Citroen C3 Pure 2018 Review

Antidote to bland

The new Citroen C3 is exactly how you'd expect a French-built light-car to look, feel and drive on the road.

Without investing too heavily in stereotypes, the new crossover-inspired model, which arrived in Australian showrooms in January, offers equal measures of eccentricity, ingenuity, expected quirks and pleasing on-road character.

It's not the cheapest nor the safest model going, but the new decidedly high-riding French car imparts a sense of charm not readily available on key competitors.

But before we get any further, a quick glance at the C3's history in Australia. It was last sold as a new car in Australia back in 2015 - chiefly, as a ho-hum hatch.

The C3 of old's sales stagnated, much like the historic Citroen brand in general. Citroen has taken a close look at itself and reinvented its small offering.

The new C3 is a vastly different beast. New tech, a perky three-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed auto, and some clever, practical styling inside and out.

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What do you get?

As its arty exterior might suggest, the C3 adopts a slightly left-of-centre approach that takes in cool features - such as the AirBump panel along both flanks designed to withstanding unruly doors in carparks - along some expected quirks. The latter is best summarised by the car's exposed front guards from within the engine bay (see pic).

Officially, standard fare includes 17-inch alloy wheels, LED DRLs, rear parking sensors, auto-dimming rear-view mirror and a reversing camera. The C3's Safety Pack incorporates lane departure warning, active seatbelt safety, speed limit recognition and a driver break alert.

The C3's cabin is equipped with modern features including a 7.0-inch touch-screen that sits pride of place in the dashboard, controlling everything from the now-obligatory Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to essential comfort controls including A/C.

In truth the infotainment system is hardly the latest word in intuition, a sentiment which extends to operating the fan speed and temperature controls, which are all exclusively operated via touch.

Even so, the C3 has bigger concerns to address.

The elephant in the room is safety. The C3 scored a four-star Euro NCAP safety rating on account of its poor pedestrian rating and lack of modern safety features including automated emergency braking.

Officially, the C3 is unrated in Australia according to the latest information available from ANCAP. Stay tuned…

Inside, the C3 imbues occupants with comfy chairs, a light, airy glasshouse structure that affords decent front and rear vision, and adequate space across its five-seat cabin for four adults on shorter journeys.

A 300-litre boot is good for a couple of overnight bags and, paired with split-folding seats, enables enough cabin space for larger items. We squeezed in a surfboard.

A sharp reflection from the glass surrounding the digital instrument cluster, along with cup-holders and cubbies that are simply too small for day-to-day use, are constant bugbears.

Citroen is offering Australian buyers a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty on the C3 for those who purchase before March 31, 2018. Servicing intervals are set at every 12 months/15,000km, with the first three years set at $1498.

The C3 gets a space-saver spare as standard.

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Under the bonnet

The C3 trades outright capacity for turbocharged smarts, employing a 1.2-litre turbo three-cylinder that makes 81kW and 250Nm. A six-speed automatic does the shifting, apportioning drive to the front wheels.

Truth is the diminutive three-pot exhibits good and bad traits on the road.

Down low, it's a bit agricultural: there's plenty of hesitation, a good amount of shuddering and noticeable vibration as the thrum-laden petrol unit puts its power down - compounded by some stalling on the part of the matching six-speed automatic.

The auto offers a Sports mode that endows some added eagerness, and once you're out of the vibe zone there's a healthy parp from the exhaust when upchanges are made under a generous amount of throttle.

Once you're up to speed and, importantly, up to middling revs, the three-cylinder offers much more response, along with an endearing if thrummy soundtrack. Officially, nought to 100 takes 10.9 seconds.

Of more relevance is the car's in-gear acceleration, which enables a surprisingly spritely level of power and response between corners on a twisting mountain road.

Equally, the C3's steering, ride and handling offers a sporting bent not strictly advertised by its quirky exterior. The body feels composed and in control through faster changes in direction, and while the steering doesn't boast the latest word in sharpness, there is enough to work with during spirited forays.

The torsion beam rear-end isn't infallible - it occasionally loses its cool through faster corners when there are rough pitter-patter surfaces to contend with. But all things considered, we liked what was on offer.

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Verdict

The C3 is a welcome entrant to the competitive light-car segment, namely because of its uniqueness.

What it lacks in on-paper appeal and safety, the Citroen matches with charming on-road traits and design flair. It does as advertised in an honest, idiosyncratic kind of way - which is something to truly admire, if we're honest.

2018 Citroen C3 1.8 Pure pricing and specifications:
Price: $23,490 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 81kW/250Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 4.9L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 110g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Four-star Euro NCAP (Not yet ANCAP rated)