Citroën C3 Aircross is refreshingly different

At my age, many things confuse me. For one thing, elevators in hotels.

When I travel to coastal race meetings as a guest of teams, I end up staying in hotels, and I usually get assigned a room on the 12th floor or thereabouts.

Now, on the Friday evening, I almost always go to supper with the team, and return to the hotel late. And, in the elevator is a sign saying “Seven people only”.

Any idea how hard it is, at 11pm in a strange city, to convince six other people to ride in an elevator with you? The men think you want to rob them and the women suspect you of degrading sexual overtures.

So, being a law-abiding citizen, I walk up the 12 floors, and sometimes sleep in the stairwell when fatigue overcomes me. I therefore do not believe labels or signs.

But I did find a great exception the other day – the new Citroën C3 Aircross 1.2T. “Aircross” denotes floating in comfort, and that is what the car suggested, when I enjoyed its company as a house guest.

Truly unique

In terms of exterior appearance, the Citroën C3 Aircross will be an acquired taste. We thought it is funky and refreshingly different from the current computer-designed, all virtually the same modern small cars, where removing the badges would turn many of their identities into a mystery.

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Appearance will always be a subjective thing, and we are not qualified to give an insightful opinion on the Aircross’ looks.

The vehicle is powered by a three-cylinder, turbocharged, 1 199 cc petrol engine that develops 81 kW of power at 5 500 rpm and 205 Nm of torque at 1 500 rpm. The above gets relayed to the front wheels via a six-speed automatic gearbox.

The whole package sits on spoked alloy wheel rims with 205/50 R16 rubber. The Citroën C3 Aircross is 4 140 mm long, 1 980 mm wide and 1 640 mm high.

In safety terms it has antilock braking with electronic brake assist, traction control, stability control and hill start assist, lane departure warning, LED headlights, park distance control, plus a tyre deflation detection system.

Passive safety aspects include airbags for the driver and front passenger, plus curtain airbags. The cabin will seat four adults in comfort and five at a squeeze on cloth upholstery.

Comfortable interior

All the seats are comfortable – long a Citroen trademark. Head and leg room is excellent, front and rear, with the rear seats able to split and fold in various ways to create more luggage space.

Making life inside the Citroën C3 Aircross even more comfortable are things like cruise control, climate control air conditioning, a multi-purpose steering wheel, an on-board computer with controls interface screen, navigation system, Bluetooth connectivity, a rain sensor, USB port, electric windows all round and tinted rear privacy glass.

The test vehicle was not very lively in terms of performance. It felt heavy under acceleration, and uphills on the highway produced an automatic downshift at around 130 km/h.

Citroën claims a 0 to 100 km/h time of 10.7 seconds and a top speed of 184 km/h. It is clearly not presented as a performance car – it is a little people carrier.

Thus, comfort would be of prime importance for what we figure to be its projected buyers – students or Sandton housewives who want a vehicle that stands out.

Ironing out the road

And comfort this vehicle has in spades. Citroën often brags about its vehicles’ suburb suspension – hence the Aircross moniker – and the C3 delivers. It irons out the road – apart from proper potholes, you simply do not feel undulations.

That would suggest the ride is too soft for good handling, but that would be wrong. The test car sailed through corners feeling firmly planted, making you feel like a good driver.

Add good fuel consumption – we recorded an overall usage of 7.4 L/100 km during the test duration – and it becomes a pretty good package for those who can afford it.

And that is a problem – at R424 900, we think the Aircross will be beyond the means of many who would have liked to buy it.

The price includes a five-year/100 000 km warranty and a three-year/60 000 km service plan.

For more information on the Citroën C3 Aircross, visit the manufacturer’s website.