SA Road Tests

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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. I drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under real-world South African conditions. Many of the vehicles driven are world cars as well, so what you read here possibly applies to the models you get where you live.

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Looks fierce: 2022 Citroën C3 Aircross 1.2T 110 EAT6

But isn’t really

Posted: March 11, 2022

The numbers
Prices: Feel at R401 900, Shine at R424 900
*Engine: 1199 cc, three-cylinder, 12-valve DOHC turbopetrol
*Power: 81 kW between 4600 and 5600 rpm
*Torque: 205 Nm between 1700 and 2000 rpm
0–100 km/h: 10.7 seconds
Top speed: 184 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8.2 l/100 km
Tank: 45 litres
*Luggage: 410–1289 litres
Ground clearance; 178 mm
*Turning circle: 10.8 metres
Standard tyre size: 205/60R16
Spare: Spacesaver
Warranty, roadside assistance and service plan: Five years, 100 000 km
*Supplementary technical information from: http://www.automobile-catalog.com

While the recently facelifted version of Citroën’s C3 Aircross SUV may look, overall, much the same as every other little Crossover, there remains a touch of something different that sets it apart from the milieu.

Could it be the slit-eyed headlights and the fierce-looking “teeth” in the faux upper air intake? Perhaps, but who really cares? What fans truly want to know is whether the famed Citroën float-on-air, ultra-comfy, suspension is still present. That, unfortunately, is still in C3’s future. In the meantime we have a conventional McPherson strut- and flex-beam setup that rides and feels like most other small SUVs; comfortable enough but nothing to WhatsApp Mamman about.

Stopping is handled by discs at both ends with a drum-in-hat arrangement for the sexy looking, cranked, pull-up parking brake. Its action is firm, smooth and reassuring. Unfussy. Equally unfussy are the big, clear analogue instruments.

Also smooth and reassuring is the six-speed EAT (efficient automatic transmission) now manufactured in France by Groupe Peugeot under licence from Aisin AW, a division of Toyota. It did everything expected of a modern automatic; shifting almost imperceptibly and kicking down without fuss.

Both locally available models, Feel and Shine, use the 1199 cc Pure Tech turbomotor that was fitted to the previous range. Power outputs remain as before at 81 kW and 205 Nm. Our test unit was an entry-level Feel model fitted with practically everything one needs, boasting a flotilla of safety kit, a five-star EuroNCAP rating, steel wheels with alloy-look caps, automatic halogen headlamps, fog lights front and rear, drive-away locking, folding mirrors, tyre pressure monitoring, cruise control with limiter and rear parking sensors. On this score, I felt cheated. One expects a reversing camera at this price level but it isn’t available, not even on upper-level Shine.
 
What Shine does add includes welcome and follow-me lights, alloy wheels, keyless entry and start, rain sensing wipers, automatic air conditioning, self-dipping interior mirror, an armrest on the back seat that also slides forward to increase luggage volume by as much as 110 litres, and on-board navigation.

Being longer and taller than the regular C3, it weighs 178 kg more so performance drops off a bit. The zero to 100 km/h sprint takes 1.3 seconds longer while terminal velocity drops by 10 km/h. See the numbers bar at the top of this article. What buyers gain, though, is 110 litres more basic luggage capacity, a smidge more rear seat legroom and superior headspace; this 1.84m tall tester was treated to a full fist-width’s worth.

The office area is simple; analogue instruments mentioned earlier, seven-inch touchscreen with Bluetooth and cable-connect Android Auto on Feel and added Apple CarPlay on Shine. Basic functions like HVAC are easy to find, the usual tiny French glove box swallows a few basics, seats are mechanically adjustable, the door bins are of medium size and neither visor mirror is lit. But it’s practical and functional.

"Practical and functional" sums this vehicle up well; everything works but it isn’t enticing. It’s also priced a little ambitiously. The uprated, 96-kW engine available overseas and more standard features might have persuaded me, but who knows?

Test unit from Stellantis SA press fleet


What We Do

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 or goat tracks as well. As a result, my test cars do occasionally get dirty. It's all part of the reviewing process.

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 ever I place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with a very similar vehicle 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.

Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. There are no advertisers and no “editorial policy” rules. I add bylines to acknowledge sponsored launch functions and the manufacturers or dealerships that provide the test vehicles.  And, as quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so you can see I do actually exist.

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