A few weeks ago I reviewed the Volkswagen UP! and I mentioned that I thought it was a very stylish little car. In the same review I also said that I believed the same of the Citroen C1, a new, and very sexy, small car from the French manufacturer. The Citroen C1 is all about style and the city.
This small car measures in at just 3.46 metres in length, but fold flat the back seats and it delivers a credible 780 litres of space. Even with the seats up I found that she offers more than it should, taking a buggy and small bit of our weekly Aldi shopping. 3.46 metres is very small for a car, but somehow these guys make it seem bigger – something which is very typical of Citroen vehicles. The front cabin is very well laid out.
To the rear the space is sparse, I fit two baby seats in there no problems, and I received no complaints from my children, but I wouldn’t ask an adult to sit in there for a prolonged period of time. Like the UP! the C1 is available in three door or five door.
To the front the 7 inch Touch Drive interface Mirror Screen infotainment system is more than you would expect from a small car, and something which gets two thumbs up from me is the fact that it supports DAB. As usual you can expect to hook up through Bluetooth and through USB in these vehicles.
Generally I’m not a massive fan of how small cars look, but this car has really won me over. This is a seriously photogenic car. I particularly like the way the two-part headlights sit in the nicely crafted bonnet, and I’m fond of the square rear lights too – they’re presented very well. The curves on the C1 are so nicely designed that I would consider it to be the best looking of its segment – followed closely by the Volkswagen Up.
The Citroen C1 doesn’t fare too badly in the driving department either. Naturally because this is a small vehicle it’s a good runner in cities. Parking is not an issue and because of its size it has a turning circle radius of 4.8 metres. It’s cheap to run too. The C1 I drove is powered by a 1.0 litre VTi68 engine which burns just 95 g/CO2 per km – which means road tax will be low. The car is nippy too (0-100km/h in 12.3 seconds with a top speed of c. 160 km/h)), and throws up no difficulties going around corners. According to the manufacturer the combined fuel economy of this vehicle is 4.3l/100km. On the motorway it’s fine and will comfortably get you to 120km/h, but as is typical with cars of this stature the road noise can get a bit loud.
The market place it sits in is quite exciting and it will offer good competition to the UP!, the Citigo, and it will be interesting to see Opel’s offering when “Karl” comes on the scene. The C1 is also available with a 1.2litre engine.
In terms of price the model I tested will set you back €13,095. There are various trims available, but for those of you who like to feel the wind going through your hair it might be worth while having a look at their C1 Airscape which has a very large folding soft top roof.
This to me is one of the gems in the small car segment. Personally I wouldn’t buy one, but I’ve got kids who need more space and I don’t think I’m stylish enough for this chic machine – but for those of you who like your fashion “French”, with all of the style choices and trims available with this machine, it might be for you.
Read more of our Citroen reviews here: http://www.cbg.ie/cbg-official-reviews/citroen/all-models/new-cars-reviews/
0 comments