Citroën C1 Airscape Feel PureTech 82

Despite sharing the same basic design, Citroën, Peugeot and Toyota designers have worked wonders when creating the C1, 108 and Aygo, carving out an individual look for each of their respective cars, despite pleasing the bean counters by using as many common parts as possible. Of the three, we think the Citroën C1 looks the most distinctive, and it’s that model we test here. The 1.2-litre three-cylinder PureTech engine is unique to Citroën and Peugeot, and it delivers a little extra performance without much of a penalty at the fuel pumps. The CO2 emissions are still under the 100g/km threshold, so the vehicle excise duty is free, and the official figures say you’ll still get more than 65 mpg on the combined cycle.

And that 81bhp engine equips the C1 with zingy performance away from the lights, while delivering a characterful sounding thrum. The light clutch and smooth five-speed manual gearbox makes swapping cogs a delight, and carefully chosen ratios mean that the C1 feels quite nippy around town. The light steering is handy in the city, but could do with a touch more feel at a faster pace. Grip levels are pretty good, and body control for a softly sprung city car isn’t bad. Though there’s some lean when cornering, the baby Citroën rarely gets out of shape. Grip levels are good, and the cushioned ride isolates occupants from the worst potholes and ruts. At idle, there’s a fair bit of vibration transmitted into the cabin from the engine, and at town pace, the sound from it is pretty noticeable, but thankfully ebbs away the faster you go. It’s replaced by lots of wind noise, though, which will mean turning the radio up to drown it out.

The majority of city cars will transport just one or two people and that’s where this little car excels. There’s bags of space up front, particularly in terms of headroom, but in the rear things are tighter. Taller passengers will find cause for complaint in both knee and headroom, especially if they are sat behind a driver that is more than average height. All-round visibility is pretty good with great forward vision, a wide expanse of rear window and over the shoulder visibility that is on par with rivals. The driving position is good, even though the steering wheel doesn’t adjust for reach, and the seats have a reasonable amount of adjustment.

Oddment space is well thought out, with storage ahead of the double cupholders, good sized door pockets that can carry bottles, and a decently sized glovebox. Our test car came with a funky coloured appliqué to the dashboard and this brightens up the cabin no end. While all of the plastics are hard to the touch much like its rivals all of the materials feel solid, durable and built to last. The centrally mounted touchscreen is logical and easy to use and ideally placed so that you don’t need to take your eyes off the road for long. Boot space is smaller than the class average at 196 litres, and suffers a high sill, but is well shaped, deep and wide. The seats fold down at the pull of a tab, extending the space to a useful 780 litres.

Price / £11,245
Configuration / 5-door hatchback, 4-seats, front-wheel-drive
Drivetrain / 1199cc, 3-cylinder, 12-valve, petrol
Transmission / 5-speed manual
Power output / 81bhp @ 5,750rpm
Maximum torque / 86lb ft @ 2,750rpm
Top speed/0-62mph / 106mph/11.0 secs
CO2 emissions (tax band) / 99g/km (A) Euro 5
Economy / (urban/extra urban/combined) 52.3/76.3/65.7mpg
Fuel tank size/range / 35 litres/506 miles
Insurance group/BIK rate / 11/12%
Size (length/width without mirrors) / 3,465/1,615mm
Boot space / (minimum/maximum) 196/780 litres
Kerb/max towing weight / 865/0kg