'This is the perfect car to arrive at holiday destination refreshed'
When I think about driving from London to the south of France and back, the first thing I think about is what kind of car is going to be the most comfortable but also fit in everything on our 2,000 mile round trip.Some cars are built to impress the neighbours. Others are built to get you, your luggage and your sanity from A to Z intact.What I didn't know when we chose the Citroën C4 Max Hybrid is that we would need to spend that time doing a lot of talking. We found out the day before we left that my wife was expecting twins and there were a lot of things to discuss!And the best thing I can say about the C4 Max is that it took all the pressure off the driving aspect while we discussed other stresses that are going to dominate our future. Over a hell of a lot of road.The French know exactly how to build a car that undergoes this kind of proper holiday test. Ferry queues, autoroutes, city traffic, sun-baked coastal roads and the sort of packing that starts with 'we'll travel light' and ends with half the house packed into the boot. The C4 Max took it all in stride or ever making the journey feel like hard work.First impressions are very Citroën. It's not aggressive or shouty, but it's smart in a quietly confident way. Chunky without being clumsy, modern without trying too hard.We usually take the EuroTunnel but this time decided to leave London after work and shoot down to Portsmouth to get the evening ferry to arrive in St Malo the following morning. I won't go into detail here how brilliant a decision this turned out to be, but we would do it again in a heartbeat, it is worth every extra penny.Inside the car is where the C4 Max really starts to win you over. Citroën has always understood comfort, and this car leans into that with enthusiasm. The seats are soft without being saggy, supportive without feeling firm. After hours behind the wheel, chatting away about how two babies cost more than one quite comfortably above the sound of the engine, you can step out at the rest stops or 'aires' without your back feeling like you are going to need a trip to the chiropractor.Another thing we did differently on this trip was choose a hybrid rather than petrol version of the car, which turned out to be perfectly suited to this kind of trip. My wallet felt the better for it as we eeked out more miles per gallon.Around towns and slower roads it glides along quietly on electric power, making French villages feel calm and civilised. On the autoroute it switches seamlessly to petrol, cruising happily at speed while sipping fuel in a way that keeps fuel stops pleasantly infrequent.Heading south west through France, mile after mile disappeared with surprising ease. The ride was classic Citroën: smooth, forgiving and wonderfully relaxed. Whether we were travelling on the smooth autoroutes or on rougher road surfaces, you rarely noticed a difference. This is a car that understands its role as a long-distance companion.There's plenty of space too for a family car. The boot swallowed suitcases, our camping and beach gear and the inevitable 'just in case' items with room to spare. Our rear passengers aren't born yet but I could picture them being treated to decent legroom in the future as they chant 'are we nearly there yet?'We stayed for a few nights at a hotel with golf course and spa in Bordeaux which was the perfect place to test the C4 Max's urban manners. Tight streets, stop-start traffic and parking spaces clearly designed long before modern cars were imagined. The hybrid setup came into its own here, keeping things quiet and efficient, while good visibility and light steering made city driving refreshingly stress-free.Then came the final push to St Tropez with its winding roads, heat shimmering off the tarmac, and scenery that demands you slow down and enjoy it. Obviously the C4 Max isn't a sports car, and it doesn’t pretend to be. But it's stable, predictable and easy to place on the road, which is exactly what you want when you're tired and ready to collapse on a beach when you reach your destination.By the time we rolled into St Tropez, happy we had a plan and very ready for our last ever holiday as a couple, the Citroën had proved its worth. It hadn’t tried to be exciting. It hadn’t demanded attention. It had simply done its job extremely well.And that, really, is the magic of the Citroën C4 Max Hybrid. It turns a daunting cross-country holiday drive into part of the enjoyment. Comfortable, efficient and quietly capable, it's the sort of car that lets you arrive relaxed and ready to enjoy the destination. And with a starting price of around £26,500 plus extras, that's a bargain.I already know it would be the right choice of car for a family of four. Watch this space.
