New Citroen C3 is a real charmer

How's that for a view?

In fact, they are confident enough to split the new C3's appeal straight down the middle with a 50:50 male-female potential buyers market.

And they might just have a point because the four new model choices - and certainly the new 1.6-litre VTi Executive flagship - have a lot more to offer than just French flair and city chic.

Citroen have always made classy, compact city cars; not too expensive and perfect for surviving the pandemonium of Paris driving. Practical - and with one or two exceptions - quite pretty, but nothing wildly exciting.

Streets ahead

Not that the new C3 will knock you breath away, but it certainly is streets ahead of its predecessors in terms of roadholding, ride quality, appealing features and overall driving pleasure.

And while the ladies will be seduced by its sexy new headlights, fancy chrome strips and range of 10 trendy new colours, the lads will be quick to pick up on the alloy sporty rims, the Audi-like steering wheel, the slick five-speed manual gearbox, sharp brakes, cocky stanch, chrome exhaust outlet and the confident way it sticks to the tar through the corners.

A classy package with a good pedigree.

Even though the new C3 shies away from the “bigger, longer, higher, wider” bragging claims of nearly all newly launched cars it has more than ample cabin space (even though the driver's left-hand does tend to brush against the front passenger's leg during gear changes, but then that, as the French will be quick to explain, is not always a bad thing,,).

The new C3 also has a class-leading 300-litre boot to accommodate a case or two of Monsieur's finest burgundy and a few of Madame's bulging shopping bags.

And the 60:40 split-folding rear seats create even more space at the flick of a handle.

Storage space for all those knick knacks

The quality of the living quarters is also impressive. The cabin not only looks good but it is sensibly laid-out, with switches, dials and gauges situated where you would expect them to be.

The instrument panel, in particular, is a snazzy mix of high tech and retro with its combination of two analogue dials and an LED dial.

All C3’s come price-inclusive with a three-year/100 000 kilometre warranty and a four-year/60 000 service plan.

There is also no shortage of storage mousey-holes in the cabin - front-and-rear-door cubbies, central console, central fascia, a central armrest with two compartments plus a sliding drawer underneath the front passenger seat create lots of space for glasses, cell phone, fags and the rest.

And then there is one of the C3's biggest drawcards, the one feature that sets it apart from all its competitors - its new Zenith windscreen.

Enjoy the view

But stifle that yawn. This is something else, trust me…

The French took ages and pages to describe it to the local motoring media in great detail, but in essence it is a huge chunk of windscreen glass, 1,350m² in total, which increases visibility by up to 80%.

Handy boot as well...

It is adjustable so passengers can choose between full or partial exposure to the light and sun and it is progressively tinted.

It's not a sunroof that opens and closes - just a huge, extended windscreen-cum-partial roof that provides a wonderful vista of the outside world.

And because the passengers can control the amount of light and sun in the cabin it's not at all like travelling in a fish bowl, being fried by the sun.

On our launch drive we found it added a whole new dimension to the already pleasurable experience of meandering through the Cape winelands.

Footlights

But the C3 also has lots of other nifty little extras, depending on which model you want and can afford…. Even down to an ambient cabin light system which gives off a warm night-time glow in the foot wells.

There are four models from which to choose, all with electronic fuel injection, 50-litre fuel tanks and five-speed manual transmission.

The model choices with performance figures and prices are:

• 1.4 Attraction - 58 kW/118 Nm. Top speed 163 km/h. 0-100 km/h 14.2 sec. Price - R159 900.
• 1.4 VTi Attraction+ - 70 kW/135 Nm. Top speed 184 km/h. 0-100 km/h 10.6 sec. Price: R174 900.
• 1.4 VTi Seduction - 70 kW/135 Nm. Top speed 184 km/h. 0-100 km/h 10.6 sec. Price - R189 900.
• 1.6 VTi Exclusive - 88 kW/`60 Nm. Top speed 190 km/h. 0-100 km/h 8.9 sec. Price - R202 900

The cabin is sensibly laid-out.click to enlarge

All models have emergency braking assistance (EBA), airbags, central locking, child locks, Iso-Fix child seat anchorage points, trip computer, fully adjustable steering wheel, aircon, electric mirrors and windows, leather steering wheel with audio controls and six-speaker sound system.

And another big plus is the fact that all C3's come price-inclusive with a three-year/100 000 kilometre warranty and a four-year/60 000 service plan.

At the local motoring media introduction I drove the 1.4-litre Seduction and the 1.6-litre Exclusive and was particularly impressed by the cheeky characteristics of the smaller engined model.

A tad pricey - but classy

Both cars handled well and could take a fair amount of hard cornering and emergency steering moves without feeling unsettled.

Like most electric steering set-ups the feel and feedback is not exactly razor sharp, but then, in fairness, this is an urban dweller, never designed for hot hatch performance.

The cabins of both vehicles were particularly well insulated against engine, wind and road noises and the cars felt solid and well constructed. Even the doors had a comforting thud of quality.

The instrument panel is a snazzy mix of high tech and retro.click to enlarge

The ride is seriously smooth and even on humpy bumpy sections of country road there was never a hint of skittishness.

Overall the C3 is a classy little French number, if a tad pricey.
And of course it steps into the ring with serious contenders such as the new VW Polo, Honda Jazz and Toyota Yaris.

South Africans are particularly brand conscious, even more so in these tough economic times and the C3 will have its work cut out to unsettle the proven veterans in this competitive market segment.

But not for nothing has the C3 clocked up more than two million sales world-wide. Certainly the latest C3 is a classy package with a good pedigree - a well-manicured French poodle with teeth sharp enough to yap at the tail of that human-mouthed brown boxer dog that stars in the latest advertising campaign of a leading Japanese carmaker.

Vehicle specifications
Technical specifications