Test Review: Colourful Citroen C3 has a second chance in SA

Troubled brand Citroen relaunches in South Africa after a hiatus of over a year and the Citroen C3 is part of the compact product offensive for 2020. In many ways this trendier sibling of the Peugeot 208 is the underdog in a segment of mature but often play-it-safe rivals who all conform to the same urbanised tropes and clinical tendencies. There certainly is a gap for a player of greater ingenuity and freewill, which is where the Citroen C3 takes stage.

The 2020 Citroen C3 inherits its looks from the bigger C5 (also on sale in South Africa) and the proportions of just under 4-metres long and 1.47 metres tall, bridging a gap between hatchback and small crossover. With the optional airbumps fitted down the side, it looks playfully tough to endure life’s little mishaps while our test model was fitted with a stylish two-tone red and grey combination that further accentuates the C3’s uniqueness.

The interior itself is no less vibrant than the outside, retaining some orange flair on the dash and airvents. Fortunately, functionality elbows its way in with some of the brand’s usual ergonomic quirks reined in but not totally exiled. Your 360-deg view around is visually light and simplistically cool, using pull straps on the doors, cloth fabrics for the seats and very few motorised systems or tactile buttons. Almost everything is controlled by the touchscreen including our least favourite menu item, the climate control. But even this isn’t a major deterrent because the User Experience, which includes CarPlay and Android Auto, is lean and direct, often requiring no more than two pokes at the screen to get to the desired end point. Still, we ought to have a reverse camera and a push button start for the price, as the C3’s technology is quite dull by segment standards. Room in the rear is only just adequate. The boot a little deep and tight when compared against the burgeoning crossover market.

Citroen established the early hooks of its reputation around comfort with some truly innovative suspension designs and the C3 is a microcosm of that era. It floats a few inches over rough surfaces willing to sacrifice driver involvement for an unfussy ride. Driver touchpoints are deliberately vaguer than in a Peugeot 208, especially the steering which doesn’t add weight with each turn and overly quick to centre itself. While the new Citroen C3 does do the occasional bit of quick driving better than you’d expect, the shell and underpinnings are never quite taut enough to be rewarding.

Driving the front wheels in the 1.2 Puretech engine which is one of the first engines to be part of this runaway downsizing trend, yet remains modern with competitive kilowatts and torques. Our only gripe with it is the heavy thirst of around 10l/100km. A week later we drove the larger C3 Aircross where it fared even worse at 11l/100km. Pity because this is fundamentally a characterful engine with a charming offbeat tone from its 3 cylinders. Performance is nicely matched to the six automatic gears, building and holding speed effortlessly, and a little faster than some of its tall-riding crossover rivals. A Sport button doesn’t transform the overall package drive but it does force the gearbox into some lower gears a bit sooner.

The new Citroen C3 isn’t the polarising model it once was, yet still has a retro edge about it that means it won’t easily be confused with anything else on the market. Package and trim pricing is good, being noticeably cheaper than the larger than Citroen’s own C3 Aircross and undercutting new crossover metal from VW, Hyundai and KIA. It’s not the last word in tech or digitisation and ergonomics could still be refined that little bit further but in enough ways the style is met with substance. It’s over to PSA South Africa to get the rest of the puzzle pieces in place. Andrew Leopold

Specification

Citroen C3 1.2T Shine

• R299,900
• 2 3cyl turbocharged petrol
• 81kW
• 205Nm
• 0-100kph in 9.4 secs, 194kph
• 0l/100km, 137g/km