Sorry for the Star Wars-y headline - that stuff seems to be rotating around my brain for some reason today. Anyway, remember the Citroen C4? No, not the C4 Cactus. Nor the C4 Picasso. Not even the C4 Grand Picasso. Just the regular, vanilla, simplicity-itself C4 hatchback? Thought not - like some backwater planet where Han Solo goes to do some shady dealing, the C4 is something of the forgotten hatchback of the age.
That hasn't stopped Citroen selling around 450,000 of them since it was launched in 2010 though and now it is time for an update. Good luck spotting the changes from the outside - they're limited to new headlights with LEDs and new 3D-effect rear lights (pinched from the DS 3). Elsewhere though there are new cabin upholstery materials, more sound-deadening, an optional glass roof, optional massaging seats, optional keyless entry and start, a new seven-inch touchscreen and, most significantly, the new range of turbocharged 1.2-litre PureTech petrol engines that aim to decapitate diesel sales.
Three trim levels are available - Touch, Feel and Flair. The PureTech engine range is limited to one unit for now - a 110hp engine that is claimed to be 25 per cent more efficient than the naturally aspirated 1.6 petrol it replaces. Citroen says it will do 60mpg (4.7 litres/100km) on the combined cycle and return 110g/km of CO2.
There are also new BlueHDI diesel engines, both 1.6-litre units, with either 100hp and 254Nm or 120hp and 300Nm. That more powerful engine has stop-start and a 98g/km CO2 figure, as well as official 73mpg (3.9 litres/100km) fuel economy. It also comes with a new exhaust filter and catalytic convertor that are claimed to seriously clean up the exhaust gases, in response to recent criticisms of the effects of diesel engines on inner-city air quality.
Prices start from €19,995 for the 1.2 PureTech 110hp engine in Touch trim, with the cheapest diesel being the Touch 100hp BlueHDI for €21,045. Interestingly, Citroen reckons that it would take you 60,000km of driving to make back the extra money spent on the diesel. Petrol is making a comeback it seems.