Ride comfort has been an essential feature of French cars for decades. In the end, however, they too could no longer completely ignore the trend towards more dynamic gaits. Well, however, the Citroen C3's focus on convenience. And combines the driveway suspension with a cozy interior. In the hotly contested small car segment, this independent character can be a real selling point.
The design is undoubtedly the highlight of the small Citroen. Even the front with the space-separated lights and the side with the rustic plastic planks ensures a high recognition value. The five-door is finally a potential eye-catcher, however, by the extensive customization program. Both as a funky city car with two-tone paint and colorful applications as well as monochromatic-elegant in muted colors and with unobtrusive decorative stripes, he can be seen. Particularly successful is the designed with attention to detail interior, which looks very homely despite high Hartplastikanteil. Above all, the fabric-related cockpit dispels the otherwise common in modern cars technoid cold. Add to that a touchscreen-based dashboard that reduces the number of buttons in the interior to almost zero and makes the classic driver's workplace almost a small living room. The fact that the concept shows operational inefficiencies in detail - for example, when the navigation screen has to be clicked off to regulate the air conditioning system - can easily be taken for granted.
The sofa-like seats act as an interface between living comfort and ride comfort. The almost flat pads for the buttocks and back are tight enough padded and tight self-obese occupants not one. Of course, in return they offer zero lateral support - but cornering is not one of the strengths of the C3 anyway. But the suspension is just too soft and comfortable tuned. In city traffic, this is very pleasant, the small car swings despite short wheelbase coarse asphalt and potholes quite nonchalantly away. Thanks to the solid workmanship, no creaking or crunching reaches the ears of the occupants.
The C3 is remarkably easy to drive, matching the city traffic focus. The pedals are so smooth that even stop-and-go traffic for hours with constant engagement and disengagement does not cause cramps in the thighs. The power steering lacks a bit of feeling, but also relieves the driver with strong support when maneuvering. And thanks to the good view to the rear and the clearly defined dimensions of the rear, parking the four-meter vehicle is child's play.
The 1,2-liter three-cylinder engine with 81 kW / 110 PS mounted in the test car gives the small car a quick start at the traffic lights and is also good for brisker swimming in city traffic. Even at low engine speeds sufficient power is available, so that the handle to the somewhat hakeligen shift lever of the five-speed transmission is comparatively rarely necessary.
However, the C3 concept reaches its limits at the latest on the motorway. There, the soft suspension makes the Citroen seem restless when short waves and joints stimulate the body to permanent ringing. The engine can also be seen at higher speeds, that there are now certainly more sophisticated and better insulated three-cylinder in the new car market. At the very least, he stays at his thirst - about 7,0 liters are okay at highway speed. In city traffic you can get by with one and a half liters less.
And regardless of the rather moderate long-distance capability, the C3 is not without fault. Even in the city annoying the small door openings, which make the entry and exit to the first row difficult. Not optimally dimensioned is also the trunk with its high and wide sill. At least there one registers the functional disadvantages of the pretty form. Nevertheless, the Citroen C3 remains below the line one of the currently most interesting small car. His practical weaknesses he makes up for with his special charm. But that's not very cheap. Although the basic model with 11.990 Euro is priced in quite civil, but who wants to fully exploit the styling possibilities and orders some nice extras, quickly pay 5.000 Euro more. In conjunction with the tested gasoline engine starts the price list at 18.400 Euro - for the model in the quite special color "almond green". If you want to be beautiful, you always have to pay extra for the C3, in this case at least once again 500 Euro for a clever paint. (Holger Holzer / SP-X)
