A few months after the launch of the C5 Aircross, Citroën is extending its range of electrified vehicles by putting the new Stellantis hybrid engine under the bonnet of the C4 and C4 X. The C4 and C4 X now offer 100 and 136 bhp hybrids in addition to the electric and thermal petrol and diesel engines. The latter is the subject of this test.
On the outside, there is no difference between a C4 hybrid and a C4 thermal, so it is impossible to tell the difference. A few weeks before its restyling, there is no point in talking about the style of the car, which will change significantly for both the 5-door saloon and its sister, the C4 X. Inside, there is also no difference in the furniture, but there are very small changes to the instrument cluster, which receives information specific to this hybrid engine.
An engine that is better in every way
The new Stellantis hybrid is based on a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder engine that has undergone a major overhaul, with 40% of the parts being new and the belt being replaced by a timing chain, which should solve reliability problems. The engine is mated to a new 6-speed automatic gearbox, the ë-DSC6, which incorporates a small electric motor with a peak output of 28 hp, useful when merging onto the motorway or overtaking.
The C4 Hybrid 136 delivers quite honest performances and meets the needs of everyday life in the context of a good family man use. By this we mean that it is not a sports ballerina, that it is not used to achieve the best 0 to 100, but that it must be driven in a zen-like manner, with its electric drive strongly encouraging this. The peculiarity of this hybrid engine is that the very small battery (0.43 kW) is quickly recharged by energy recovery, similar to that of an electric car, so that you really have the impression of driving an electric car, with the brake pedal only being used to stop the vehicle completely or in an emergency. Everything is done with the accelerator pedal, which loses its on-off side for greater progressiveness when accelerating and decelerating. It is therefore necessary to anticipate much more and to drive calmly in order to benefit from the progress brought about by this hybrid technology. It is in the context of optimal use of this hybrid engine that the C4 brings out the best in itself and allows significant fuel savings.
On this subject, a small criticism regarding the energy recovery. As I said, it is strong, similar to that of an electric car (it also switches on the brake lights), but on long descents, especially on the motorway, it can be too strong and if you take your foot completely off the accelerator, the battery recharges very quickly and once the battery is full, the vehicle switches to pure thermal. It would have been useful to be able to adjust the energy recovery using the paddles on the steering wheel, even if the highest level is automatically restored each time the car is started.
Citroën promises 50% of city driving time in electric mode and an average 15% reduction in fuel consumption and emissions. Clearly, much more can be achieved by using this hybrid technology wisely. Thus, in urban driving, I was always at least 60% of the time in electric mode, sometimes rising to 83% with optimal driving management, which allows to drastically reduce the city consumption of this C4, which rose during this test to an average of 5.5 litres, knowing that the C4 Puretech 130 previously consumed around 9 litres. A 39% reduction in city consumption for this hybrid engine which is really in its element in city traffic.
This is necessarily less the case on motorways or highways, where speed and the need to maintain acceleration complicate the task of this hybrid offer, even if we manage to do a few hundred metres in electric mode. Moreover, on a 100 km route, which includes a large part of motorway and national roads between 70 and 130 and a small part of city roads at 30, the average consumption of the C4 Hybrid 136 was 4.6 litres, with 24% of the journey in 100% electric mode, an excellent performance that allows the C4 Hybrid to offer consumption similar to the diesel version.
The other advantage of the C4 hybrid is that it eliminates the main fault I criticised in the Puretech, namely the noise in the first three gears. Here, the engine is much quieter and discreet, even when accelerating hard.
Otherwise, the hybrid C4 136 is no different from a thermal C4, so we end up with an extremely smooth car, a smoothness that is even increased in this hybrid version thanks to the electric drive. Comfort is the great strength of the compact sedan with chevrons, which swallows the bumps of the road with disconcerting ease. However, after switching from the redesigned Berlingo to the C4, the difference in comfort between the two, which was once considerable, has become much less so as the Berlingo does not have the double suspension. I think the Berlingo's new seats, taken from the new C3, are much more comfortable than the C4's, especially as the C4's seats are actually leather whereas the Berlingo's are fabric. We know that these new seats will be used in the redesigned C4, so the comfort should improve even more.
To sum up, the C4 hybrid 136 is extremely convincing thanks to its extremely smooth driving characteristics, the fuel savings it makes possible and its imperial comfort. With the market for hybrid vehicles set to soar to 30% of sales in Europe by 2024, Citroën certainly has the ideal engine to help it gain market share thanks to its efficiency, marking a first step towards a soft and efficient energy transition. The C5 Aircross, equipped with the same engine, was a success, and the C4 Hybrid is following the same path, a path where smoothness and comfort will be omnipresent.
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