Citroën C4 review: a comfortable, oddly shaped alternative to the class default
MotorsSouq Editorial Team
The C4 is the most convincing modern Citroën sold in the Gulf: genuinely comfortable over Bahrain's rough back streets, well equipped, and priced to sit between the mainstream Japanese and Korean hatchbacks. It asks for a leap of faith on resale and service network that a Corolla or an i30 buyer never has to make — take that leap knowingly, or do not take it at all.
Pros
- Advanced Comfort suspension is genuinely one of the best-riding cars in its price bracket
- Distinctive styling stands out in a segment full of look-alikes
- Smooth 8-speed torque-converter automatic avoids dual-clutch jerkiness
- Well equipped for the price versus mainstream rivals
Cons
- Smaller Bahrain dealer footprint than Toyota or Hyundai
- Depreciation likely steeper than mainstream rivals
- No performance pretensions; the 1.2 turbo triple is about comfort, not speed
- Used-market demand and resale liquidity are both thin
Citroën retired the old China-built C4 Sedan that used to circulate the Middle East and replaced it globally with a single five-door hatchback that borrows a crossover-coupe roofline without actually being a crossover — there is no all-wheel-drive version, and ground clearance is standard hatchback height. In Bahrain it is sold in small numbers alongside the rest of the brand's compact lineup.
Power comes from the same 1.2-litre turbo triple used across Stellantis's smaller cars, here in a 130hp state of tune with an eight-speed torque-converter automatic rather than the twitchy dual-clutch boxes some rivals use. It is smooth and unhurried rather than quick, which matches the car's comfort-first brief.
The Advanced Comfort case
Citroën's progressive-hydraulic suspension is the reason to actually drive one before dismissing it as just another compact hatch: Bahrain's patched side streets and speed bumps are absorbed with a softness that costs the C4 some body control in faster corners but pays off on every single commute. It is one of the most comfortable cars in its price bracket over bad surfaces.
The catch is everything around the driving experience. Citroën's Bahrain dealer footprint is smaller than Toyota's or Hyundai's, used-market demand is thin, and depreciation will likely be steeper than a mainstream rival over the same three years — buyers should price that risk into the deal rather than discover it at trade-in time.