I’ve got a very strange passion for Citroens – not sure whether it stems from my late mom’s best friend’s Citroen or whether it was the French accent of the chap who handed over my very first Citroen test car. All I know is I love driving a Citroën and the C3 was no exception!
I love the roundness – the flowing and aerodynamic styling and lines – and those boomerang-shaped headlights – not to mention the huge glass surface of the ‘extended’ windscreen.
Fun roof
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One of my friends with ‘little hair’ was quite concerned that his head would burn to smithereens but was quite impressed with the roof slide which covers the extra glass area to where the windscreen would normally start.
I quite liked the interior styling, especially the horizontal design of the dashboard, the ‘floating’ visor on the instrument cluster and the driver-focused controls. The chrome trim, gloss black central fascia panel and Alcantara seats just added that extra panache.
Happy back-seat drivers
The compact exterior (3.94m long) in no way compromises the cabin space, with plenty of leg room, especially for the front passenger. The slim front seat backs provide extra leg room for back seat passengers. This 1.6 Exclusive model boasts automatic headlights, automatic wipers and electrochrome interior rear-view mirror. Best of all is the sliding drawer underneath the front passenger seat – especially for us ladies – that is now if you have a reasonable sized handbag!
For a littlely car I was really impressed with the boot space and the added bonus is that the C3’s rear seats fold down (60/40 split) using just one hand and in a single movement – from the boot or from behind the rear seats’ backs.
When it comes to safety the C3 has it all – from EBA brakes to dual front, front lateral and curtain airbags, five 3-point inertia reel seat belts and even warning lights and an audible warning system for front ‘unfastened’ seat belts. It also features a child lock control and indicator and outer rear Isofix child seat anchor points.
Citroen C3’s power source
Oh, and before I forget, the 1.6 looks great with its 16-inch ‘Valonga’ alloys.
The C3 Exclusive is powered by a 1.6 VTi motor, producing maximum power of 88kW at 6 000rpm and maximum torque of 160Nm at 4 200rpm.
Thanks to it’s controlled weight and optimised aerodynamics the C3 is easy to handle, responsive, and also provides low fuel consumption and CO2 emissions through intelligent engine management.
Price
The recommended retail price for the Citroen C3 1.6 VTi: Exclusive is R202 000 and it comes standard with a three-year/100 000km warranty and a four year/60 000km service plan.