£ 22,790
39.2
7
Bad air days
Nasty stares
Here's some disappointing news: since 2000, registrations of 4x4s in the UK have increased by 55 per cent. By the end of this year, 7.5 of every 100 new cars on the road will have the ability to drive off the road. That half point, perhaps, being explained by the fact that most of these vehicles seem half as big again as your regular car - bully boys with an unfair advantage in the ruthless daily land grab that used to be called motoring.
But here's some slightly less disappointing news. Not all 4x4s, it seems, are created equal. Some are smaller, lighter, smarter and more economical than others. Cynics may argue that it's oxymoronic to label a 4x4 'eco friendly', yet carmakers will do anything to protect their bottom line, and if that includes producing a gas-guzzling earth stomper that uses less fuel, creates fewer emissions and has a more chivalrous attitude towards Mother Nature, then that's what they'll do.
So let's welcome on to our crowded roads Citroen's 'new, friendly face of 4x4 motoring' and its first-ever SUV - the C-Crosser, a sensitive 'cross-dresser' in the thuggish 4x4 market. The 'friendly face' in this case has a double meaning. On the one hand it refers to the actual 'face' of the car. And yes, compared to the snarling, militaristic metal chops of most SUVs, the C-Crosser appears to be raising its wraparound headlamp eyes and wrinkling its chrome-chevroned nose in a Gallic shrug of bonhomie. But there's no disguising the height of that bonnet, the wide stance of its alloys and its swollen wheel arches. Officially, the C-Crosser is a 'medium-sized SUV', but when I saw it bulging over the white lines of a tight space in my local multistorey, it seemed to be suffering from a bad case of 'muffin top'.
The friendly face also refers to the fact that the C-Crosser has green form. Would an eco-warrior choose to buy this car? No, of course not, but it's a start. The car is actually produced in association with Mitsubishi and is in most ways the same as its Outlander. It features the same slightly clunky but perfectly responsive 2.2-litre diesel and also a central dial which lets you switch from two- to four-wheel drive and back again. Did the ramps of the multistorey really call for 4WD to be selected? No, but I was taking no chances. The real benefit is that this device gives a laudable petrol-consumption figure of 40mpg. A figure which is higher than many saloon cars out there. The smart engine will also accept 30 per cent bio diesel, though you'll have to burn a lot of fuel crisscrossing the country looking for a garage which actually sells it.
Internally, the car's as stylish and gadget filled as you'd expect from Citroen. It has a clever pair of folding back seats in the cavernous boot. To get into them, you simply flip the second row forwards by pressing a button, so the 4x4 is user friendly, too.
If you are determined to add to the number of 4x4s on the road, the least you could do is make it a friendly one.
