugeot 408, noted that with the proximity of the designs of these cars Citroen does not look like a “Chinese” car, although it is intended primarily for the markets of China and Russia. And if you compare it with other products of Western automakers for emerging markets, the Citroen brainchild does not look like leftovers from the master's table, which threw third world consumers under the nameplate of a prestigious Western brand.
The body of the C4 sedan is created on the basis of the body of the two-volume Citroen C4. To meet our realities, the design has undergone significant changes, "aimed at improving comfort and practicality." Thus, the wheelbase increased by 10 cm (up to 2708 mm) made it possible to provide a large space for the rear passengers - they are so beloved in China - and bring the trunk volume to 440 liters.
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The ground clearance of 176 mm and the metal crankcase are an important plus for buyers in the province.
But first of all, it is not this utilitarian component that catches the eye, but the appearance of the beginner. And he has it very bright - which is worth one rear window of an unusual concave shape. Full-face C4 sedan looks very fashionable thanks to the "chevron", shining with chrome, and the abundance of ribbed surfaces. Everything is bright, extravagant, maybe a little with excess. Although the novelty slightly resembles Porthos’s bandage, which was embroidered with gold only in the front, it was done without loss of taste, which Asian manufacturers often sin.
On the first day I got a version of the Citroen C4 sedan with a 115 hp VTi engine and manual gearbox. In the "base" such a machine is offered for 579, 000 rubles. The motor does not promise anything outstanding. All that this twin-shaft 115-horsepower 1.6-liter unit with a torque of 150 Nm at 4000 rpm can offer is acceleration to “hundreds” in 10.9 seconds with a maximum speed of 189 km / h. About twenty years ago, these figures would have looked very decent, but now such performance characteristics do not cause any emotions. Or maybe you should not wish for the impossible - the car has other tasks.
Of course, for those who want a faster car, there is a version with a VTi 120 engine. It goes very well, and the Citroen’s team is going to make the main bet on it. And for those who like to drive, there is a version with a THP engine of 150 hp. with twin-scroll turbocharger and automatic 6-speed transmission. This is a very serious unit, which develops full power at 6, 000 rpm with a maximum torque of 240 Nm on the “shelf” from 1, 400 to 4, 000 rpm, and 156 Nm is already achieved at a crankshaft speed of 1000 rpm. True, for the basic version for this configuration, Tendance will be asked for already 763, 000 rubles.
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In practice, it turned out that for provincial roads, something more than the 115-strong version of the sedan is not required. The car pulled well in overtaking in third gear, walked quite confidently at a speed of 100 km / h and did not cause any desire to set records. Moreover, mirrors began to whistle already in the region of 100–110, and overboard noises forced to turn the audio volume knob clockwise. Therefore, I preferred to move to the C4 sedan in the “family” mode, enjoying moderately sharp “European” steering, excellent suspension work adapted for our roads, and a rather comfortable interior, in which there were very decent soft plastic and “wool” texture.
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Speaking of the adaptation mentioned above, which, given 34% of components coming from Russia, can be partly considered localization. In addition to increased clearance up to 176 mm, the adaptation package includes: built-in heating of the entire windshield; heated nozzles and increased washer reservoir capacity; reinforced starter and battery; metal crankcase protection. For the sake of Russian realities, the power unit and automatic transmission were calibrated, which allows the engine to be kept at high revs longer and later shifting the “automatic” from third to fourth gear.
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Suspension C4 sedan worked perfectly on the primer.
Some ergonomic flaws were revealed already during the test drive. The pedal assembly turned out to be very narrow. Even in summer shoes when working with the clutch pedal, you often touch the brake pedal with the side of the boot. Though not enough to start a sharp braking, but enough to spoil the shoes in a couple of months. I can’t even imagine what it was like for people with a wide foot and a large size.
With the "originality" in the performance of the controls, I have already met on other models of the French car industry and expected something like this from C4. And he did not fail. In an attempt to adjust the climate in the cabin, my colleague and I found that the vernier airflow control has no “leg-head” position. Later, the Citroenites, who for a long time convinced us that such a regime, of course, exist, revealed a secret - it turns out that it is necessary to put the climate “twist” in an intermediate position. And nothing that there are no risks or pictograms there …
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From the little things you can remember the armrest, it was located too low and was very short. The sense from him is zero. By the will of designers, the owners of the C4 sedan are doomed to live with a not-so-good radio, which will not be possible to replace with a self-acquired, more functional and high-quality radio, but will have to suffer a lot. Although in our time, thanks to craftsmen from China, everything is possible and for sure it will be possible to find a more functional version from a Chinese manufacturer with a suitable head unit panel design.
But a much more serious and directly affecting safety drawback is the failed setup of the windshield washer and wipers. The parsimony with which the washer nozzles spray liquid would appeal to both the French Gobsec and the Russian Plyushkin - it still went nowhere, but here the wipers leave a monstrous width “dead” zone, which eats 10-12 centimeters of view from each side. In combination with a wide stance in the "dead" zone may be a pedestrian, and a decent size car.
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The extreme position of the janitor. The untreated area is quite large
By the end of the day, the declared consumption of 7.1 liters per 100 km was very close to what our car showed in practice, but the balance of impressions was still in favor of Citroen. The car rather pleased than afflicted. This applies to the appearance, which the French see as one of the key factors for their target audience, and to ride quality.
Late in the evening, when Citroen representatives were interested in the opinion of the car, almost unanimously, my colleagues and I confirmed that the creators of the C4 Sedan had a good appearance. Designers have made it so that the car, designed to win the buyer of the budget target audience, looks much more expensive. And given that Citroen sees its buyer in “a man under 40, who values appearance in cars,” the hit turned out to be one hundred percent. I was convinced of this, passing through the hotel parking lot, past a string of our cars. There, a married couple stared at our sedans with undisguised interest. Seeing the Citroen badge, the head of the family - a stately man to the best of intelligent appearance, just under 40 years old, busily asked: "Does she have a hydraulic suspension?" Hearing a negative answer, he sighed regretfully: "It’s a pity, because we would have to go around the city, and she would just come to the cottage so that she could raise it even higher when necessary." When asked why he should not look at the crossovers, the interlocutor waved off - "all this is not real, and they are ugly, and in general - the car should be a sedan, they are beautiful." The opinion, of course, is controversial, but since it exists, it means that the chances of such a car as the Citroen C4 sedan are not bad in our country. Moreover, the ground clearance of the Citroen beginner is rather big.
