Yahoo News Citroen C3 Aircross review: refreshingly different
The C3 Aircross is Citroen’s replacement for the once popular C3 Picasso. However, where its predecessor was a rival for the Honda Jazz and Ford B-Max, the new Aircross has moved very much into compact SUV territory. It’s easy to see why, what with this being by far the fastest growing sector of the new car market. What’s more, despite countless contenders that include the Nissan Juke, Renault Captur, Kia Stonic and Vauxhall Crossland X there is yet to be a compact SUV that is demonstrably better than the rest.
Citroen’s approach is to focus first and foremost on comfort, followed by space and keen pricing, creating what it calls a ‘people-minded SUV’. Whether or not that’s enough to climb to the top of the class we are about to find out.
Space 9/10
Worth paying extra for the sliding rear seats
Rather than having sculpted outer seats in the rear the C3 Aircross has a flat bench. While this doesn’t hold two passengers in place quite as comfortably, it does mean a third person feels less like they’ve got the short straw, helped by there only being a small lump in the floor. Leg room in the back is also good by class standards, and there’s ample headroom.
For ultimate versatility you’ll need the optional sliding rear seats and backrests that can be reclined in one of four positions. This allows you to trade up to 15cm of rear legroom for extra boot space or vice versa.
Mind you, even without it the C3 Aircross has one of the larger boots in the class. It will easily house a couple of large cases or a folded baby buggy. It’s a good square shape too with a low loading lip and an adjustable height boot floor. That you can drop the rear seats to get a completely flat load area is nothing unusual in this class of car, but being able to also fold flat the front passenger seat is. Configured as such the C3 Aircross can carry loads up to 2.4 metres in length.
In the front this Citroen feels light and airy, although none of the storage areas are particularly generous.
Comfort 8/10
Soft suspension gives a good ride
The C3 Aircross represents a decent start in Citroen’s mission to build the most comfortable cars on sale. On the standard 16-inch wheels it has a well cushioned ride both at town speeds and on faster roads, helped by seats that are more like a living room sofa, particularly if you go for a top-spec model with one of its themed interior finishes. Upgrading to 17-inch wheels doesn’t ruin things by any stretch, but there is definitely a firmer edge to the high speed ride.
A spacious footwell and wide range of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel mean it’s easy to get comfortable, and Citroen’s 1.2-litre petrol and 1.6-litre diesel engines are audible but not unpleasantly so. There is however rather a lot of tyre noise.
Even so, if comfort from your compact SUV is a priority the C3 Aircross is arguably the one to have.
Dashboard layout 7/10
Looks smart, but touchscreen could be more user friendly
The dashboard in the C3 Aircross is an unusual mixture of vast chunks of black plastic interspersed with pleasant material inserts and splashes of colour around the air vents. It’s generally pretty successful, and Citroen offers a number of ways to personalise colours and materials to your tastes.
The dials are clear and the lack of physical buttons keeps things looking neat. What this does mean however is that you become very reliant on the touchscreen (on mid-spec models and above), whether you want to change audio source, zoom on the satnav map or even adjust the heating controls.
Easy to drive 7/10
Let down slightly by clunky gearboxes
We are yet to try the entry level 1.2-litre petrol engine with 82bhp, but experience of it in other Citroen products suggests it might struggle with a fully loaded C3 Aircross. The turbocharged 108bhp version of the same engine is a perky performer with good mid-range pull. It’s a shame, however, that it is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox rather than the six-speed unit you get with the 128bhp engine. Worse still the gearbox itself has a very long throw and feels rather loose in operation. Throw in a high bite point on the clutch pedal and it makes hill starts rather tricky, not helped by the unusually shaped handbrake.
Opting for a model with the six-speed gearbox gets you a shorter throw between gears, but it’s still far from slick. The six-speed automatic is however smooth and suits the car’s laidback nature.
The view out is generally fine, helped by the raised driving position and large rear windows. The horizontal stripes across the rear three-quarter windows don’t obstruct visibility as much as you might expect either, but it’s disappointing that parking sensors are only standard on the most expensive model.
Fun to drive 4/10
Not a complete disaster, but certainly not a born entertainer
Nowhere in Citroen’s promotional material for the C3 Aircross does it say that it wanted to build a sporty car, and so it comes as no surprise to find it is not at all fun to throw down a country lane. Driven in such a way the clumsy gearchange and very light steering do little to instil confidence either, and the body rolls around like a soppy labrador. If you want a small SUV that can put a smile on your face look at a Mazda CX-3 or Kia Stonic instead.
It’s also worth noting that Citroen doesn’t offer four-wheel drive as an option for the C3 Aircross. Instead its optional Grip Control system uses electronics to help the car crawl out of a muddy field or snow-covered car park.
Reliability 4/10
Average warranty doesn’t help here
Citroen slipped to 20th place out of 25 manufacturers in the 2017 JD Power UK Vehicle Dependability Study, having finished a more respectable 13th in 2016. That puts it ahead of only Dacia and Fiat in terms of mainstream car brands, and the three-year, unlimited mileage warranty is rather average. Choose a Kia Stonic instead, for example, and you’ll get seven years and 100,000 miles worth of cover.
The Citroen Advisor initiative should however help you find a good dealer, allowing buyers to rate both their car and buying experience for others to see.
Fuel economy 8/10
Not class leading, but still good
The best selling C3 Aircross is expected to be the 1.2-litre petrol engine with five-speed manual gearbox, a combination that returned 56.5mpg in EU fuel tests. In our tests we managed 47mpg in mixed driving, and opting for the automatic gearbox dents that figure by about 5mpg.
The most frugal model on paper is the 1.6-litre diesel manual, which returned almost 70mpg in official tests, and will manage more than 60mpg in normal driving. All of which makes the C3 Aircross among the more economical compact SUVs, alongside the Peugeot 2008 and Vauxhall Crossland X that share the same engines.
Affordability 8/10
Undercuts rivals, provided you’re happy with a basic engine
Whereas manufacturers such as Kia have abandoned entry-level models in the compact SUV class, Citroen has persevered with its Touch trim to give it an attractive starting price. In fact it’s only really beaten by budget rivals such as the SsangYong Tivoli and MG ZS.
On the downside you can only get the cheapest two models with the least powerful petrol engine. Jump up to the turbocharged 1.2-litre unit and prices mirror those of more conventional rivals.
Leasing costs are typical of the class, meaning that if you shop around you’ll be able to find a C3 Aircross for less than a couple of hundred pounds per month.
Safety 7/10
Fine as standard, but still worth adding the Family Pack
All versions of the C3 Aircross come with driver, passenger, side and curtain airbags, plus lane departure warning and hill hold assist to stop you rolling backwards when performing a hill start.
It’s disappointing that autonomous emergency braking costs extra even on the top-spec model, although as it comes bundled with a Family Pack that also includes the sliding rear seats and automatic high beam it at least looks like reasonable value.
Other optional safety features include blind spot monitors, parking sensors, a head-up display and a self-parking function.
Standard spec 4/10
You’ll be needing to visit the options list
The C3 Aircross range kicks off with the Touch model, which includes 16-inch alloy wheels, DAB radio, a USB input and Bluetooth connectivity, cruise control, air-conditioning and front electric windows. Enough, in other words to look moderately generous while still leaving a sufficient number of omissions for it to be worth upgrading to mid-level Feel spec. This adds full smartphone connectivity with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto via a seven-inch touchscreen, space saver spare wheel, leather steering wheel and electrically adjustable door mirrors.
Upgrading to top-spec Flair specification gets you 17-inch alloys, a bi-tone roof, the choice of four interior colour schemes, satnav, dual-zone climate control, rear parking sensors, keyless entry and automatic wipers.
Our favourite version
Feel PureTech 110 S&S manual, list price £16,200
Options you should add: Metallic paint (£520), Family Pack consisting of sliding rear seats, autonomous emergency braking, automatic high beam assist, fold flat passenger seat, front armrest and driver attention alert (£490), City Pack consisting of rear parking sensors and power folding mirrors (£250)
Verdict 7/10
The C3 Aircross represents a refreshingly different take on the compact SUV formula that places comfort ahead of a sporty drive and looks keenly priced on paper.
However, the reality is that for a decent level of specification you’ll pay the same or even slightly more than you do with rivals, meaning you’ll need to love its quirky styling and value its spacious interior to take the plunge.
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