Tag: Petrol Car Review

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CAR REVIEW | VW Golf SE Nav 1.0 TSi

★★★★ | VW Golf SE Nav 1.0 TSi – Tortoise Powered hare

One of the shocks I had this year was with the smallest engined Golf in their popular petrol SE Nav range.

It lacked the bells and whistles of the R, GTE and Alltrack estate in a lot of ways. The Golf now comes with a more confusing array of options and dashboards and specs but is the SE Nav with its one whole litre worth of power pack going to leave you left out of the Golf club?

No is the answer. I wanted to try a lowly model and while not the base model, it still lacks the touches. Or so I thought. By comparison, the S is the base model now at £17,625. The SE Nav comes in at a shade under £19,500. Spec wise you’d be a fool to look at the S when the SE Nav gives you parking sensors, cruise controls, Sat Nav with 8” screen and mirror link to your smartphone along with a host of other options.

For the extra money, you do get more power from your little engine too. A whole 25 more horses and 1g/km of CO2 worse for the environment. That extra money is worth it for the extra oomph from the engine alone.

It’s a sweet little unit. It will carry you to 122mph and will do the traffic light Grand Prix in 9.9 seconds. Not quick but not slow. An original Mk1 GTi would only do it a bit faster. There was no hint of turbo lag at all or raging surge. This SE Nav felt very linear in its power supply. And all from 3 cylinders too.

Living with this little engined big car is quite easy too. It has all the attributes of a Golf. You can’t fault the fit and finish. Again VW has moved the goal posts on quality. There was once a state of play where lower models really did feel like the bread and butter of the range. Not so here. It clunked like a Golf should.

Easy is probably the key to the 1 litre SE Nav. Combined fuel economy of 58.9 mpg is good. How good that will be with 4 up and some luggage is anyone’s guess. The trouble with a little engine is that it needs to be worked hard. If most of the time you will travel by yourself or with one other, I doubt you will notice much of a difference.

On the move, it shifted. The 6-speed gearbox was easily matched in ratios to the engine. The course set out comprised of a variety of driving situations you’d encounter in a week’s worth of driving. I expected to do a lot of cog swapping but I didn’t. Admittedly 5th and 6th seemed very high and more suited for when the engine is on the A and M roads. I found 3rd and 4th more than ample in getting me buzzing along.

Inside there wasn’t much of a cacophony of sounds. Sound deadening being key to the serine driving ambience and quality feel of the cabin. It’s not an exciting cabin to sit in if I’m honest but at £12k less than the higher spec models I have tested you would expect it. It’s Germanic. At the end of the day, it is a Golf and this is what Golf does. And it does it very well.

I’ve spent a lot of this review talking about the engine and with good reason too. We in the UK seem to sway away from the smaller engined bigger cars and that is a shame. This engine livens up a normal hatchback. The big selling Golf SE Nav 1.4 just can’t better the thrill of the turbo 3 cylinder engine. That said the quandary VW put you in is that the 1.4 starts at just £1300 more. It has more power and will go faster for 4 miles to the gallon less. It’s a tricky one to now call but I’d go with the little engine. From tortoise expectations to hare ability, it’s a total buzz.

Likes

Good value
Sweet little engine
Ride quality

Dislikes

Bit drab inside
Plain fascia
Difficult choice choosing 1.0 or 1.4 engines

The Lowdown
Car – VW Golf SE Nav 1.0 TSi
Price – £ 20,065 (as tested)
MPG – 58.9 mpg (combined)
Power – 110 bhp
0-62mph – 9.9 seconds
Top Speed – 122 mph
Co2 – 109 (g/km)

3rd July 2017
CAR REVIEW | Volkswagen Golf R (2017)

VW Golf R | ★★★★

It might not be the best GTi out there but the Golf GTi does all things to all men and it is where manufacturers set the benchmark. So when you make the most emulated GTi out there, what do you do?

What you do is not redeveloped your current GTi and make it the best, instead you make another GTi and call it the R. For £32,110 as tested, you also make it compellingly cheap compared to the current GTi at just £4000 more.

Let’s get the basic stuff out of the way first. Inside the Golf R it is all very much as the rest of the Golf range. It’s an ergonomic delight and everything feels built to last. Now though in the relaunched Mk7 we have new larger infotainment screen and adaptive dials too. The quality of fittings, while not all improved have had some VW engineering work carried out on them. It has moved Golf up higher in quality feel over its rivals.

Everything is to hand. The dials are easy to read and with the new active info display graphics, it’s still as easy to read but this time you are given extras. The ability to allow the sat nav display within the fascia is a keen selling point for me. It allows split second glances and all the information you require is there. This is also true for the speed you are travelling at. In the Golf R it is something you need to keep a keen eye on. The display itself has 4 user settings. I’m not sure if this is a good or bad thing with a shared car. Sometimes you want to keep your driving styles when alone a secret.

In the R model, we are treated to supportive seats with cloth inserts. I find cloth a much better option to have in view of leather being a bit slippery on hard cornering. In the Golf R you don’t want a loss of traction between your bottom and the seat when the cornering G’s are rising fast!

There are little touches around the cabin to remind you that you are in the R model. Little touches that make it very distinctive. These also stretch outside too with blue being the colour choice instead of the GTi’s red that blends into the headlights.

Back to the nitty gritty and £4000 of anyone’s money sounds a lot and if truth be told, the Golf range with any street cred isn’t cheap these days. You can get all the fun of having a Golf GTi with the £10,000 cheaper GT. What you don’t get though is a Golf R.

The Golf R is a serious road warrior. I opted for the longer test route VW had set out during the relaunch of Golf 7. There were a few moments where l had to slow up the fun for the head rush was something else. The magic of the Golf R is that it does all this while also retaining a sense of normality. I’m not sure how Volkswagen has managed this but it is deep within the DNA of Golf.

The GTi we tested had this ability to be humble to its basic principle and then a savage monster. It’s just that in the Golf R it is, even more savage when you want it to and it sounds it too.

Now don’t think that being 4 wheel drive makes this an agricultural tractor. Remember the VW group have an enviable developments history with all-wheel drive systems. The 4 motion 4 wheel drive system adds about 119kg in weight and it doesn’t hinder its go fast forward motion. I’d go as far to say that the extra weight in the rear from the differential makes it a far more balanced chassis.

With this in mind, the Gold R really can handle the power And that power is increased from the GTi’s 230 PS to 310 PS. That’s not just a bit more power but a bloody bucket full of moist making power.

There is also no penalty either. While all this fun comes in at higher up the rev range, the pulling power of torque comes in much lower and lasts for what feels like it will never end starting from a lowly 2000 to 5400 rpm. It does it quickly but it has almost 1000 rpm more of a power band over the GTi to make it so worth while. 0-60 time is also smashed to just over 5 seconds. Remember then that this is all in a 5 door family hatchback! Or a 3 door hatchback and now in a very practical load-lugging estate!

So as you can see then I am taken by the Golf R and that extra £4k is making sense. And it does. It’s blisteringly quick. Will put a MASSIVE smile on your face and then it will settle back to do the daily commute and sit in traffic like butter wouldn’t melt in its mouth.

Would I have one? It’s a difficult six million dollar question but the answer is no. I’ll keep my £4k and go with the GTi. It’s less frenetic when it needs to be but also feels more in keeping with being a hot hatch. Somehow the Golf R with its 4 wheel drive and beautiful weight distribution just feels like I am cheating a bit.

Likes

Ability to drive like a bat out of hell or a commuter car
Practical hatchback or estate
Ride quality

Dislikes

Not enough exterior differences to make it look different to the GTi
Comes in estate form too. Absurd. (I’m clutching at straws to make a list of 3 here)
Too many choices of body (That’s actually a good thing too)

The Lowdown
Car – VW Golf
Price – £ 32,110 (as tested)
MPG – 37.7 mpg (combined)
Power – 310 bhp
0-62mph – 5.1 seconds
Top Speed – 155 mph
Co2 – 180 (g/km)

22nd June 2017
CAR REVIEW | Abarth 695 Biposto Record

★★★★★ | Abarth 695 Biposto Record

THEGAYUK were quite privileged to have tested the Abarth 695 Biposto Record. This was number 118 of 133 made for the globe. It’s quite a rare machine. Why 133? It’s to mark 133 records Abarth hold. Is this then the reconstruction of Abarth instead of it being badges stuck to a Punto side skirt? Hell yes!!!

Externally it looks like my old 500. This model still uses the older style lights unlike the rest of the range but this is probably because it was launched in 2015. The boot opens the same way as mine. Speaking of the boot, there is tons of space available compared to the standard 500. The rear seats appear to be missing and have been replaced with a cargo net and 3 bar roll cage of titanium by Poggipolini.

And then you notice other “items” missing that make you suddenly realise this isn’t just an overdressed 500 with 35 section tyres and red Brembo brakes screaming from behind lightened O.Z 18 inch anthracite wheels with a 1400cc turbo engine. Or underdressed if you like lots of bits like door armrests and a radio. You get little red fabric loops and yet, strangely enough, you also get electric windows. As for the missing radio, the hole you get does give good acoustics to your smartphone’s speaker. It’s not a 500. It’s a 695.

All this visual and tactile assessment was gained just by moving it around the car park at work so on showroom appeal alone you might be thinking that you are not getting a lot for your £36,000. For a small car, the turning circle was also a bit below par. That then will be because of the limited slip differential.

Before you even drive it you notice a growl from the Akrapovic titanium twin exhausts and this is before you press the sports button that stiffens the steering and makes throttle inputs more responsive. It feels like a small adjustment but when the crazy gets crazier it all comes together like surfing a tsunami.

I drove it before I had a chance to look up the spec sheet. I had in fact asked for a much lesser Abarth so I wasn’t quite expecting a machine that was so visually striking in Modena yellow while being quite acceptable on the road. Its behaviour is impressive. The Sabelt bucket seats clad in carbon fibre felt perfect for both comfort and support on the road or on the track. Potholes aside, it handled the city commute with aplomb. It didn’t behave like a track day ready car or make you wish for softer springs. Even the clutch was as simple to operate like that in the lesser 1200cc 500

Sadly it attracts two kinds of wrong attention. Firstly you get idiots in de-badged Corsas always wanting a traffic light grand-Prix which you let them win because the comparison is so unfair and then you get GTi drivers wanting to prove a point to you and the pint-sized rocket to which you greet with enthusiasm. Sometimes it can be over very quickly and in your favour too. The 0-60 time of 5.9 seconds catches them out from the car weighing only 997 kg. It really doesn’t weigh a lot.

I’d like to say the 695 is all about raw power. As you can see though it isn’t. It’s quite useable. In normal mode, it’ll attack the asphalt cleanly and quickly. There is a little hesitation from the throttle response but this prevents you making errors in the bumper to bumper city traffic.

Press the sports button then and my word does it change. Instantly and before the facia panel has changed its digital display to show G forces and gas inputs, you notice it’s growling snap from inputs and the gentle increase in steering weight. Press on and the turbo now vocalising its induction and the exhaust snaps and cackles. It sounds like a modern day supercar.

Thankfully the limited slip differential does wonders at reducing torque steer and with 190 horses at full gallop at 5500rpm, you need it. Thankfully it doesn’t totally eliminate it so you still get that “feeling alive” craziness you should from a mighty power pack in a car this size. Press the TTC button (Torque Transfer Control) and it does wonders in keeping it in a straight line while also reducing some understeer when really pressed. And press it I did. Unlike the 208 GTi we’ve tested, lift off mid corner and there is no sudden oversteer. The stripped out insides make this an enjoyable road ferret.

It goes some way to show what the 500 shell is capable of. That rear end is very light. In theory, I expected it to become a little unbalanced during weight transference around corners and under hard braking. Even when braking really hard which you can do quite easily, the ABS system is rapid in firing its pulses to stop you. There is no fuss from the pedal. No annoying ABS pulse feel. The 4 pot Brembos up front stop you. Sadly the hazard lights flash during hard braking. I was always putting on the hazards.

The suspension is also amazing. Shox provide the vital parts fitted to the standard cars front wishbones and solid rear beam. That is when you realise the potential the normal car has give or take the other thousands of pounds worth of kit the Abarth has added to it. That £36k is money well spent.

So what have we got here than in steel and precious metals? It’s a toy really. A bit of a play thing. At any price, the Bisporto assures exclusivity. It’s there for the person who wants to go fast, fuss free and not have trouble parking it in the city, unlike the Ferrari. It’s also there for a little track day fun. There is also carbon fibre. It’s real carbon fibre. This is the kind of car that looks good with it. And it’s economical too. I managed 29mpg during my test.

I wouldn’t have a Bisporto. Even if you can find the limited run Record model, It’s too much for me. I like my sports cars to be a little bit more cruiser than skateboard. It’s fast. It’s rapid. It demands respect from the moment you pull away because you can go very fast very quickly. Respect I give anyone who buys one. To hell with it, I’ll have 2, It’s fabulous.

Likes

The ridiculous asking price
The amount of race names associated with it
The Performance

Loathes

The sensitive hazard lights
Idiots in Vauxhall Corsas
Making GTi drivers unhappy. No, seriously I am… NOT

The Lowdown
Car – Abarth 695 Bisporto Record
Price – £36,610
MPG – 45.9 (combined)
Power – 190bhp @ 5500rpm
0-62mph – 5.9 seconds
Top Speed – 143 mph
Co2 – 145 (g/km)

21st May 2017
CAR REVIEW | Fiat 124 Spider Lusso Plus 1.4 MultiAir Turbo

★★★★ | Fiat 124 Spider Lusso Plus 1.4 MultiAir Turbo

On Days like these…

Have you ever bought an album because of a car before? While I understand that he isn’t Italian, he is synonymous with an Anglo-Italian classic movie so having been given the new Fiat 124 Spider I had to get myself a Matt Monro album to go with it.

In a month that saw the shed leak, the garage leak, a roof tile fall off the house narrowly missing my Fiat Tempra and the trusty hatchback take in water quicker than the Titanic, I decided that testing the open-top Spider would be quite fitting. When faced with so much water and chaos what can possibly go wrong with a car that has a fabric roof? I’ll tell you, it snowed!

Fiat were once makers of great small sports cars. The range was made up of humdrum saloons, estates and coupes topped off with a little something cheeky for the weekend. The last time Fiat tried this was with the Barchetta. It was cheeky alright, just let down by the use of the last generation of Punto chassis.

Not so anymore with the new Spider. Underneath it is a Mazda MX-5. Now take that with a pinch of salt because the chassis was a joint development between Mazda and Fiat. While that doesn’t sound very exotic I can tell you that it translates into a beautiful chassis that never fails to satisfy.

What Fiat have given you over the MX-5 is their own 1368cc multiair engine. It’s not as rapid as the MX-5 or as lustful in its revs. The MX-5 we tested last year would scream to 7000rpm, the Fiat is all done by 6000. Once wound up above 2700rpm, it will trounce the MX-5.

In performance terms that translates into 140bhp at 5000rpm with 240Nm of grunt being delivered at 2250rpm. All this power and fun for over 40 miles to the gallon if you’re good. A little less if you are not. The paper spec to the actual driving feel doesn’t quite come out like that and this is probably not helped by the high gearing in all but first gear. The dashboard gauge will tell you to change up keeping it below 2000rpm. Totally pointless in almost every situation. Even crawling in traffic requires first because second is too high.

The multiair has 2 modes. Gutless city poser below 2500rpm or manic mayhem over 3000rpm. You can drive it 2 ways, cruise and enjoy the views or allow it full range and have it try and kill you on wet roundabouts. I’ll accept that is a little bit of an exaggeration. It needs to be respected in some situations though you can have some naughty fun with it. The traction control kicking in more readily than in the MX-5. The level of adhesion even in the wet was good. The chassis allows for this however if you are too lead-footed, when the engine comes on tap at 3000rpm it will give you a wake-up call. Thankfully it doesn’t make you too nervous all of the time. A little release of adrenalin over a journey is quite rewarding.

Get over this little annoyance and the Spider behaves in a civilised way. It’s not your all-out road rocket. The original never was and it’s nice to see this one isn’t either. It’ll take you places with wind-in-the-hair excitement and comfort. It’s a sports car at the end of the day, and not a lazy man car. The joy of a proper sports car is twirling the short throw gearstick back and forth. What it lacks in this department is a little rorty exhaust note.

As with any car with a removable top, it is easy to fold down manually in seconds and there is almost no buffeting at any speed. I was still able to keep dry in what felt like a monsoon above 45mph. I looked a prat but what the hell. The heating and heated seats doing a fine job on a winter’s weekend in keeping me warm.

It’s a win lose win situation with the Fiat 124 Spyder. Finally, it is a Fiat product that doesn’t look like a 500. It looks bloody lovely. Sadly the inside is Mazda. Thankfully it has that joint venture chassis so it handles like a dream.

So only thing that lets the Spider down really is in how Mazda it is inside. The original had a dashboard screwed to the dashboard made of wood with some dials. You wouldn’t want to recreate that however making it look different would have been a bonus. Like the 3 facia dials. The digital one for temperature and fuel look out of place. It needs dials with needles. What it needs are more dials. Changing the dashboard really would make it feel such a different car. Again on the model I had, the tobacco leather strip runs short across the dashboard. For visual pleasure, it needs to run across the entire length.

The other thing the Spider really needs is Fiat’s own infotainment system. Most certainly on the DAB radio. The one fitted is from Mazda and it is far too fussy and clumsy to select stations. The one I tried in the new Tipo was joyous because it simply worked so well.

Style wise it is beautiful. Some have bemoaned the size of the overhangs. I like them. It is in keeping with the original lines. What Fiat have managed to do is finally tidy up the rear. Whatever they did to it back in the 60s and 70s always looked like a job your dad did in the shed. If anything they could have exaggerated the upper flicks of the rear wings a bit more. The front is a pleasure to look at. Somehow it also manages to look wider than the MX-5.

To sum up the Spider over the MX-5 is easy. The Spider isn’t your all out sports car. It’s a touring car with the ability to go very quickly. What it needs is the option of the limited slip rear diff as fitted to the MX-5. If that was fitted it would sharpen an otherwise Bellissimo dressed package.

If I had the money right now I’d be putting down a deposit for a Lusso Plus in magnetic bronze metallic with tobacco leather and adding historical alloy wheels. In the meantime, I’ll just play with the model I bought in my bed instead.

Like
Looks
Comfort
Performance

Dislike
Infotainment system
Lack of an exhaust note
Mazda interior

The Lowdown
Car – Fiat 124 Spider Lusso Plus 1.4 MultiAir Turbo
Price – £23,295 (as tested)
MPG – 44.6 (combined)
Power – 140 bhp
0-62mph – 7.5 seconds
Top Speed – 134 mph

22nd January 2017
CAR REVIEW | Volkswagen’s Golf GTi

★★★★ | Volkswagen’s Golf GTi redefined the go faster car in the 70s. With its hatchback styling, it started the Hot Hatch trend that we have seen go from strength to strength. It was then seen as the benchmark for all GTi’s in the 80s and thanks to high insurance premiums and a lack of love GTi’s felt in the 90s, it lost its way.

© VW

It tried to bounce back with lacklustre attempts in its Mk4 guise but then love for the GTi returned. Volkswagen saw the errors of their ways and addressed the situation.

Now in its 7th generation, the Golf has stayed true to form. Its design is simple both inside and out. While some manufactures have opted for garish add-ons and bulges in places, VW have not. Likewise, they have not tried to redesign the hatchback with pointless styling that can date very quickly. Outside they have ironed out a few lines, placed emphasis on simplistic looks and then added some Golf GTi design touches.
© VW
The red line along the grill blending into the front lights is a nice touch. Inside it is all very Golf. There is no mistaking that you are in anything else other than a Golf. This Mk7, like my own Mk2, is like slipping into comfy slippers and that is why the Golf is still ahead of the game with a philosophy VW had perfected from the days of the Beetle. Make changes only where needed and do no more other than to make it better.

Anyway enough of the old and more of the new. On the road, this is one quick car. 0-60 comes up in just over 6 seconds and reaches legal speed limits before you realise. Add to this the almost sumptuous comfort and you soon lose sense of what fast actually feels like. Standing starts feel quick but soon blend into a senseless wonder of how fast you are actually going.

What aids this is the 5 road settings. There are soft settings, hard settings and mixture settings where you can choose the damping rates, gear changes and steering feel. This Golf doesn’t compromise you in any way. You can have a fast Golf with comfort or a fast Golf with a spine-jarring sporty ride.

© VW
The economy is a marvel too. Father in the passenger seat, we managed around 40 mpg on the way to Bognor. After l had kicked him out, l managed 17 mpg according to the computer. With fuel figures like these, you could be hard pressed to find a car that has so many life skills. Todays GTi is to all men and women a satisfying car to pilot if you want a Golf that will take you places without fuss or a full on GTi with excitement to match that red stripe in the grill. It doesn’t scream at you that it is can be a flat out fast machine. It’s identity is the GTi badge. Subtle and discreet.

All this fun from a Golf that now has a faster model in the range coming out soon is to the GTi’s benefit. The GTi has a crossed over identity. It’s not the fast thrills and frills GTi it used to be. Then again it isn’t a GTi that you can’t live with if it is to be your only car. 3 or 5 doors, space for 1 to 5 and luggage space to match. It’s practical. It is put together well. Above all, it’s a Volkswagen.

VW’s philosophy just gets better and better. It doesn’t age either. You could be forgiven for having a mind blank when trying to figure out if this is the mk7 or 6 or is it a 5? It’s not a 5. You know it isn’t a 5. However, the shape isn’t too dissimilar to the Golf 2 generations ago. This time they have made it look sharper. Squared off those rounded shapes, flattened a few lines. Golf doesn’t have swoops and curves. It remains crisp and sharp for an entire production run and continues to do so when it is replaced. The major contributing factor is that Golf is so on the money all of the time. Others fail to emulate it. It’s almost like VW’s design team have a crystal ball.

I still marvel at its on-road ability. I can’t actually place it as an out and out performer because it is everything you could want. So we shall set it to comfort and drive it. You can drive it fast. The DSG auto box changes smoothly. The ride is compliant. It glides along. It’s very Golf.
© VW
Change the settings and add a little magic and Golf becomes more GTi. Changes are sharper, steering becomes more communicative requiring increased input. The gliding becomes more ‘Jack Rabbit’ and this time it darts around the road.

Roundabouts become playgrounds. Entries and exits are now flatter and quicker. Using the steering wheel paddles for gear changing allows you to now choose when the changes happen. This allows full access to the 227bhp available at 4500rpm. Stretch it further and it’ll reward you even though you are well past the peak torque at a lowly 1500rpm.

Inside it remains Golf. The retro check GTi fabric on the seats is also another nice touch. At night there are red lights that appear within the red strip of the front doors. It’s a shame this doesn’t stretch to the rear doors.

It’s still expensive and on paper at least, it seems a little behind the times. 40 years on it is still the GTi king. There is no getting away from that fact. You cannot deny the Golf GTi that title.

In a time where excessive add-ons are the norm, the subtlety of the Golf rewards you with a competent car that to drive is both rewarding or comfortable or both. It’s just that l don’t know which one of the two rewards is the better?

Likes
Retro GTi touches
Ride
Performance

Loathes
Generic VW dashboard
Red lighting not in the rear doors
Price

The Lowdown
Car – Volkswagen Golf GTi DSG
Price – £30,925
MPG – 44.1(combined)
Power – 227bhp @ 4500rpm
0-62mph – 6.4 seconds
Top Speed – 154 mph
Co2 – 149 (g/km)

23rd October 2016
CAR REVIEW | Nissan Navara NP300 Tekna Double Cab

★★★★ | Nissan Navara NP300 Tekna Double Cab

You’re Just Too Good To Be True….

And I can’t take my eyes off of you. That is how the song went as covered by Gloria Gaynor. I was dancing to it in the new Nissan Navara in a well known supermarket carpark. The Navara is a handsome truck. It has those classic rugged good looks I like to see in trucks and real men. This is a truck for men. So what the hell am I doing driving it?

There is something very indescribable about a truck when you try to describe it. It’s not your usual vehicle that you’d associate gay men driving as a pleasure vehicle. It lacks modern niceties that you would get in a premium 4×4 for people. In that I mean soft touch areas and a compliant ride with the ability to tow the caravan or jet ski.

What you get in the Navara is a truck with attitude. It might be hardwearing and functional but look beyond its purpose and you find that Nissan have given the modern truck driver softening little touches. In this £27,000 truck you get heated leather seats, climate control, cruise control, one touch entry along with another 62 other items of importance in exterior, safety, audio, interior, comfort and technology. This price also includes sunroof, bedliner and interior touches in mats and kick guards. In total though there is far to much to list. What it all adds up to is in the making of an impressive truck for not a lot of money. Nissan must be doing something right here because the roads are littered with Navara’s.

It keeps on getting better too. The Navara posses size. A lot of size. It’s big. I did worry about leaving it on the street where l live for it engulfed a little French hatchback. At over 5 meters long it is a bit of a brute. Thankfully it comes fitted with Nissan’s 360 degree camera. I never fully appreciated this. On the Micra it seems excessive. In the Pulsar that we tested I felt it had a use. In the Navara is it epic. Parking was a total breeze. If you see someone struggling to park one then you can be safe in the knowledge that they don’t have this bit of kit.

On the move there was little to complain about. The engine is fuss free. Vocal when pushed, however there is little gained going too far beyond 4000 rpm. The 2.3 litre 4 cylinder twin turbo will hustle the truck along quietly confusing your senses until you look at the speedometer. Nissan claim 112mph max speed and there is little doubting that it would get there without too much fuss.

The 7 speed automatic did all that was needed. Manual inputs were never needed in normal driving. I am sure off road it would help. Normal mode is rear wheel drive with four wheel drive high-low available on an easy to reach rotating knob. To select it on the move you just turn the knob only stopping if you need to select low ratios. Thankfully there is a a foolproof catch on the low mode. What I did find was that like most 4×4 trucks, in the wet it is best to drive in 4×4. This is only because the rear is unweighted and 450Nm of torque from a lowly 1500rpm has an easy ability to spin the inner wheel. Traction control kicks in quickly to prevent exciting snaking of the rear like a drag racer.

On the road its ride was surprisingly jiggle free. For a vehicle with a sole purpose to be a hard working horse capable of taking heavy loads, 5 people, tow something and yet not shake your spleen free from the muscles it attaches to, the ride was more than civilised. You could jump in the Navara and just drive cross country in comfort. With documented economy averaging 40.3mpg it wouldn’t need refuelling too often either. Quite an achievement for a heavy vehicle. The on-board computer registered an average of 35mpg while it was with me. l could live with that.

I don’t doubt the Navara’s ability to go off road. Over hangs at the front were small, The rears a little longer. There is a handy metal bumper that shouldn’t get ripped off as easily as a plastic one would. That said I did take it off road. Down to the back of the garden in fact to load it up with gardening waste. It felt the right thing to do instead of loading up the trusted hatchback. What wasn’t so good was trying to get it into my local council dump. Even in Crocs I was still seen as a heathen by the authoritarian from the council. Apparently even privately owned pick-ups come under the commercial vehicle nonsense. In the end I returned with the trusted hatchback. And Doc Martins.

There are a few nice touches abound the Navara. The rear seat squab tilts up allowing for items of a certain size that you want protected from prying eyes and the elements. It opens up the rear amazingly. The rear seat though lacks under thigh support for those with long legs. I couldn’t travel on it for long. Personally I do think the chrome inner door handles a bit out of place. There is no other chrome anywhere.

When it all ended and the keys were handed back to Nissan I searched for jobs in farming. I listen to the Archers so I obviously understand farming issues. I want to be a farmer and drive around my I and all day in a Navara. Ok l don’t want to be a farmer but I’d happily take the Navara for all its ups and downs. I want a pick-up truck.

Likes
360 degree camera
Civilised to drive
24 month service intervals

Loathes
My local authority
Lacking door protective strips
Poor under thigh support on rear seats

The Lowdown
Car – Nissan Navara NP300 Tekna Double Cab
Price – £27,163.17 (as tested)
MPG – 40.3mpg (combined)
Power – 190 bhp
0-62mph – 10.8 seconds
Top Speed – 112 mph
Co2 – 183 (g/km)

26th September 2016
CAR REVIEW | Peugeot 108

Peugeot 108 Lion Cub of Cuteness.

In times of obesity where the world is getting fatter it’s quite refreshing to see a manufacture continue to make its small car just that; small. Parked next to the last of the 106 generation it is noticeably smaller. Now in its next incarnation, has the Peugeot 108 retained the same cheeky charm of a shopper express of the old 107 or grown to old before its time?

To answer this you need to look at the options Peugeot gave me. Smart alloys, huge amounts of front cabin space with supportive seats in a tartan type material and reflective edging around the floor mats that make them look electric. All quite funky and up to date for a city car with good Euro Ncap ratings, low emissions and an zippy little engine. They even give this Allure model a 2 tone laser red and raven black paint job with decals. l don’t like that. For the asking price of £285 I’d rather pay the extra for the sunroof, a single colour and keep the change. The problem the Peugeot has over its platform shared Toyota and Citroen siblings is that it is the best looking of the 3 with a hint of maturity and because of this the 2 tone paint job doesn’t work. Where as the others are all ripped jeans and dossing around the park in dirty shoes, the 108 wouldn’t look out of place parked outside the Waldorf hotel in that swanky part of London.

So overall l am impressed. More so with the fit and finish and build quality. The French have a wonderful reputation of making even the most solid tin can sound flimsy. The 108 was as tightly put together as a solid oak sideboard. The one touch entry and start system was an added bonus too. It’s quite nice not having to scrabble for keys to get in and get away. Even after stalling it at traffic lights the start up was easy. Clutch, button and away you go. It all goes someway to make the little car very easy to drive. The reverse camera (standard on this model) allowed for tight parking.

Speaking of buttons, the ergonomics of it all but perfect for my lanky frame. Everything fell to hand with ease except the door mirror controls that were too far down on the dashboard and the mirrors themselves were situated too far forward to fold them in without pulling myself far forward from the drivers seat. Being heated, you want to look after them. Door mirrors can be very costly. That said a new unit from Peugeot will cost you £125 plus paint it’s not thee most expensive door mirror to replace if you do get it knocked off.

Up front there is an abundance of room for you to move around. Despite the dashboards massive intrusion into the cabin there is plenty of leg room around it. Some 9 inches between my knee and the panel. In such a small car that is an impressive figure. What are not so impressive is the sizes for the rear seats. It’s tight in the back. l wouldn’t want to sit behind me. The dash also houses the infotainment system. No satnav on this model which would have been nice. That said it connected to my phone and the music on my android was accessible from the screen. l always thought it was my old phone being the problem however this system worked 100% better than any other. Even those from the Peugeot range have had trouble.

This small space doesn’t mean a useless boot though. Admittedly it isn’t above the class norm and there is an almighty lip between opening and boot floor. This however is needed to stop items knocking against the all glass tailgate and smashing it to a thousand pieces. Glass tailgates are now quite common. Folding down the rear seat does increase the load some what though you’ll struggle with long items. The sunroof option allows for items to be poked through it. It also opens up the cabin. This model didn’t have the sunroof. My sister has one with it and it is an excellent option. Worth every penny.

On the move it reveals itself to be a city car with a big attitude. The little 1200cc boasts only 85bhp from 3 cylinders that spin readily until the rev limiter cuts off power abruptly at 6000rpm. Despite that it will give its best to you and its reward you not bad fuel displayed fuel figures for a “spirited” driving style. It doesn’t feel like flogging a dead donkey that is for sure with its wonderful buzzy engine. It won’t win a grand prix but it will make drivers of other cars sweat a little.

This spirit transfers nicely into a whizzy little car. Push it hard and it’ll over steer when the little 165 section tyres scrabble for traction but the back end won’t let go. Even lifting off mid corner didn’t result in untidy handling. It’s pretty safe and very predictable. And all this is before the traction control has taken over.

This model was fitted with the crash prevention system. A loud rapid beep emits if it thinks you are going to crash into something in front. Sometimes hit and miss and mostly it alerted me down narrow roads. And if it thinks you really are going to hit something it’ll apply the brakes or even stop. Very handy in a city car at this price. What it does have that is quite useless is lane assist. It does nothing but beep at you. Thankfully you can switch it off permanently.
As a first car, only car, city car, second car or whatever you want it for, the 108 in its higher spec will fit the bill. Aim high with the 108, have greater aspirations and opt for the highest model as you can like this one. Just add that sunroof to make it a more usable little car. I’d happily have it parked among the Bird fleet of motors.

Likes
Road tax exempt
Nice facia layout
Keyless entry

Loathes
Rear seat space
2 tone paint theme
Lane assist

The Lowdown
Car – Peugeot 108 Allure 5door
Price – £11,985 (as tested)
MPG – 65.7mpg (combined)
Power – 82 bhp 5750 rpm
0-62mph – 10.9 seconds
Top Speed – 106 mph
Co2 – 99 (g/km)

3rd September 2016
CAR REVIEW | Citroen DS3 Cabrio

★★★ | Citroen DS3 Cabrio

The DS range of Citroens are the more Avantgarde models and a welcome return from a manufacturer rich in a history of innovation and design. It’s also a car maker that gave us the 2CV, widely futuristic dashboards and the subliminal grand tourer with the SM. So they know a few things about cars.

Though largely forgotten, Citroen have at one point or another offered the motorist open top fun. The 2CV and Dyane were cheap open top motoring. The short-lived 4 door Visa decapotable with its unique pram type hood. And the Plurial that was a bit of a hash job with its removable sides that had nowhere to go so you never took them off. The DS 3 is the smallest offering in this DS range and the Cabrio adds some open top fun to an already accomplished car but does it make it any better?

The answer to that is no. It actually makes the DS 3 worse. What you need to realise is that with any open top car there is always a pay off that must be accepted for the fun a missing roof will give you.

In this case it’s the boot. The opening is hopeless. I for one did not expect it to lift upwards. In doing so it covers up an already small hole. The boot area itself is quite large, deep and cavernous. It’s just that you can’t actually get to it. Should the boot lid drop downward then it would solve at least half these problems.

And there lays the problem with the DS3 cabrio over its hatchback sibling. For an extra £2000 you get a boot that you can’t use. What you do get though is an electric roof that pretty much works on a one-touch system that when open causes no buffeting. Fully open (rear window gone, followed by rearward vision also) you get a gentle breeze over your shoulders and long hair gently tussled. Yes, the rearward vision is blighted when the top is completely retracted. At first I thought this would be a problem. However with a little tug and wiggle of the finger the door mirrors can be angled to pretty much rectify this and the model I had here came equipped with a reversing camera.

All in all then it’s pretty much shaping up to be what every car with a removable top is like except this cabrio retains the sides. In essence that means it isn’t a full convertible. It also means there is no scuttle shake felt through the steering wheel thus adding to the already solid feel of the Citroen. Another thing those side do is add a little security. You can feel incredibly exposed in a full cabriolet.

The insides of the DS 3 are above par for this kind of car. It’s all well put together. The materials chosen are tactile and the dashboard has a feel that makes you want to squeeze it. However in this model it comes with a gaudy strip across the dashboard in what looks like really cheap carbon fibre you’d find someone sticking on their 1991 Vauxhall Corsa. Check out Citroen’s option packs and spec sheets. This can be rectified. It absolutely ruins an otherwise nice interior. Thankfully this is a £150 cost option so you don’t need to have it.

Everything works as it should on the move. The clutch is light and the gear change direct. Strangely more so than in the 208GTi Sport I tested a month or so ago. In total it felt more fluid. What wasn’t quite so fluid in its execution was the ride. Where I had praised the Citroen C3 hatchback for being fantastic in its ride and handling, the DS 3 can’t match it. It rides a little to harsh for me. It also makes the handling a little skittish when pushed hard.

The engine on the other hand is from the PSA award winning range of power packs. So smooth in its operation that you could be confused into thinking this is more than a 4 cylinder. It’s easy to live with and the 1598cc engine delivers its 165bhp with little effort. Sometimes you feel that 165 horses just isn’t enough. You feel the DS3 needs more urge. It’s only when you look at your speed do you then realise that you need to back off a little.

With the roof folded back it is quite cosy. The heater and its many vents positioned to keep you warm even on the cold days. You can select to have the roof back as far as you’d like. Quite pointless if I am honest. You’ll probably find that you will have it as far as it will go on most days. With the roof up it cosseted you with the exact same feeling you would have with a hatchback. I’ll come clean though and say that apart from at night when I parked it up, l had the roof open as much as I could. You don’t buy a car like this to keep the roof up yet we Brits seem to do just that.

The week was over, the DS3 had to go back. From the Citroens I had in my motoring career (and there have been a fair few) Citroen isn’t what it use to be.

Twangy doors and creaky trim are a distant memory. Build quality is up there. Some of it felt better than the Germans. I liked the DS3. I could live with the challenges it possesses but it would have to be as a second car. It’s too flawed in its everyday areas to warrant me to trade in my old nail.

Likes

Engine
Roof operation
Little buffeting with the roof open

Loathes

Boot opening
Carbon fibre dashboard trim
Infotainment system difficult to see with the roof open

The Lowdown
Car – Citroen DS3 Cabrio THP 165
Price – £23,340 (as tested)
MPG – 50.4mpg (combined)
Power – 165 bhp 6000 rpm
0-62mph – 7.6 seconds
Top Speed – 135 mph
Co2 – 129 (g/km)

28th June 2016
CAR REVIEW | Renault Twingo

★★★★ | Renault Twingo

It’s always a problem when you give a name to a car on review. It becomes personal and trying to be subjective about it is wholly difficult. Its flaws covered up with candy floss and its better bits celebrated with raptures of delight.

If I lived in Toy Town I would drive a Twingo. In fact Noddy would have one too. In its third incarnation Renault have returned to a layout last seen in 1971 with their rear engined rear drive 8 and 10 models. This car shares a platform with Smarts For4. It’s just been dressed in prettier clothing.

Turn the key and the engine giggles into life. Now I know that makes it sound like I have lost the plot somewhat and to be fair I have with this little Renault. It’s such an easy car to love.

‘Giggles’ as he became known arrived to me with bright red paint, go faster stripes and pretty polished alloy wheels. The stripes and wheels themselves were reminiscent to those offered by Renault in the 1970’s boutique range of accessories. This car possessed some nice retro touches. The rear was very pretty. The front however had the face only a mother could love. The problem is with the daytime running lights that look like he’s had his top lip pierced twice! You’ll soon grow to accept this.

While I had the Twingo with me I had a party so parked him in the back garden. There were some picky queens whose car delights ranged from all things Citroen, Alfa Romeo and Maserati. With alcohol flowing the Twingo was subjected to a clinic style review. It was thumbs up on a lot of things. Your friends would approve but choose wisely. Despite the being able to accommodate well within the space available, the Twingo is a strict 4 seater.

Inside was a pleasant change from austere black that is so the norm these days. The Twingo had the options list ticked and came with the red and white plastic inserts on the doors and contrasting red stitching on the seats. The white plastic will get grubby. You can’t deny that so getting the bucket out on a Sunday for a wash and wipe won’t become a bore because you’ll love the little Twingo. Despite living in the sticks I have never once washed a car I had to return but I just couldn’t return ‘Giggles’ to Renault covered in dirt.

It was easy to get into a suitable driving position. The high backed seats took a bit of time to get used too but after a day or two it all felt quite normal. What wasn’t was the position of the window switches. No matter how short or tall you are they are always about 4 inches too far back. Thankfully the ventilation system is up to the job. The pop out windows in the rear doors working well in promoting greater ventilation with minimal wind noise.

The driving experience of the Twingo is unique. It’s not how you would imagine it to be. A rear engined rear drive layout it might have but thoughts of a tail happy little car are not what you get. The stability program is always on and will always get you out of trouble even if you provoke it wildly with enthusiastic movements. What you will prefer though is to drive it in its manual mode. The auto box will still change up and down but it will do so at a higher rev and for this increase in enthusiasm you won’t pay dearly at the pumps. Chances are you won’t notice a difference at all.

The auto gear box does however have a few niggles. In traffic it can become a bit snappy if you are heavy with the right foot. At parking speeds it just won’t engage without a little throttle. Several times I “that’ll do” parked it instead of risking ploughing into the car in front. Strangely enough though is that it works better in reverse. Thankfully the turning circle is small so backing into a space is easier. I went out to find small spaces just to drive round and round. It had me laughing.

Now for the science part. The 898cc engine will make your mother happy. She’ll be happy you don’t have one of those big engined fast cars. What you don’t need to tell her is the little turbo attached to it propels the Twingo at quite a rate in forward motion. It will startle you at just how nippy this little car is. As is typical with a rear weight bias layout though is susceptibility to side winds. It can get buffeted about a bit. This was noticeable at those great speeds it could travel at. Kept within 70mph and it wasn’t such a problem.

Living with the Twingo is easy. There are cubby holes where you wouldn’t expect them to be and that high rear boot floor that hides the engine is perfect height for loading. It also turns out it is also the perfect height as a seat. The insulation over the engine so epic in its padding that it makes for a cushiony soft seat to sit on and ponder life. It’s also good at not allowing heat into the boot so your picnic and your chilled prosecco won’t be ruined.

One innovative trick Renault have missed out on is the centre consoles removable cubby box. Add a snap-on strap and you get yourself a swishy Twingo bag for your oddments while also having a handy place for it to go when on the move.

What did annoy me the most was getting to the service items. The bonnet pulls forward to reveal the brake fluid, screen wash, coolant and battery. It’s a bit of a faff and all items are accessed by leaning over the bonnet. Chances are the coolant will never get checked and the screen wash will always be empty. Normal bonnet hinges would correct this and probably allow for some extra storage up front. Like wise to check the oil you need to go through the boot floor. Removing the floor isn’t as easy as it could be and makes it a bit of a chore.

Since its launch I had always wanted to test a Twingo and l am glad I did. As a run around this car gets my thumbs up. It also gets the sides of my mouth up too. l can’t stop giggling.

Likes

Fun to drive
Cute
Turning circle

Loathes

Auto box jerky
Poor access to service items
Window switch posistion

The Lowdown
Car – Renault Twingo Dynamique TCe
Price – £ £13,900 (as tested)
MPG – 58.9mpg (combined)
Power – 90 bhp 6000 rpm
Top Speed – 104 mph
Co2 – 108 (g/km)

21st June 2016
CAR REVIEW | Peugeot 208 GTi Sports Edition

★★★★★ | Peugeot 208 GTi Sports Edition

I don’t quite know how to type the opening lyrics for Tight Fits “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” but shhh now please, there is a lion sleeping on my driveway. It’s the Peugeot 208 GTi Sport. If it wasn’t so bullish you could call it a lion cub because of its size. Driving it however releases the animal within.

I’ll stop with the lion references now and I’ll ruin the wait for the star rating at the end because it gets Five from me. Six if I could. It’s not a great car though so don’t be fooled into thinking it is. What you get for a mere £22,595 is an uncompromised hot hatch.

There are no toys in this car. You can’t decide how you want to set the stiffness of the suspension. Peugeot’s sports division have done that for you while also lowering it 10mm over the original GTi and changing the wheel alignments. They have also given you the torsen differential. To you and me that means limited slip. All this makes for a car with go-kart like handling with almost no body roll. The ride is jarringly firm on potted streets. On main roads it’s quite liveable.

On the inside you get the usual aircon, airbags, radio with DAB and cruise control but the satnav is a £450 extra. It is needed. The infotainment system is a tad sparse without it. That said you do get a calculator within it. It’s so random I thought it worthy of a mention. What you do get for your money though are 2 delightful bucket seats that both feel great and do their job. What these do however is turn the rear seat into nothing more than a padded parcel shelf. With the 208 being how it is anyway I doubt you’ll get a queue of friends eager to sit in the back anyway.

Unlike the 207 that this replaced, it feels smaller. It looks smaller. Peugeot have always made the prettiest small cars. While the 207 was a huge mistake with no redeeming features, they have got this one right. Some of the trim and finish is a bit low rent. The paint within the boot shut looks unfinished. At first I thought the parcel shelf cheap by the way it’s been executed but. Simplicity in itself.

I have kidded myself that this and some of the switch gears look very similar to those used on Peugeot cars from over 10 years ago – is because the engineers have been busy spending money on the more fundamentals. I was right.

Sitting behind the small leather bound steering wheel your eyes are directed to the the outside world and just below that the facia panel. For some reason it all sits above the line of the wheel. You then notice that the wheel in your hand is incredibly small. It all works so beautifully. Nice little touches of red stitching throughout and the red lights around the 2 contoured clocks are a really nice touch. You can switch them off if you like but you won’t. It becomes very intimate.

Driving it is the fun part. It is also the reason why you would buy this model. In no way does it feel that “Health and Safety” have been involved with the development. It has a simple key to start the eager 208bhp engine. You don’t even need to press the clutch pedal to start it. Everything you do is by your choice. The 208 makes you accountable for your actions and this is what makes it such a breath of fresh air. You can even do left foot breaking. This is a car for the action man.

It is its eagerness that overwhelms your senses. A 0-60mph time of 6.5 seconds is ridiculously rapid. The Torsen diff helping put all that power down without much fuss or wheel spin. Care should be taken when pulling out of a junction either left or right. Its tendency to dart away in your chosen direction is both exhilarating and addictive. Too addictive if I am honest. Those Michelin tyres won’t last long.

To hell with the cost of the tyres though. The go-kart like handling is secure at higher than normal speeds though you will tend to cruise 40mph corners you’ve taken before at 60mph. Only then do you realise the potential that this car has. And that 205 GTi trait of lift-off-oversteer very much remains. Thankfully it is much more secure and manageable. Many 205 owners will tell you about the days they ended up facing the wrong way or worse, in a ditch. If however, at any point, you think your pants are going brown, the 4 disc brake set up with scrub off speed with alarmingly little fuss.

The power pack in the 208 is a superb piece of engine. All the power of 208 horses comes in at 6000rpm while 300Nm of torque are there from only 3000rpm. This is puzzling because it does feel nearer 4000rpm when on the move. Change down a gear and then you find it at 3000rpm. The 6 speed gearbox has ratios that require chopping and changing. The throw of the gear shift is way to long in throw though. I’m sure a short throw shift could reduce the 0-60 time by 1/2 a second. It would also add to the already adrenaline fuelled eagerness.

What was annoying was the boom from the exhaust at low revs and at 3000rpm on the motorway. The 208 suggests a gear on the screen and should you wish to get optimal fuel economy it might make sense. Ignore it, take it up another 500 rpm from the 1900rpm when it suggests and you will enjoy the exhaust note. Or keep it in 5th gear until you really need sixth and the boom vanishes but the fun and snappy throttle responses remains.

I want one. I don’t think I would tire of it with its hard ride either. In this stripped down form it does what a car should do and that is allow YOU to drive it by human thought and not the computer. I almost forgot, it returns pretty good fuel economy too.

Likes
Price
Very intimate
No frills just thrills

Loathes
Some finishing details are poor
Long throw of gear stick
Boom from exhaust at low revs

The Lowdown
Car – Peugeot 208 GTi Peugeot Sport edition
Price – £22,595 (as tested)
MPG – 35.3mpg (combined)
Power – 208 bhp 6000 rpm
0-62mph – 6.5 seconds
Top Speed – 143 mph
Co2 – 125 (g/km)

Find out more http://www.peugeot.co.uk/

22nd May 2016
CAR REVIEW | Citroen C3 Exclusive PureTech 110

Bettered with Time Like Wine

★★★★

Citroen came to me and said “take your pick of our current range of motor vehicles” so l opted for the C3. For a start, the C3 has been with us for 14 years and l wondered if during that time the C3 as l remember it, had got better to still justify it as a viable supermini in today’s current crop of little city runners to the buying public.

The original C3 was frightful. I have driven several over the years and if it did give you feelings they were of gratitude that you got to your destination and were able to walk away from it. It wasn’t that it was a bad car but it was so very cheap in every way and not very engaging. So has it got any better?

It sat parked in the work’s carpark all bright and purple on shiny 17” alloy wheels lost in a myriad of great machinery we had on that day. We called it the Bruise but it gave you anything but a bruise. It bristled with verve on its little 3 cylinder 1.2cc turbo engine. I usually have a problem with 3 pot engines, in that they resonate and jerk around in such a way that I get motion sickness. None of this was evident in the 200 miles I did shooting around the world of Surrey in my purple machine. From low expectations, they rapidly rose with every mile I took to where it excelled itself.

There is a lot of praise to be thrown at the little Citroen so I’ll start with the negatives first. Firstly the rear door openings are small for that of a car its age. Getting in and out isn’t a problem for anyone small like a child. The more rotund of us will complain and then there is poor headroom. Despite its high sides there is limited height in the back for anyone 6 foot and over. And that is my only real complaint which for a car that has seen developments and 3 facelifts over its 14-year life is quite good.

Today in Britain want our cars with a Germanic ride, all taught and poised. Sadly this transfers into the cabin as harshness on the ride. True to say this is no roly-poly Citroen from yesteryear but the ride is compliant and smooth giving no cause for bruises on the bottom. And the handling is fun – though sadly hampered by an over sensitive traction system that kicks in too readily even when switched off. However, what it doesn’t take away from you is the fun of torque steer when all that power of 151lb.ft torque is applied to the front wheels from a lowly 1500rpm.

It’s a hoot to drive. Mind your step though because that little engine will propel it in a forward motion to 60 in 10.6 seconds at a great alacrity that you will get points on your licence!

The rest of the performance figures are impressive too. It loves to rev and at 5500rpm it is pumping out all of its 110bhp. Used in the way that the C3 allows itself to be motored it will kick you in the nuts at the pumps. The urban cycle of 47.9mpg is impressive but you have to drive like the boot is full of eggs to get it. The higher 30’s is where I got it to while enjoying its rapid ability. l don’t doubt the 60mpg combined figure Citroen state if used at its torque maximum.

The fit and finish have been greatly improved. It wasn’t the flimsy C3 I remember. On this model, we get handsfree Bluetooth connectivity that once mastered for it will ask for your PIN number first it works quietly away in the background. In operation, it was clear to use and couldn’t have been any simpler. We also get a reverse camera with guiding lines and the stereo will only mute a notch if the sensors go off. It also had leather seats that while not Aston Martin in quality was up to spec for a top of the range supermini.

The dashboard layout was totally logical and everything fell to hand. What was poor was the glovebox. It is only half the width of the draw. Thankfully you won’t need to put your satnav in there when you park up because it has one built into the infotainment system. Again it isn’t the best out there but l was able to find another route from the garden centre that l didn’t know existed because of the clarity of the screen and colours. I’ve only lived here for a year and it takes a 14-year-old car full of new tricks to show me. And it coped well with that trip to the garden centre. The tall Caprea Kilmarnock fitted nicely laying down and soil spilt was hoovered up without fuss from the hard-wearing carpets.

And that is that. The C3 like all things French has got better with age. It will never have the lustfulness that the DS3 has but then again it doesn’t carry a £4000 premium for 2 fewer doors. And does it still manage to be a viable proposition to those on the lookout for a city runner? Yes, it does. The range starts at £11000 and rises accordingly. The model I was given was the flagship in the range and its price isn’t cheap. If it was more reflective of its ageing design and in view of the newer crop of little wonders out there I would have given it 5 stars.

Likes

Build quality

Ride

Specification and equipment

Loathes

Limited room in the rear

Glovebox

Some quality issues with paint in the door shuts

The Lowdown

Car – Citroen C3 Exclusive PureTech 110

Price – £17,009 (as tested)

MPG – 60.1 mpg (combined)

Power – 110 bhp

0-62mph – 10.6 seconds

Top Speed – 118 mph

Co2 – 107 (g/km)

Find out more from Citroen.co.uk

15th April 2016