REAR OF THE YEAR
With cool colours, style and gadgets, you won’t get a bum deal with new Citroen SUV
I have to admit I am something of a bottom woman.
There is nothing I like better than a good tail light on a car so, driving behind the new Citroen C3 Aircross, I was delighted to note that its back end was attractive and its tail lights awesome. If you can have such a thing as concentric squares, then you get my drift.
The new C3 Aircross is the funky SUV sibling to the French company’s petite and pretty C3.
It offers a delightful alternative for anyone looking for an SUV in the compact sector.
It is small but bold with a high ride height that people seek when they look for an SUV.
Big strong bars run the length of each side of the roof and there are large square headl ights below the LED running lights on the nose.
The car sweeps back to a sporty antenna and a neat hatch, which opens to a boot with a minimum of 410 litres, rising to 520 litres with the seats down.
But what is really going to appeal to drivers is the colour combos you can get on this car – they will certainly make it stand out.
It sits on 17in alloys with eight body colours in strong shades such as spicy orange, sable, blue and red. These can be matched to four roof colours, which will alsoal go on the door mirrors and highlighthi the headlamps.
On top of all this, there is a choice of fivefiv interior body packs, which add a realre stylish feel to the inside of the car andan can be used to pick out colour on theth steering wheel, air vents and dash.
The seats a re squishy and comfortableco – think sofa rather than sportssp car – and the back bench can go forwards or back for more legroom or more boot space.
The dash is appealingly uncluttered andan the 7in Connect Now touchscreen housesh the sat nav, entertainment system and allows you to hook up your smartphone through MirrorLink for Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.
You can also get the Citroen Connect Box for SOS and assistance calls.
What makes this car a true off-roader, though, despite its size, is the grip control with hill descent and the five modes of driving. These include normal, snow, mud, rocks and traction off. The grip control allied to the hill descent means you can get down a really steep incline with the car taking control.
The Aircross comes with both diesel and petrol engines. I drove the 1.2-litre petrol with 110hp and it was excellent. It had a great turn of speed and was incredibly manoeuvrable.
The Aircross also comes with features such as a panoramic sunroof and wireless phone charging.
Safety systems include lane keep alert, coffee break alert and a colour head up display that incorporates t ra f f ic sign recognit ion and recommendation.
Citroen have a name for quirkily good-looking cars and they have done it again with the C3 Aircross. It is a small car with big ideas, great on all terrains and has plenty of excellent tech onboard to keep everyone happy.