There’s driver reward in the
500X’s punchy, raspy engine
110 WheelsMag.com.au
has a massive potential efficiency advantage over its
rivals, which it fulfils in reality with breathtaking
effectiveness. Indeed, it’s 7.0L/100km test average is
so far ahead of what its rivals manage that, combined
with the largest fuel tank of the group, the Cactus
offers an easily achievable range of 714km per
tank, compared to 528km for the Vitara (drinking a
respectable 8.9L/100km), 421km for the stocky Mini
and a disappointing 387km for the surprisingly thirsty
Fiat (guzzling 12.4L/100km).
The only downside to the Citroen’s outstanding
efficiency is that it’s available as a manual or nothing,
which is fine by us but not when 80 percent of buyers
are choosing the inferior turbo-diesel because it doesn’t
have a clutch.
Another Cactus negative relates to its lack of steering
reach adjustment. Getting its quirkily styled leather-
clad wheel in the right place to attack corners creates
a tightly bunched environment for your legs, especially
if you’re lanky. Things can get busy down at footwell
level and the only way to adequately heel-and-toe for
downshifts is by rolling your right foot onto the throttle,
much like you do in an old VW Beetle.
The Citroen’s five-speed shift has quite a long throw,
though its combination of leggy gearing and brilliantly
tractable performance means you can often leave
it in third and just enjoy the ride – one that is best
experienced at no more than eight-tenths. At a more
leisurely pace, the Cactus feels loping and lovely on
country roads, but push harder and you get the sense it
would rather be doing something else. It’s competent,
though, and offers a degree of rear-end steer to
enhance its poise until stability-control intervention
begins to inhibit the fun, but the Cactus doesn’t egg
you on the way a Peugeot 308 does.
Jumping straight from the relatively low-slung Cactus
into the 500X, the first thing you notice is the massive
increase in driving-position height, which some buyers
will love. The Fiat’s chunky three-spoke wheel implies
sportiness, despite a rim that is arguably too thick, andso do its shift paddles and multiple drive modes (Auto,
Sport and Traction Plus) activated by a dial on the
centre console. But the reality is a mixed bag of okay,
underwhelming and irritating.
Chief dynamic spoiler is the 500X’s electric steering,
which feels gooey in Sport mode, and slightly crisper in
Auto, though it’s always about degrees of viscosity. And
the fat wheel rim only exacerbates the impression.
Once into a corner, the 500X’s balance is reasonable
but it lacks the Citroen’s fluidity, and never feels like
it wants to be pushed. Unless you’re brave enough to
hammer right to its limit, then pull back, you’re never
entirely sure what the Fiat’s adhesion level is, and its
gritty, jiggly ride only enhances the feeling that the
500X is dynamically patchy.
The driver reward it does offer stems from its keen
and subtly raspy engine, but even then Fiat’s 1.4 turbo
can only just keep the Citroen honest in 80-120km/h
rolling acceleration, despite using every gear available
(as opposed to being held manually in third).
If it’s proper grunt you’re after, only one of these
curios truly delivers – the Vitara S Turbo. Suzuki’s all-
new 1.4-litre turbo-petrol four is a sweet little peach,
proving smoothly responsive while smashing the others
in standing-start acceleration, even though it won’t rev
beyond 6000rpm. A manual transmission would be nice
(and is a possibility if enough people show interest),
though the Vitara’s six-speed auto does a good job of
channelling the ‘Boosterjet’ four’s torque, making this
tall-boy small SUV feel more like a warm hatch.