Our cars
Updates on the Citroen C3 and Renault Mégane
FOUR 40-litre rucksacks, two tents, four sleeping bags, three chairs, four folding mattresses, two pillows, food for six, 18 wooden logs, two cameras, two bags of clothes and several litres of water. This, plus me, my better half and two friends, was all supposed to fit inside our Citroen C3 for a trip to North Wales recently.
In a previous report (Issue 1,483), I mentioned that the C3 really impressed me with its interior space. And most people on the team who’ve since grabbed the keys feel the same way – there’s far more room inside than you’d expect of a supermini, which prompts the question, just how far could we push this stylish car’s practicality?
Well, what better way to test the loadlugging capabilities of the Citroen on our fleet than a weekend camping trip? The destination was the mountain of Cadair Idris, some 240 miles from my flat in south-west London.
Given I’ve so far spent my time driving the C3 in town, over the two days I not only wanted to find out how practical it is, but how it handles long jaunts on the motorway and the fun, twisty roads of North Wales.
We met our friends at 6am on a frosty Saturday. As we pulled up outside their flat, the realisation that we may have overestimated the C3’s 300-litre boot suddenly hit us. After some Tetris-like organising we fitted it all in, although with the tents overflowing from the boot, the two passengers sitting in the back made their displeasure with my plan known early on.
It was great to get some feedback on how comfy the rear seats are. Both of my friends are more than five foot six tall and apart from having tents on their laps, had no issue with leg or head space. We drove for three hours on the motorway before stopping at the M54 services in Shropshire to stretch.
After Shrewsbury we turned on to the A458, which has some great twists and turns, and meets with the even better A470, that eventually led us to the base of the hills.
It’s here where the C3 began to show a different side. Citroen has emphasised that the model is aimed towards comfort with soft suspension and a smooth ride. This is fine on London’s speed bumps and potholes, but on the twisty roads the C3 felt a little too soft. While body roll isn’t excessive, I would have preferred a slightly more focused set-up for flatter cornering.
To give the car a fair chance, I woke up early on Sunday, grabbed the keys and headed out for another drive. Without the weight of three adults and several items of luggage, it felt lighter and more enjoyable to drive, but the steering still lacked the level of involvement a Ford Fiesta delivers and I struggled to get a feel for how much grip there was. That being said, I never felt like the car would understeer unexpectedly.
With the logs used up, food eaten and most of the water drunk over the weekend, the return journey was completed in more comfort. I haven’t explored all the tech on board the C3 just yet, but the Tomtomassisted sat-nav (£500) proved extremely useful by alerting us to severe delays on the M54 and recommending that we take the M6 Toll instead.
While a larger car would have been a better choice, the C3 didn’t miss a beat all weekend. It also showed that it’s far more versatile than you’d expect.