THE C4 is something of a dark horse in the Citroen stable where it is a French alternative to the likes of the VW Golf and the Ford Focus.

While not so mainstream it lacks little and Citroen buyers are a discerning bunch who expect their cars to be different.

Keenly priced - the C4 is cheaper than most five-door hatches - the line up is getting a shot in the arm with new engines and some extra equipment as part of a mid-life makeover.

All now meet the latest emission standards and on the diesel front there's road tax to pay only on one model - an automatic sitting on 17-inch wheels.

The new C4s arrive in April and are priced from £14,645 for a petrol version powered by the French car maker's new 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine also used by sister company Peugeot.

That's around £400 more than the 1.4-litre entry level C4 it replaces but the difference in fuel economy is huge with the newcomer now rated at 60.1mpg compared to 46.3 to the gallon before.

Diesels cost from £16,745 and use Peugeot-Citroen's BlueHDi family of engines which sees all of them achieving official figures of more than 70mpg.

In the new range every petrol model is classified as being good for more than 55mpg and that includes the new automatic although that's available only on top specification Flair trim C4s and priced from £19,445.

On the road the automatic is a smooth six-shifter and gives the C4 quite an upmarket feel.

For a 1.2-litre it is surprisingly competent and the engine is turbocharged to produce 130bhp.

Top speed is 1224mph with a 0 to 60 acceleration time of 10.9 seconds and although Citroen's official fuel figure for the auto is 57.6mpg with emissions of 113g/km on standard 16-inch alloys we saw an average of 37mpg.

Manual versions are marginally more economical at a claimed 58.9mpg and in Flair specification are £1,200 cheaper.

The new auto box is much more agreeable than the electronic semi-automatic Citroen fitted in the previous C4 and from May it will also be available in diesels fitted with a 1.6-litre 120bhp engine which has emission of 98g/km on 16-inch rims or 102g/km with 17-inch wheels.

In manual guise the CO2 figure falls to 95g/km which equates to 78.5mpg although we could manage only 51 to the gallon in the real world.

Like the 130bhp petrol engine the BlueHDi 120 engine is fitted only on Flair trim models while the lower specification Trend and Feel versions of the C4 have less powerful engines.

All now come with new look LED running lights and the car's looks front and back have freshened up with restyled lamp clusters.

The interior of the C4 has been on the swish side since the current car was launched in 2010 and the updated models goes a stage further with a seven-inch touchscreen now standard in Flair trim and a £460 option in Feel grade.

As a family hatchback the C4 is very accommodating with its five-door body, good rear legroom and a larger than average boot at 408 litres.

With the higher grade models now costing from £17,645 it is competitively placed and pound for pound is now one of the most fuel efficient medium hatches around.