Citroen DS3’s

There was a great deal of expectation riding on the day the Citroen DS3 was delivered to my door. This car has after all won international acclaim from a myriad of motoring publications. Even those cynical blokes from a popular, pokey, BBC motoring show announced the little Citroen as their car of the year – in spite of their true hatred of the French.

It seems there are two thing the French are good at, one is making exciting little hatch backs, the other being big, soft saloons. At a push you could throw cheese and wine in there as well, but otherwise that’s there lot in life.

They’ve stuck to their niche well with the DS3 have Citroen. The design is radical for a start. Bar the VW Polo derived rear tail-lights I loved the little complexities of the Citroens appearance. It has a blend of cute and cuddly with a dash of mentalism that you just don’t get from other manufacturers. Look at those outrageously kinked B-pillars for example, or the floating roof, or the space-age dashboard, or vertical LED running lights.

In order to drive home the fact that the DS3 is different to any other small hatch, Citroen has allowed complete freedom in customising your car. To see what I’m on about visit the car configurator on Citroen’s website and let me know if it takes you less than an hour to build your DS3. The roof alone can be in any colour on the spectrum and, if the fancy takes you, be finished in zebra print. A dashboard, normally pretty standard right? Wrong. Want a white one? Sure no problem Sir, or maybe carbon fibre is more your style. Ever wanted two-tone alloy wheels? Citroen just won’t say no.

How exactly the production line is setup to cope with such a vast array of colours and trims I’m not sure. Nor am I sure of how long you’ll actually have to wait to have your blue DS with orange roof, red wheels and pink interior delivered. This is where Citroen’s sometimes sketchy customer service department will come under fire, but if they can make good on their promises there will be loads of happy Citroen owners, none of whom will have the same car as the next.

There’s another option that I think it quite important, which is probably why it’s the first question the configurator asks. Namely what engine you’d like. There are a two options here – a 1.6 litre motor (that has been used in other things like the Mini), or the 1.6 litre THP Sport version (also used in the Mini).

Having tested both the standard 1.6 and the Sport, in both the DS3 and the Mini, I have to admit a fair amount of dislike for the non turbo’d engine. It’s a bit noisy, doesn’t have enough power and is linked to a clunky, difficult gearbox. The Sport on the other hand is a marvel, 115kW coupled with a smooth, short action, 6 speed gearbox allows for 0-100km/h in an exhilarating 7.3 seconds.

Furthermore the non-sport DS3 shares too many suspension bits with the C3 making it jittery and hard over rough roads, disconcertingly so in fact. The Sport on the other hand is somewhere in between that and the Mini. Citroen must have had their hands full trying to match the might of the BMW sorted chassis in the Mini. Coupled with the vast amount of time and attention placed on the customisation of the DS3, they haven’t quite managed to match the focussed nature of the Cooper S.

That said I actually found the DS3 far more fun to drive in everyday life. I’m sure if you had a go-kart track in your back garden the Mini would be a far more suitable prospect, but since I don’t know anyone with one of those, I’d recommend the Citroen every time. It feels incredibly alive (some might say twitchy) coming into a sharp corner, where the Mini would feel more solid and predictable. Everything goes light on turn in, making your buttocks clench, but when you emerge on the other side unscathed you have a mighty big smile on your face and that instinctive human reaction of wanting to do it again.

Talking money isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. Every option you tick or un-tick on the configurator changes the total by a couple hundred or thousand rands. Base prices start from R205,000 (for the non-sport) and go upwards of R260,000. While that may sound pretty steep, take a look at what you’re getting – unlimited ability to make your DS3 yours.

Miles Downard
Photo Credit: Quickpic