Sorry but I must chime in here to comment on a Citroen cactus.
They must be the single most fugliest thing on 4 wheels mate.
What's with all them shin pads on the doors and that?
I understand the advertising blurb about pedestrian safety and that but really?
I would rather get ran over by a good looking car with sharp edges, also, them bits of padded bra on the side ain't going to make an iota of a difference.
What do you wash that with?
Persil or Daz automatic?
And honestly, brand new up until 2 years old they probably drive nice too.
After that, well, it's a shi7ron innit? So will probably be off the road for something ridiculous more, rather than on the road.
PSA cars are bobbins really.
Sorry for the rant
It is definitely a "marmite" car. The soft door panels and bumpers are not for pedestrian safety, its so you can **** it about in a carpark and not worry about minor scrapes and bumps. AND not worry about idiots denting you with their car doors, shopping trolly dings etc.
The Cactus was designed with a certain use in mind: As a city car which is low stress. The R&D brief that went in to the front seats was "it should be like your favourite armchair".
I think the designers were very brave with their engineering choices and had clarity of purpose designing the cactus. Everything is functional and low stress. There are some crap bits, but on the whole I respect the engineering and how they achieved what they did.
What they ended up with is a cheap, comfortable, reliable, economical (50mpg was easy) car that met it's brief perfectly and thought about the driver and ownership experience first. What's the solution to the annoyance of small dents and scratches? Make the car dent proof. Even the dashboard was designed flat with a high friction surface to act like a coffee table for munching sandwiches off. Also, the tiny 3cyl turbo managed over 100bhp in a very light car.
Look, it might not be fancy or fast, but I
respect the engineering of that car as much as the RS3 and the Cactus makes me smile every time I see it. I bought it for 7k and it charmed me every second I owned it.
I might like my RS3, and like it for very different reasons, but I
love the Cactus.
**** anyone who doesn't agree