Long-termers
Variety is the spice of life. This is why a few motorists won’t opt for the obvious and sensible choice of a high-volume seller. French and Italian offerings spring to mind, all with fascinating and extensive histories. Citroën is no exception and the C3 is one of the latest designs to grace our asphalt.
I have admired the C3 since its first generation; the one with subtle curves combined with the usual B-segment functionality. The latest styling remains individual holders istic, as befits the marque, and the colour scheme on our long-termer – a flagship Shine model – of off-white, red and black stands out from the norm yet manages to avoid looking garish.
Double-clutch gearboxes are sometimes unsuccessful due to uneven engagement causing jerkiness on pull-away. Fortunately, this is a torque-converter six-speed transmission and it’s smooth and cog swaps are quick, significantly adding to driver enjoyment. The sport button may be hidden ahead of the lever but it needn’t be used too often as there is sufficient torque from the 81 kw/205 N.m turbopetrol three-cylinder to respond quickly to a heavier right boot. Three-pots are not my first choice due to inherent roughness at idle but this disappears as soon as revs rise when the turbo thrum sound is pleasant. Fuel consumption is on the heavy side but we expect this to drop markedly as I manage to do longer trips instead of the city-commute routine.
While the compact C3 is easy to manoeuvre and park, it’s surprisingly practical. I have squeezed a mountain bike inside (front wheel removed) by flattening the rear bench and sliding the front passenger seat forward. Boot space is decent but, curiously, space for water bottles is poor; the are small and door-pocket mouldings could be more bottle-friendly. The cruise-control stalk is hidden from sight by the left steering spoke but its buttons are soon mastered. I like the cloth upholstery: softer, better-looking and more temperature neutral than plastic/leather.
Touchscreen operation can be a pain on many cars, with awkward menu pages taking a while to navigate. I find the arrangement used by Citroën more user-friendly than most. On the left, you choose audio or climate and then one more finger press does the job. The irritating stop/ start function and lane-departure warning are also disabled via this screen. The former system acts too quickly, meaning that shutdown is sometimes active for only a second or so.