All Citroen C3 reviews

"The C3 VTR HDi110 offers a punchy diesel engine, good looks, practicality and amazing economy. In short, it barely puts a foot wrong"

Details count. Even when you're talking about a fairly inexpensive supermini, it's important to create an impression of quality. I was never a fan of the original Citroen C3, feeling that here were a bunch of great engines wrapped in a package that lacked that crucial last few per cent of finish. Citroen obviously agreed because the facelifted C3 feels a...

"The C3 1.1iL, like many Citroens, is priced aggressively?"

The C3 has made quite an impact for Citroen. In offering a spacious, unthreatening supermini at reasonable prices, the French company has latched straight into a winning formula. Originally, the problem was that the range opened with technically sophisticated 1.4-litre models. Where was the budget version that could take the battle to cars like the Vauxhall Corsa 1.0 or the Toyota Yaris 1.0? Noticeable by its absence, that's wh...

"It's too friendly to frighten."

At first we were all a little confused by Citroen's C3. Very nice. Big face. Five doors. But where was the three-door version, the sporty one that would take over the mantle from the much-loved Saxo? It seems Citroen had other plans and slotted the C3 betwixt Saxo (now replaced by the C2) and Xsara (now replaced by the C4), billing it as their 'little big car'. Aside from the grim tweeness of that title, the C3 has a lot going for it and the 1.4-litre pe...

"The C3 looks to have been splashed with a small dose of attitude"

I'm struggling here. How did I ever think that a thirty year old man who hung around a milk bar and tried to impress schoolgirls using "Heeeeyy" as an opening gambit was ever cool? Still, times change and Citroen can now play the Fonz character with well-judged irony in its advertisements for the latest C3. The car itself has come a long way and although it's still probably not the sort of car to create a stir at a drive...

"With traffic in urban areas stationary for up to 30% of the time, 'Stop & Start' makes sense?"

With Citroen's C3 Stop & Start, the main questions centre not around why you'd buy one but why you wouldn't want to. After all, the arguments for an automatic engine switch off in stop-start traffic are pretty straightforward.

With the 'Stop & Start' system, the engine is automatically turned off and is in 'standby mode' when the vehicle stops at traffic lights and in traffic jams. The ...

"A Land Rover Defender it most certainly is not?."

Unless you're catastrophically inept when negotiating multi storey car parks, it's difficult to see quite who the Citroen C3 XTR is aimed at. The blurb that accompanied the unveiling of the car claimed that it was targeted at those who live an active lifestyle and are looking for adventurous styling that reflects this. Do you buy that? There's only so much marketing spin it's possible to take before calling foul and the Citroen C3 XTR a...

"Genuine fans of the marque will be rubbing their hands in glee as the Pluriel resolutely ploughs its own furrow "

Think Citroen and certain themes rapidly form. There's the practical genius of the 2CV, the avant-garde brilliance of the DS and the design flair of the CX. It may not have escaped your attention that these cars are all now museum pieces. Citroens have come good of late with winners like the Xsara Picasso, the Saxo and the C3 but the intervening years weren't such a stellar...