2022 Citroen C4 vs 2023 Hyundai Staria

What's the difference?

It’s weird, wonderful and fun, in more ways that one. I think every segment could use an oddball alternative like the C4. Citroen has successfully transformed it from a hatch to a small SUV with a difference. It’s not going to be for everyone – few Citroens are – but those who are willing to take a chance will be rewarded with a surprisingly competitive little package that stands apart from the crowd.

The HiAce’s hold on the van market will be tough to shake, but if there are any reasons for fleets, small businesses, or sole traders to consider an alternative, the Staria Load has pretty much all of them.

It might not have the expansive interior dimensions or range of body styles offered by its key rival, and it might not be as cheap as some others in this space, but it does offer so many other benefits and luxuries which are seldom afforded to vans in this class.

Not only that, but it looks downright cool, is one of the safest vehicles in the segment, and is seemingly inexpensive to run, too. What’s not to like?

It’s really hard to stand out in Australia’s busy marketplace, especially in this small SUV space, where there doesn’t really seem to be as much of a design rulebook as there is in other segments.

Rooflines are wildly different, as are beltines and light profiles. While some may decry the fall of the hatchback to these more high-riding options, at least some of them are bringing fresh design ideas to the car world.

Our C4 is a great example. An SUV perhaps in profile only, it sports a slinky descending roofline, tall, contoured bonnet, a frowny-face LED profile, and characterful plastic claddings, which are a continuation of Citroen’s ‘Airbump’ elements, which gave cars like the previous-generation C4 Cactus such a unique look.

The rear is this car’s most confronting angle, with a post-modern approach to the light profile, and in reference to C4s past, a spoiler integrated into the rear tailgate.

It looks cool, contemporary, and I think is successful in its aim to blend the sporty elements from the hatch world with the sought-after high-riding elements of an SUV.

It certainly caught a few eyeballs in my time with it, and if nothing else, a bit of attention is something the Citroen brand desperately needs.

In the past you could rely on this brand to give you a funky interior, but one that sadly also came with its fair share of sub-par plastics and strange ergonomic. So I’m pleased to report that the new C4 dips into the better looking and feeling Stellantis parts catalogue for a still interesting yet more coherent experience this time around.

The modern look and feel of this car continues with interesting seat designs, a high-riding dash with a higher degree of digitization than before, and improved ergonomic features (even over some notable Peugeots). We’ll talk more about those in the practicality section, but the C4 feels as weird and different from behind the wheel as you’d hope , with an odd dash profile, a fun and minimalist steering yoke, and attention-to-detail elements, like a detail strip that runs through the door trims and across the seats.

These elements are welcome and help separate this Citroen from its Peugeot siblings. It will need this going forward, as it also now shares much of its switchgear and screens with its sister brand.

This is largely a good thing, with the 10-inch screen looking and feeling good and slotting into this car’s design nicely.

It’s a cool looking thing, right? The full-on retro-futuristic vibe extending even to Hyundai’s commercial offerings is a statement of commitment to the brand, and it brings with it some of the better design motifs from not only passenger cars like the Tucson, but even its more aspirational cars like the Ioniq 5.

This is most reflected in the Robocop face and pixelated rear LED clusters, which is, again, an argument for the Premium grade, as it doesn’t look quite right with dull old halogens.

Either way, it certainly looks more modern and daring than the decidedly pragmatic HiAce and many of its other plain rivals. I suppose it depends how much image matters to your brand or trade when it comes to opting for a vehicle like this.

The interior continues the futuristic vibe, with those nice looking screens, expansive front windows, and nice design elements throughout. It particularly draws from Hyundai’s passenger car range here, with the sunken vent motif and leatherbound steering wheel lifted straight out of the Tucson.

The hard, practical plastics that clad the inside are off-set slightly by complex cascading door nooks and pattern work in the plastics, while the piano surround for the centre multimedia screen adds a highlight piece to the centre, even if it’s a little dainty for a work vehicle.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the Staria Load’s design is how much attention has been given to it. It’s one thing to share a brand’s design language from the outside, but it’s quite another to go to the effort to continue it throughout the entire vehicle. For tradespeople, it must feel nice to not be an afterthought.

The C4 brings some interesting practicality elements. There are a few areas where it’s even better than the improved layouts of recent Peugeot models.

The cabin feels spacious, with the C4’s relatively long wheelbase providing ample room in both rows. Adjustability is good for the driver, although it is worth noting that the seats have an odd blend of manual adjust for sliding fore and aft, contrasted with electrical adjust for seat height and tilt.

Comfort is superb from the memory-foam stuffed and thick synthetic-leather-clad seats. I don’t know why more cars don’t adopt this approach to seat design. You sink into these seats and are left feeling like you’re floating above the ground rather than sitting on something. The feeling here is unmatched in the small SUV space.

The massage function is a wholly unnecessary addition, and with the thick seat cladding, it didn’t really add much to the experience.

The seat bases aren’t too high either, unlike some cars in the SUV class, but the dash design itself is very tall, so people shorter than my 182cm height might find extra adjustment is required to see over the bonnet.

There are large bottle holders in each door with a very small bin; dual cupholders in the centre console, and a small armrest console box.

There’s also an odd little two-tiered shelf under the climate unit, with a removable base for extra storage underneath. It seems to me that the top shelf is a missed opportunity to place a wireless charger, although connectivity is handy with the choice of USB-C or USB 2.0 to connect to the wired phone mirroring.

A big win is the presence of a full dial set for not just volume but the climate unit too. This is something the Citroen scores over some of the new Peugeots, which have moved the climate functions to the screen.

Somewhat less wonderful are the digital dash cluster and holographic head-up display. These seem to be a bit redundant in the information they display to the driver, and the digital dash has no customisation, leaving me wondering what the point of it is.

The C4 also has some interesting innovations on the front passenger side. It has an unusually large glovebox and a neat little sliding tray, which looks like something from a Bond car.

It also has a slide-out tablet holder. This odd little thing lets you securely mount a tablet to the dash to provide a multimedia solution for the front passenger, which may be good for entertaining larger kids on longer journeys. Or adults who don't want to talk to the driver. It’s a neat inclusion, but I’m not sure how many people will use it in the real world.

The back seat offers a remarkable amount of room. I’m 182cm tall and had heaps of knee room behind my own driving position. The nice seat trims continue, as does the patternwork and detailing, which is the kind of attention to detail you don’t always get from rivals.

Headroom is a little limited, but you also score dual adjustable air vents and a single USB port.

The boot comes in at a hatch-sized 380-litres (VDA). It’s a neat, square shape with no little cutaways at the sides and is just big enough to fit our full CarsGuide demo luggage set, but leaves no room to spare. The C4 features a space-saver spare wheel under the floor.

A van cabin should be practical though, and despite its commitment to design, the Staria Load impresses on this front too.

There’s tough seat fabric, a rubber liner for the floor, both good for grip and protection from work equipment, and the hard door and dash claddings are a suitable treatment for an interior that's likely to be bashed about. As such, perhaps the piano-black multimedia surround is one of the least practical things in the interior, likely to get fingerprints, dirt, and perhaps even scratches all over it.

To make matters worse here, there are no dials for fan speed, temperature, or volume control, with all these functions being touch only.

Storage is much better, with a three-tiered cascading door lining offering a large bin for laptops, folios, and big bottles, a second tier which might be good for loose tools, wallets, keys, or phones, and a third one up top perhaps better used as a grab handle.

The hard dash cladding has pop-open storage trays for similar small tidbits, while the driver gets a fixed cup holder cut out from the far right-hand side.

There’s a set of two trays above the seats with flexible netting good for holding folios or perhaps even laptops, while there’s a cut-out below the media unit that houses a wireless phone charger. This area is rubberised, so it can even hold loose objects like keys if need be.

Below this, there’s a pop-out bottle holder that suits larger bottles than the fixed piece over to the right of the dash, and below this there’s a large bay with two USB connectors and a 12v outlet.

A large space lies vacant between the driver and front passenger, a space that can be filled by a fridge if chosen from the accessories list ($1299). Great for keeping your chicken sandwich out of the danger zone.

Now the important stuff. Is the Staria Load big enough for your trade or fleet? Well, the total storage area volume comes in at 4935 litres, which is not bad for the segment, but still falls significantly short of the HiAce’s massive 6200L space. So if it’s space you need, the HiAce is still king.

Payload is 1072kg, which is almost bang-on a match for the HiAce (1075kg), although towing capacity for the Staria is significantly higher, at 2500kg, compared to the HiAce’s 1500kg in automatic form. All may make a big difference specific to your trade or use-case.

For those wanting further specs, the cargo dimensions come in at 2607mm long, 1640mm wide, and 1436mm tall. There are eight tie-down points on the floor.

Our car was fitted with a cargo gate ($899) and heavy duty floor mat ($745) but it’s possible to go to town on the accessories list, which includes everything from optional window panels, security mesh, roof mountings for various attachments, and bull bars. One thing I couldn’t find on the accessories list which I would have liked is additional LED lighting for the cargo area.

I unloaded this van at night, and the amount of light inside, provided by the cabin door open lights and a single bulb near the tailgate, was notably limited. It’s not as though there’s limited space overhead for additional light fittings.

Other standard benefits include the dual-side sliding doors, although, again, some may find it’s a shame the Premium can’t be fitted with the barn door option.

While the rear hatch is very large, limiting the spaces in which it will fully open, one benefit of the Premium grade’s powered tailgate is that it can be stopped, allowing you to partially open it to access the inside, even in height-limited locations.

There are two versions of the Staria Load on sale right now, a base model, which is priced from $46,250 before on-roads and this one, the Premium, which costs $51,240.

Both are front-wheel drive and powered by the same diesel engine, but the Premium grade offers a solid list of handy upgrades and luxuries over the base car for its modest extra spend.

Its nemesis is the eternal Toyota HiAce, which is only available in one spec grade from $46,360, although unlike the Staria it is also offered in a super long wheelbase or high-roof body style.

Other options include Volkswagen’s Transporter T6.1 (from $47,390), Renault’s Trafic (from $49,000), Peugeot Expert (from $43,397) or Ford’s Transit Custom (from $44,590).

If you really need to penny pinch, there’s also always the LDV G10+, which starts from as low as $34,990 drive-away.

While the Staria Load Premium has a higher price-tag than many of its rivals, it’s also slightly larger, much newer, and better equipped than pretty much all of them.

For example, at Premium level you score many of the refinements otherwise only reserved for the people mover version, including LED headlights, 17-inch alloy wheels, dual 10.25-inch screens for the multimedia and digital instrument cluster, wireless phone charging, keyless entry with push-start ignition, a power tailgate, and three additional colour choices over the plain white and silver available on the base van.

Unfortunately, the Premium is only available with the powered hatch tailgate, you can’t opt for the barn-door layout on the base van, which could be limiting for some tradespeople who often need to work in more confined spaces.

Other than this consideration, it doesn’t seem like a big ask to up your order to the Premium, given it carries only a $5000 cost, adding a lot of stuff to an already nice van.

The C4’s single trim level has a single engine, and it’s a good one; a peppy 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo.

It appears elsewhere in the Stellantis catalogue and has been refreshed for the 2022 model year with a new turbo and other small refinements. In the C4 it produces 114kW/240Nm and drives the front wheels via an Aisin-sourced eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission.

No dual-clutches or CVTs to be found here. This sounds good to me, but is it good to drive? You’ll have to read on to find out.

There’s only one engine and transmission option for the Staria Load, a 2.2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder diesel unit, mated to an eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission to drive the front wheels.

This combination is notable as it is sourced from Hyundai’s passenger car range, and isn’t a diesel that has been specifically built for a van, or sourced from a truck.

While this comes with significant benefits for refinement, unlike the people mover version, there isn’t the option for a V6 petrol engine or all-wheel drive in the Staria Load range.

Despite the little turbocharged engine and the abundance of ratios in that transmission, the Citroen C4 disappointed me a little bit when it came to real-world consumption.

The official/combined consumption sounds reasonable at just 6.1L/100km, but after a week of driving in what I would consider realistic combined conditions my car returned 8.4L/100km.

While it’s not terrible in the wider context of small SUVs (a segment that is still packed with naturally aspirated 2.0-litre engines), it could be better.

The C4 also needs at least mid-shelf 95RON unleaded fuel and has a 50-litre fuel tank.

Officially the Staria Load will consume 7.0L/100km in combined duties, and during my testing, which involved combined road conditions, as well as carrying a 5- 600kg load across Sydney, it produced a final fuel consumption number of 7.5L/100km. Impressive.

The fuel tank measures 75L, suggesting a longer range than the HiAce, which has both a higher fuel consumption and a smaller tank.

Driving the C4 is an interesting experience because it approaches the road a little differently from most of its rivals.

It really leans into Citroen’s newfound comfort-focused niche with the seating and suspension. This results in an overall experience that is a bit unique in the market, and quite pleasant, too.

The ride really is quite good. It’s not a fully hydraulic system but has dual-stage dampers that essentially smooth out corrugations and much of the nasty stuff that comes into contact with the tyres.

It’s odd because you can hear the big alloys crashing about on the road, but ultimately you feel little of it in the cabin. What’s more impressive is Citroen has managed to imbue the C4 with this floating-on-the-road feeling, while maintaining enough of a ‘real’ driving position to make it feel like you’re sitting in the car and not on it.

The overall result is impressive. The comfort extends to the seats, as mentioned, which really do still feel floaty and supportive even after hours on the road. It also extends to the steering, which has a very light tune. This is a bit unsettling at first, as it feels like it has a large dead-zone in the centre, but it is also speed dependent, so once you’re cruising it regains a significant amount of feel. You can also manually bring back a bit of firmness by setting this car to its Sport drive mode, which is unusually good.

This means you can have an ease of operation in tight quarters while maintaining enough feel to make it fun to drive when you need to ask more of it. Clever.

Speaking of fun, the revised 1.2-litre three-pot is a hoot. It has a distant but entertaining gruff tone under pressure, and surges forward with just enough urgency to not leave you really wanting for power.

It’s not what I would call quick, but it has a raucous attitude paired with a well-behaved torque converter auto to make it truly entertaining. When you push it, there’s a moment of turbo lag followed by a lump of torque, which the transmission lets you ride out before decisively snapping into the next gear. I like it.

Again, it's not quick, but it punches just enough above its weight to leave you with a smile when you stick your boot in. To have that in a car otherwise so focused on comfort is an unexpected pleasure.

The dash cluster could use some work, as could visibility out of the cabin. The small aperture out the rear and tall dash line could leave some drivers feeling a bit claustrophobic. While the engine is fun to engage with, the turbo lag could potentially be a source for annoyance at times, too.

Brief negatives aside, I think the C4's drive experience really brings something unique, fun, and comfortable to the small SUV space.

Since when are commercial vehicles so nice to drive? The Staria Load continues the trend started by the most recent HiAce and Volkswagen Caddy, bringing passenger-car-like dynamics, ride quality, and refinement to a van.

Even last-generation products still on sale, like the VW Transporter, Renault Trafic, and Peugeot Expert, just to name a few, are rough-riding and noisy in comparison, because why would they be good? These are just tools of a trade, right?

But the Staria Load questions this formula, with its light, reactive steering, smooth, SUV-like ride even when unladen, and distant diesel rumble from its more passenger-car-like engine.

In fact, the eight-speed automatic transmission is perhaps the most impressive part of the Staria Load’s drive experience, with seamless, appropriate shifts, void of surging or shunting through the drivetrain.

When loaded up with roughly 5- 600kg (roughly half this van’s payload) worth of garden equipment, pots, plants, soil, and tiles, the ride further improved if only by a little over the rear, while the engine barely felt the increase in weight.

When it comes to the small things, Hyundai has you covered, too. Visibility is excellent out the front, with enormous windows and wing-mirrors with a wide view, while the 360-degree parking camera on this Premium grade cleverly splits the centre screen to show you either the reversing camera or forward-facing camera alongside a top-down aspect, helping you not dent the van’s expansive panels.

This combines with the little passenger car luxuries on the inside to make for a relaxing, easy van to drive. Much more a complete experience than just a work tool, the Staria Load will leave you feeling well rested, even after a long day.

Safety is often a tough topic for commercial vans, as they tend to be replaced and updated less often than their passenger car counterparts. Thanks to the Staria Load starting from scratch, however, Hyundai has had the opportunity to build safety in from the get-go.

Active safety items, which are rare on any van in this size and price range, include auto emergency braking, lane keep assist with lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert, driver attention alert, and adaptive cruise control. The Premium grade also adds adaptive high beams, as well as blind spot view cameras, which almost feel like overkill.

There’s a whopping seven airbags in the tiny cabin area of the Staria Load, including dual front, dual side, dual curtain, and a front centre airbag.

Thanks to this impressive suite of equipment, the Staria has a maximum five-star ANCAP rating to the latest and most stringent standards. The only rivals that carry an equivalent current rating include the Caddy Cargo and HiAce. It cannot be stated enough the jump in safety standards these vans have compared to previous-generation products. 

Ownership has always been a tough topic for unusual Euros like the C4, and that seems to continue here. While Citroen offers a competitive five-year and unlimited-kilometre warranty for all its new products, it’s the service costs that will hurt the most.

While most Japanese and Korean brands are competing to really keep these numbers down, the C4’s average yearly cost, according to the provided schedule, comes in at an average of $497 for the first five years. That’s nearly double the cost of Toyota’s C-HR!

The C4 Shine will need to see a service centre once a year or every 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

The Staria needs to be cheap to run, and for the most part, it appears to be. Servicing is required once every 12 months or 15,000km, and the price is fixed to $360 per visit for the first five years.

Interestingly, Toyota’s HiAce needs to be serviced twice as often (every six months or 10,000km) costing $290 per visit for only the first three years, comparatively unappealing.

Hyundai’s commercial vehicle warranty is not quite as comprehensive as it is for its passenger car range, with the same five years, but just 160,000km of distance covered.