So far, the company has applied for 20 patents surrounding its discoveries.

Although eye-catching, the new suspension is only one component of the Citroën Advanced Comfort project. The company is also working to filter out external noise and vibration, principally by improving the rigidity of its cars’ bodies by bonding them with adhesive between the usual spot-welds. Citroën claims that this construction method results in a 20% improvement in rigidity in the case of the C4 Cactus.

In addition, Citroën is revolutionising seat comfort by using new foam grades imaginatively to combine the “approach comfort” (softness) of classic Citroën seats with the support that modern drivers need.

Meanwhile, engineers are furthering the progress made with modern Citroëns such as the C4 Cactus in simplifying the driver’s environment and duties with a unique-to-Citroën blend of control simplicity and practical driver aids.

They also see it as a priority that people be able to maintain connectivity effortlessly whenever they climb into their cars to drive.

Other avenues being explored are refinement of gear and engine noise, tyre tuning, use of more noise-absorbent floor coverings and other insulation and experiments with glass thickness, a notably efficient noise dampener.

Citroën engineers don’t deny that there will be a cost to many of these refinements, or that some of them (notably the bonding of the spot-welded body for extra strength) will be shared by its Peugeot and DS cousins. But their clear intention is to keep costs low to keep the marques positioned as they are now.

ON THE ROAD WITH CITROEN’S NEW SUSPENSION

We felt the difference before we’d driven half a city block. On the day we tried Citroën’s new ‘hydraulic cushion’ suspension in its C4 Cactus prototype, the company insisted we take a standard car along for the ride – and drive it first.

On a short but challenging route of narrow country roads, jittery surfaces, cobbles, tight turns and speed bumps outside schools, the standard Cactus was poised, flat riding and easy to drive. How realistic is it to expect a better performance than this, I wondered. This car already beats most of its price peers for ride and refinement.

The difference was enormous. Anyone would have noticed it. The seats felt quite different on first contact with my backside: initially soft like an old DS’s, but on second thoughts still with the under-thigh and side support a modern car needs. As soon as we started moving, it was also clear the car’s surface sensitivity had been reduced by a large margin. It simply glided along with amazingly little noise or vibration. In addition, the jittery surfaces of the route – Citroën’s word was ‘jumpy’ – were all but refined away.

That primary ride put me in mind of the hydropneumatic Citroën C5 I’d just been driving – there was the same imperious poise and absence of pitch – except that the prototype was better because it lacked the C5’s difficulty with high-frequency bumps, a hydropneumatic foible.

Better still, the accurate and nicely weighted steering was still there. Often with softly suspended cars, precision drops away, but not this time. There was a kind of disconnect; my previous experience said it was too good.