2021 Citroen C3 review

Light city cars are not in good health. The Honda Jazz has been axed, along with the restyled Renault Clio, while the Ford Fiesta survives solely on our appetite for the ST variant. Worryingly, these are only the segment's recent casualties.

All of it only makes the Citroen C3's survival more intriguing when you consider the French hatchback found 49 buyers in 2020 – a figure representing less than one per cent of the total light car market.

Despite the grim data, Citroen remains optimistic about the C3 – perhaps because it remains a sales success worldwide – and has powered up the third-generation model with a styling refresh and equipment upgrade.

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Scanning the new Citroen C3 exterior shows that designers have left its unmistakable look well alone. So much so that its chunky, haphazard styling – heavily influenced by the innovative C4 Cactus – can hide the changes.

For instance, the lower blade on the front badge now drops into the headlight housings, opposing the upper edge in an X shape. That central radiator grille, as well, is now more trapezoidal-shaped, while the air bumps – Citroen's trolley-friendly plastic elements – house three cushions. That's down from seven.

Other tweaks include new-look 16-inch wheels, named Helix. And the eagle-eyed will notice a pattern on the rear pillar where the floating roof colour meets with the body paint. As we said, blink and miss most of these things. They do little to differentiate the new version from the old.

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The C3 cabin remains a mix of surprise and delight with some typical quirks thrown in

Either way, the C3 provokes in more ways than one. Everyone will have an opinion on its style and it's not always positive, that's for sure. But then there's its price. At $28,990 before on-roads, it's positioned upmarket from mainstream rivals like the Mazda 2, Volkswagen Polo and Toyota Yaris and offered solely as an automatic.

You'll need $33,155 to drive one away from a dealer in Victoria. That's about $2100, $4179 and $7900 clear of the Mazda 2, Toyota Yaris and VW Polo, respectively, in similar trim or grades. The premium grows when you compare against rivals from value brands like MG, Kia or Suzuki.

Citroen's five-year unlimited-kilometre warranty with scheduled servicing goes some way to softening the blow. However, it's hardly exceptional since Toyota, Mazda and Volkswagen all match the coverage.

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Citroen has been steadily building up specification on the C3 over the last couple of years. In 2019 it added much-needed autonomous emergency braking and keyless entry/start. Now the C3 also scores front parking sensors.

It is worth mentioning that the C3 lacks the safety tech you'd find in a top-spec Mazda 2 GT. For instance, Citroen's AEB only works at low speeds, and the cruise control lacks radar-based distance control. There is blind-spot monitoring and lane departure warning, however.

Despite Citroen basing the C3 on the PF1 platform, which traces back to the 90s, ANCAP rated the C3 high on crash safety in 2017, with admirable 88 per cent and 83 per cent scores in adult and child occupant protection respectively. But lacking AEB at the time, which also affected its pedestrian safety, hurt its overall safety rating, which remains four stars.

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Citroen packs six airbags, two each for front passengers and another for each outboard rear occupant. Downsides to the C3's sturdy crash-resistant frame are thick B-pillars that hamper over-the-shoulder visibility. Meanwhile, those glass A-frames behind the side mirrors also obscure small objects.

Safety gripes aside, the cabin remains a mix of surprise and delight with some typical quirks thrown in. Squircles adorn the vents and steering wheel. And while there is a lot of hard plastic, touchpoints like the door armrests feature nice cloth padding, while the handles look pinched from a Coach overnight bag. It's youthful. A new Emerald interior trim also lays a teal-coloured ring in the dash.

The fact there's only enough room for one armrest between the front seats speaks to the car's purpose. It's a narrow fit and built for navigating city streets. And while the tall windscreen combats any feeling of claustrophobia, it's tight up back for even an average-sized adult.

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The rear seats are okay and the front pews now feature padding 15mm thick, supposedly up from just 2mm. They're supportive and comfortable, making inside a nice place to be overall. Only small cupholders or the gear lever that is obscuring the automatic transmission's shift pattern let it down.

A large infotainment screen remains the centrepiece. Its crisp, colour-rich display follows the lead of other Citroen and Peugeot models and embeds heating and ventilation functions within its pages, which can prove annoying if you need the temperature controls quickly but the upside is it rids the centre stack of buttons for more storage cavities.

The infotainment software is responsive enough and comes with smartphone mirroring technology. The centre LCD screen in the dash uses basic graphics but suits the analogue layout nicely. Annoyingly, however, it will display notification messages in front of your digital speed without any way to delete them.

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Out on the road, cloth seats set a comfortable posture. The pedals are close together, but the gear lever, handbrake and steering wheel feel natural. At your disposal is only one powertrain, a Euro-6-compliant 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol offering 85kW and respectable 205Nm. It drives the front wheels through a six-speed automatic.

Citroen's three-banger codenamed 'HN04' is a joy, bellowing with an off-beat rort on full-throttle as it gladly runs past its 5500rpm indicated redline. It's only a shame that you're never having as much fun as it seems, given the C3 is claimed to reach 100km/h in 10.9 seconds.

Despite the C3's modest 1090kg kerb weight, acceleration slows as you near 100km/h. It doesn't help that the transmission is a bit dull, either. It operates fine when you're ambling around town, behaving obediently without hiccup, but it's ultimately quite slow.

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Citroen says the C3 is good for 188km/h, which won't matter unless you're planning a jaunt up the Sturt Highway. A fuel consumption figure of 4.9L/100km on the combined cycle is more relevant, which should equal about 918km of range on its 45-litre fuel tank. You could theoretically squeeze more than 1000km from it on the highway based on Citroen's claimed highway consumption figure. But keep in mind the C3 is fussy at the bowser and demands 95 RON.

The C3 should also handle long trips comfortably on its front strut and rear torsion-beam suspension. Large-profile Michelin tyres add absorbency to the setup that is stiff at slow speeds, but is more compliant over bumps at higher speeds. The nicely weighted steering is also a cut above the chassis, which can't quite deliver the precision to match its levels of grip.

Overall, the C3 is a refreshing take on the city hatch – injecting vibrancy and fun into its exterior and interior. The engine is charming, while the chassis follows up with a comfortable ride and decent handling.

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The C3 packs a space saver spare, along with an impressive (for a light car) 300 litres of cargo capacity

However, for all its personality, the C3 is not as customisable as you would expect. The only box to tick on the specification sheet is metallic paint for $690 and we could only choose between six colour combinations on the brand website. As a result, it scales an overwhelming amount of choice down into a less intimidating buying process.

But the C3 is not at risk of boring anyone. From the jazzy interior door handles to the sofa-like seating, innovative air bumps and splashes of colour throughout the cabin and exterior, every drive is an event.

And that's what you should keep in mind when comparing the C3 against rivals from the mainstream. It's a breath of fresh air, in some respects, against the clinical Volkswagen Polo, austere Mazda 2 or mild-mannered Toyota Yaris. While, on the other hand, it could be seen as a cheap entry point into European luxury among Audi A1s, Mini three-doors or Fiat 500s.

Sure, it's not the most convincing buy in either scenario at its price, but Citroen should sell more. Individuality shouldn't be so rare, even in a segment as small as this.

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2021 Citroen C3 specifications