Citroen C3 engines, driving and performance

The Citroen C3 doesn’t try to entertain you, and the driving experience isn’t as polished as in a Ford Fiesta or SEAT Ibiza. Instead, the C3 goes all out on comfort and ease of use.

Featuring hydraulic cushions in the suspension and those soft seats, the C3 is very forgiving over bumps. Sometimes it gets a bit wobbly but you’ll appreciate its softness if you wince when you hit a pothole.

Impressively, the C3 retains its comfort and composure at motorway speeds. It’s only when you take a twistier route that the C3 starts to feel like it doesn’t belong there – the soft setup creates body lean and the steering provides no feedback as to what the wheels are doing.

As you’d hope, the Citroen C3 succeeds in being comfortable. It’s refreshing when many rivals try to be a bit sportier at the expense of ride quality, despite the varying quality of British road surfaces and how often we’re simply sitting in slow-moving traffic. Driving a C3 is very relaxing, very zen.

For the first time, there’s an electric C3, called the e-C3, which we’ve reviewed on its own.

Petrol buyers get two versions of a 1.2-litre engine to pick from. The cheaper of the two has 100hp and a six-speed manual gearbox, whereas the Hybrid adds 10hp and an automatic gearbox. Within the automatic gearbox is an electric motor, which takes some of the strain off the petrol engine during low-speed scenarios.

In the Hybrid, you also get a small battery that recharges while you’re driving. You don’t get a measurable electric-only range, but the electrical components are keen to help out around town. As such, the Hybrid offers better fuel economy than the regular petrol engine – 59mpg versus 52mpg.

However, we were surprised to notice that the C3 occupies insurance group 23 out of 50, whether you pick petrol or electric power. Most Volkswagen Polo models sit in or around group 10 so might be a bit cheaper to insure than the Citroen.

Because the Citroen C3 is a light car by modern standards, its modest power figures are more than enough to get up to speed. Even the base 100hp petrol takes less than 11 seconds for the 0-62mph sprint. That feels perfectly adequate unless you’re a speed freak – for most people it’ll neither feel fast nor slow.

Even though the Hybrid is roughly 100kg heavier than the standard petrol, it gets up to speed slightly quicker. The input from the electric motor helps this C3 crack the 0-62mph measure in just under 10 seconds. Both cars top out at 99mph.