It’s all about YOU
CITROEN’S NEW C3 IS THE BEST BUDGET CAR FOR MILES
DRIVING a car with hub caps and not alloy wheels? I can’t remember the last time.
Actually, Citroen refers to them as wheel covers, which is probably a more accurate and modern description.
Whatever, for someone who lives in a Victorian street with high granite kerbs that can inflict heinous damage to expensive alloy wheels, wheel covers are a welcome return to the old days.
The car to which these “Arrow” wheel covers are fitted is the Citroen C3 YOU.
Its wheel decorations are not the only rather old-fashioned feature. So is its price and several other details. At £13,995, this car is one of the cheapest new cars on sale today and is only beaten by the Dacia Sandero.
Citroen is pitching the C3 YOU as the logical successor to the late C1, Citroen’s version of the small city car that was a joint project with Peugeot and Toyota.
The C1, like its brothers, was a perfect car for young people on a budget who wanted a reliable, new car. This C3 hits the spot too. It’s powered by a naturally aspirated 1,199cc threecylinder engine that has a power output of 83bhp. This propels the relatively light C3 to 62mph in 12.5sec and to a top speed of 103mph.
If you want to go faster you have to pay more, it’s as simple as that.
Citroen quotes fuel consumption figures of 48.5-54.3mpg, and these are much more impressive and important than how long it takes the car to accelerate.
Sure, you have to rev the engine and use the five-speed manual gearbox a lot, but it’s not exactly 2CV-style motoring.
The simple nature of the C3 YOU continues inside, and again it’s important to remember the sticker price. Like, for example, when you grip the plastic steering wheel. No leather at this money, sir. Neither will you find a large coloured infotainment screen. Instead there’s a 5in black-and-white touchscreen.
Bluetooth is fitted, but I’d rather do without the whole assembly and instead have a custom mount for a smartphone that could be used for navigation, communications and music. This is what Dacia does in its cheapest models.
Surprisingly, despite the budget approach, you still get cruise control and LED headlights.
It’s possible it costs Citroen more to delete these than leave them fitted.
The C3 YOU’s default paint finish is Soft Sand which looks rather nice, so I see no reason to spend another £545 on a metallic paint colour.
Citroen adds a bit of appeal with a white styling pack, matt finish to the B-pillars and chrome surrounds for the headlights.
There’s also a rather nice YOU sticker on each side of the car with an exclamation mark. No Citroen trademark Airbumps (which protect the car’s sides) at this price, though.
As discussed earlier the C3 with this petrol engine is hardly brisk. Pulling away from standstill is a bit jittery and you need to give the engine plenty of revs.
This is, I suspect, due to the desire to reduce emissions somewhat strangling the engine’s performance.
The gear change isn’t precise but gripes about this are made up for by the car’s smooth and comfortable ride.
Apart from the Dacia Sandero, the C3 You beats smaller cars on price such as the Hyundai i10. Same-size rivals like the Vauxhall Corsa are much more expensive.
The time is drawing near, especially with the increase of electrification, when there will be no new cars on sale for under £20k.
Basic it may be, but Citroen’s C3 YOU is welcome and essential.