The newly launched mass market car of the European manufacturer Citroen has managed to create curiosity and hype in the Indian market. This made-in-India and Made for India car is full of surprises. This compact-looking Citroen is made for a comfortable driving experience. So, let’s take a dive inside this new Citroen.
Also read: Citroen C3 Variants Explained
Design
The evolved design of the Citroen C3 makes it look exquisite and gives it a muscular, youthful and eye-catchy look. The raised bonnet of the car gives an SUV a stance while the Twin chevrons in chrome with LED lamps look attractive. The rear lights just like the front are all bulbs. The highlights of the front bumper and side cladding can be personalized in three colours: platinum gray, orange and chrome. While the solid colour options for cars are: White, Orange, platinum gray and steel gray. While the roof colour options are orange and platinum gray.
The raised hatchback of Citroen has a similar size to a Swift and the Tata Punch. This car comes with a 9200 mm longer wheelbase than others in the segment. Overall it is a quite big car for the segment. This nice-looking spacious car is a mini version of the C5 Aircross. The side cladding is only available on the top variant. The 180 mm ground clearance provides a nice feel even on bad surfaces. The boot space of this Citroen C3 is 315 litres.
Interior
The spacious interior of the Citroen has wide-opening doors. The car also has a unique feature of one touch-down window. With an ideal ride height, the driver’s seat comes with a manual seat adjust. The different-looking dashboard reminds you of a C5 cross-back and comes with the stand-out feature of a large 10-inch infotainment screen. The higher variant comes with steering-mounted controls and connected car features like Andriod Auto and Apple Car Play. The unique and funky AC control has a chrome lining while the lower part of the dashboard gets a satin silver finish.
The interior of the Citroen C3 is very beautifully finished and the hardware feels like it is built to last long. Citroen’s precision with assembly is commendable too. The AC of C3 is specially built to work efficiently in Indian summer. The audio quality is also pretty good. It has 2 airbags. The rear also gets 2 USB sockets. The theatre-like seatings of the rear seats are slightly higher than the front with ample knee room and enough headroom.
Performance
The Citroen C3 gets its power from a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated 3-cylinder unit that produces 83 PS and best in class 115 Nm torque. The NA provides a fuel efficiency of 10.8 kmpl reportedly, but on-road you’ll get about 14.4 kmpl in stop-start city conditions and 17 to 18 kmpl on the highway. Citroen calls this engine pure tech. This engine is one cc less than the turbo, which delivers 110 PS power and 190 Nm of torque. The mid-range torque surge of the turbo engine is addictive and the added weight of the turbo makes it better engaging. Being a 3-cylinder unit it does not generate noise and is super refined.
The C3 goes from 0-100 kmph in 14 seconds with the naturally aspirated engine while it does the same speed 10 seconds with the turbo engine. The performance of the turbo engine is a stand out compared to the segment. With a highlighted tractability, unlike other cars from the segment, this comes with a six-speeder in the turbo. The automatic or AMT versions are not available in this car.
Handling
The Citroen C3 with its best-in-class suspension is by far the most absorbent car. Citroen provides a comfortable ride even on the bad roads. With a great suspension, The steering of the C3 has a decent amount of weight and is chunky to hold. The high-up seatings of this car also provide good visibility. However, the steering feels rather inert than engaging. In terms of bands, it has some wallowing and not-so-best body roll.
The ride quality of Citroen C3 is astounding while the fuel efficiency is respectable. With The light clutch action, the build quality of the car is impressive. So far it is the most well-built car with a solid feeling in the segment. The turbo variant provides quite a lovely driving experience on the highway.
Conclusion
Known for its suspension Citroen has lived up to its reputation with the new Citroen C3. As Citroen says The C3 does provide a magic carpet ride. Not a perfect driver’s car but the Citroen C3 has the best comfort. Overall, with the fantastic build quality and great tractability, the Citroen C3 provides a quality ride. Being an urban car the Citroen C3 will also work effectively in rural areas. The Citroen C3 will be a direct competitor for the Tata Punch and the Swift. The pricing of the naturally aspirated version is predicted to be between Rs 6 to 8 lakh, and the turbo unit is predicted to be at less than Rs 9 lakhs. The car is set to launch on 20th July.