Citroen C4 Cactus Auto

FIRST DRIVE Our favourite small SUV gets the latest EAT6 auto gearbox.

- Lawrence Allan

WITH a truly distinctive design and character that is absent from many small SUVs, the Citroen C4 Cactus picked up a coveted Auto Express New Car Award this year: it was crowned Best Small SUV.

But the quirky Cactus has always had a blemish on its copybook – the lack of a decent automatic gearbox. Customers determined to have a self-shifter were lumbered with Citroen’s ETG6 robotised manual set-up. Like many of its type it was extremely jerky, with an infuriating pause between gear changes hampering progress.