Citroen XSara VTS

Of course, Citroen insiders will tell you that the company never made any money on its wonderfully quirky cars. But PSA Group's relentless dumbing down of Citroen's core brand values is odd, given the push by other car-makers to develop brands that have strong and individualistic characters. Citroen should be France's greatest prestige brand. Instead, Renault's moving into that territory.

The Xsara has been given a facelift to link it to both the Picasso people mover and the forthcoming Xantia replacement, the C5. And, yes, the new bonnet, guards, bumper and clear lens headlights give the Xsara the same unfortunate goggle-eyed stare as the other two. Other changes include a wider track, bigger wheels, a new rear hatch and minor tweaks to the unrelenting gloomy, plas-tacky interior. Australia's Xsara range is about to be boosted by the arrival of the top-of-the-range VTS. Citroen calls it a coupe, but it's really a three-door hot hatch. The good news is that it shares the same stonking 124kW 2.0 litre twin cam four as the Peugeot 306 Gti-6. The bad news is almost everything else.

That's not to say the Xsara VTS is a bad car. It just… well… lacks flair. The handling is achieved via tightly screwed down suspension and roll bar settings that give hoo-boy lift-off oversteer at the limit. The brakes are okay, but the steering is just plain heavy and lifeless. Next to cars like Ford's Focus and Alfa's 147, the VTS feels older and clumsier.