SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8
It struck me one day that people who love cabriolets, convertibles, roadsters, drop-tops, sports cars - call them what you will - are probably less concerned with who made them than with how they make their drivers feel. It's rather like motorcycles; there is an indescribable unity with Nature, a one-ness with the road and a bonding with the elements - the sun on your skin, the breeze through your hair and the living sounds of the open road.
That's why I decided to copy and paste all my cabriolet reports into a single folder where drop-top fans can find them all without having to scrabble through endless menus.
I have to warn you that it took a while to warm to the cabriolet phenomenon - convertibles are mostly loved, hankered after and driven by women, so we guys find them hard to appreciate. For that reason, you may find some of the writing a little tongue-in-cheek, sceptical or even downright chauvinist. What can I say? I'm male and I can't help it. Just bear with me though, because I believe that the stories still contain valid information that will hopefully help you make an informed buying decision.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the drop-down menu that appears as you hover your cursor over the folder's title.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports, so even if you're looking to buy second-hand, you have an idea of what it cost originally.
Published in Witness Wheels on Thursday September 19, 2013
Cabriolet she may be, but go completely topless? Never! This little Citroën will open herself to the sun, the sky and Nature’s breezes, but keeps her rear windows, upper frame and side pillars firmly in place, no matter what. Modesty, you know. Like her Italian friend, the Fiat 500 convertible, only the fabric centre panel of her roof folds back, leaving the rest of the top structure in place.
Caution: Because it’s made of fabric and therefore less rugged than a metal roof, a few housekeeping tips are in order. Feel free to wash it with hose, bucket and mild soaps or in an automated facility using roller brushes. High pressure hoses, harsh chemicals and abrasive scrubbing are not on, while avian deposits should be sponged away before stains burn in. Your dealer can give you details.
Another way it differs from some other convertibles is that, because the original car is a hatchback, the back gate was no longer usable. Citroën’s solution was to remake the boot and fit a little door, rather like those on MINI and the 500. Instead of conventional hinges though, they chose a cantilevered design that pops the lid slightly outward then straight up. That makes it easier to get to, particularly in crowded parking spots. The downside is that putting stuff in the boot is like posting a letter to Frère Jacques back in the old country. One has to bend down to meet the slot and it gets a bit dark in there, but cabriolets aren’t supposed to be boring and predictable are they?
Where it shines, is that the rest of the car is glorious DS3 with all its safety features, choice of trims and willing engines. Ours had the turbocharged, 115-kW BMW motor and a slick-shifting six-speed manual gearbox. This combination powers the cabriolet through the sprint in the same time, and to the same maximum speed, as its hard-roofed counterpart. That’s because the weight penalty of the opening top is only 25 kilograms. Other cars with foldaway lids pack on as much as a hundred additional kilos.
Opening or closing the top takes but a push of a switch on an overhead console; one touch opens the roof all the way to the rear, while a second one opens it completely, folding the fabric down to just above the boot lid. To close it all the way or to an intermediate position, one needs to hold the switch until the job is done. It opens or closes in about 16 seconds and can be deployed at speeds up to 120 km/h. Most cabriolets take somewhat longer and require you to slow down to no more than 30.
Open all the way or anywhere in between, breezes are gentle and there is hardly any noise, all the way up to the national speed limit. After that, things can get blustery, but neither you nor we would ever tell, would we? The point is that anyone can enjoy a sunny day, with music playing, and still experience full DS3 driving pleasure. Isn’t that what true sports car motoring is all about?
Test car from Citroën SA press fleet
The numbers
Price: R297 900
Engine: 1598 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder, turbocharged
Power: 115 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 240 Nm between 1400 and 4000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 7,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 214 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7,2 l/100 km
Tank: 50 litres
Boot: 245 litres
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km: with roadside assistance
Service plan: 4 years/60 000 km
5-year maintenance plan and extended warranty available at additional cost
To see our launch report on the DS3 convertibles and more technical detail, click here
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
My reviews and launch reports appear on Thursdays in the Wheels supplement to The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles each month, most months of the year (except over the festive season) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.
Comments?
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8