Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Don't talk to me about Kugas.
Citroen Cactus Flair edition
- Thread starter PaulSB
- Start date
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Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
It'll hold its value better until its got a few dozen thousands miles on it, then it'll rattle like a biscuit tin full of broken glass being shaken.
These small bore HPT three pots from any manufacturer don't age well, although they manage better than the old Daihatsu tubbies of the eighties.
These small bore HPT three pots from any manufacturer don't age well, although they manage better than the old Daihatsu tubbies of the eighties.
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OP
PaulSB
Squire
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
The 3 pot Ford Fiesta turbos we had as runarounds for CID were pretty rattly by 40k miles. I know a chap who leases an Astra with the 1.2 three cylinder turbo, and that was also pretty rattly by a similar mileage. The cylinder pressures on these tiny blower engines are very high, and almost continuous as they're almost always on-boost.
If you buy one with your own money I'd be very careful to let it get up to full operating temperature before opening it up, and that takes 7 or 8 miles to get the heat right through the block, so they're not a good proposition for frequent urban journeys (which as a cyclist you wouldn't do anyway
)
They'll probably go on for a typical 100+ thousand miles, but they do sound pretty tired early on and , if our CID runarounds are owt to go by, will then start using a bit of oil. The team I ran had 6 of them, so it would be pretty unlikely that they were all simply just 'faulty'.
If you buy one with your own money I'd be very careful to let it get up to full operating temperature before opening it up, and that takes 7 or 8 miles to get the heat right through the block, so they're not a good proposition for frequent urban journeys (which as a cyclist you wouldn't do anyway
)They'll probably go on for a typical 100+ thousand miles, but they do sound pretty tired early on and , if our CID runarounds are owt to go by, will then start using a bit of oil. The team I ran had 6 of them, so it would be pretty unlikely that they were all simply just 'faulty'.
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KEEF
Veteran
- Location
- BURNOPFIELD
Hired a Cactus in Paris and I am sorry to say it was one awful motor car
OP
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PaulSB
Squire
- Location
- Chorley, Lancashire
In what respect? What didn't you like about it?
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
That's interesting, as it uses the rather old PSA PF1 platform, which it shares with the 2008, and my Missus didn't like her 2008 at all.
KEEF
Veteran
- Location
- BURNOPFIELD
Poor quality interior fittings basic and uncomfortable. Fixed rear window made the rear claustrophobic and it just did not drive well. Obviously this just my opinion but take a test drive
Levo-Lon
Guru
I've had 2 84bhp Ibiza cars..ok for most things in the power sense..
Buz along on a motorway at 70..80 all day..But not so good fully loaded with 2 bikes on the rack in Wales or hilly areas..but they do cope.
I'd do what I always do..drive a few until you find one that you like. Try a few brands..
Buz along on a motorway at 70..80 all day..But not so good fully loaded with 2 bikes on the rack in Wales or hilly areas..but they do cope.
I'd do what I always do..drive a few until you find one that you like. Try a few brands..
D
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NorthernDave
Never used Über Member
- Location
- The real Northern Powerhouse
I had a Cactus as a courtesy car while the C3 was having a few bits done.
I wasn't too sure about a 3 pot petrol engine after years of driving a turbo diesel (aka Satan's spawn
), but it coped well enough with what we needed which included a fair bit of motorway driving.
Was a bit "thrummy" under load - almost (original air-cooled) Beetle-esque if pushed, but I dare say that you'd soon get used to that and it settled down at normal speed.
The fuel gauge didn't seem overly accurate - the low fuel warning light was on when I picked it up so I put £7 worth in (just over a gallon - I was only having the car for one day) and the gauge then went up to nearly half full and stayed there for the rest of the time I had it (approx. 50 miles). If you believe the trip computer, fuel economy was in the high 40's during my loan which seemed good for a small petrol engine
I really like the external styling of the Cactus and was half thinking about one for our next car, but...
What I really disliked were lack of headroom inside (I'm 5ft 9 tall, so no giant) and it felt quite claustrophobic with the narrow windows and low roof line - now I'm used to driving a C3 with a panoramic windscreen so that won't of helped but the Cactus felt very hemmed in and almost like you were peering out of a letter box when looking out of the windscreen, and I really didn't like the "tablet" screen in the centre of the dash that runs things like the infotainment system, heater / AC, phone etc - it took your eyes off the road for too long to change anything and unlike dials / switches it demanded too much attention when I felt you should be concentrating on driving. That said, it seems like these screens are 'the future' and we're going to have to get used to them as they're appearing in more and more cars now.
I wasn't too sure about a 3 pot petrol engine after years of driving a turbo diesel (aka Satan's spawn
), but it coped well enough with what we needed which included a fair bit of motorway driving.Was a bit "thrummy" under load - almost (original air-cooled) Beetle-esque if pushed, but I dare say that you'd soon get used to that and it settled down at normal speed.
The fuel gauge didn't seem overly accurate - the low fuel warning light was on when I picked it up so I put £7 worth in (just over a gallon - I was only having the car for one day) and the gauge then went up to nearly half full and stayed there for the rest of the time I had it (approx. 50 miles). If you believe the trip computer, fuel economy was in the high 40's during my loan which seemed good for a small petrol engine
I really like the external styling of the Cactus and was half thinking about one for our next car, but...
What I really disliked were lack of headroom inside (I'm 5ft 9 tall, so no giant) and it felt quite claustrophobic with the narrow windows and low roof line - now I'm used to driving a C3 with a panoramic windscreen so that won't of helped but the Cactus felt very hemmed in and almost like you were peering out of a letter box when looking out of the windscreen, and I really didn't like the "tablet" screen in the centre of the dash that runs things like the infotainment system, heater / AC, phone etc - it took your eyes off the road for too long to change anything and unlike dials / switches it demanded too much attention when I felt you should be concentrating on driving. That said, it seems like these screens are 'the future' and we're going to have to get used to them as they're appearing in more and more cars now.