Citroen C3 review

Quirky is the first word that springs to mind. You see, Citroen has had a go at reinventing the cabin while retaining its comfort-focused approach. All C3s get a compact steering wheel in curious, two-spoke form. We don't love it; you might.

A head-up display takes the place of a traditional instrument cluster and is viewed over the top of the steering wheel, as you do in a Peugeot, while there's a fabric-wrapped horizontal dashboard plus Citroen’s advanced comfort seats.

Oddly on each of the door armrests there are also labels - similar to those on your T-shirt - which say ‘have fun’, ‘be happy’, ‘feel good’, ‘be cool’. A bit like having ‘live, laugh, love’ in your house - somewhat cringeworthy. Will they cheer you up on a crappy day, or sarcastically irk you further? Answers on a postcard. Perhaps angrily scrawled.

Does it feel cheap?

It does feel a little cheap in places, with a fair amount of hard plastic knocking about, but it’s quite unlike anything else out there and a welcome antidote to boring business-like cabins you find elsewhere. It's fun. But let's also politely point out that it feels cheaper than its Peugeot, Vauxhall and multitudinous other Stellantis relations in here. The electric windows aren't one-touch (rare these days) or might be absent entirely on the back doors (dependent on spec). 

The RND gear selector of the hybrid also needs a very firm nudge to switch between Reverse and Drive without an unscheduled stop in Neutral; hurried three-point turns or parking manoeuvres can turn into quite stressful affairs if you're not paying utmost attention to the transmission. While we're sure you'd get used to it, other Stellantis cars with similar switchgear simply don't suffer the same issue. Remember when Skodas and Seats felt tangibly cheaper than VWs? The C3 feels like Citroen suffering the same brand politics within Stellantis.

Is it actually comfortable?

Very much so. The armchair-like front seats have also been redesigned to be more enveloping and provide better lateral support, and we found them lovely and soft. Its minor growth spurt on before has meant seating is raised by 76mm compared to the current version, while there’s now more legroom, headroom and elbow room.

Indeed, Citroen claims there’s 30mm more headroom and 21mm more elbow room for front passengers, and 19mm more elbow room and 20mm more legroom in the rear, “compared to market average”, whatever that means. It's tight in the back if you've got full-size adults up front and you won't be carrying four grown-ups too far, too often. But family life can be swallowed up with careful packing.

Boot space, meanwhile, is up by 10 litres versus the old C3 to 310 litres, and feels noticeably deep. Beware the high load lip, mind.

What's the tech like?

While European markets get an entry C3 with a built-in smartphone holder (similar to entry-level Fiat 500s), that allows you to ‘dock’ your device in place of an infotainment display, all versions in the UK get a 10.25-inch touchscreen.

It’s simple enough to operate with handy shortcut buttons down both sides of the screen, but it’s not the most visually appealing, and the graphics are a bit... ordinary. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto do, however, come as standard, which if you’re anything like us means you’ll never see the native system anyway.

Pleasingly, Citroen has also seen sense and there’s a dedicated climate control panel just below, with physical switchgear to adjust temperature, fan speed and suchlike.