By Otsile Kadiege

Citroën South Africa recently added yet another budget-friendly vehicle to their stable – the new C3 Aircross and we recently criss crossed around the Gauteng to see if the newcomer is a worthy contender in its competitive class.

Exterior design and styling

Outside, the new India-built Citroën C3 Aircross continues the brand’s unmistakable, unconventional design and styling. Highlights include boomerang-shaped LED daytime running lights, halogen headlights, LED taillights, two-tone exterior paints and 17-inch alloy wheels. We like its bold and somewhat premium looks.

Interior design, tech and practicality

The 4.3 meter long C3 Aircross is available as a 5- or a 5+2-seater. Interior highlights include a standard 10.2-inch touchscreen, a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, roof mounted air vents for the 5+2 version, five USB ports and 70:30 split second row seats. The 5 seater has a luggage capacity of 444 L while the 5+2 avails 511 L with the extra seats removed.

The interior looks nice and it’s practical. However, as expected, it’s dominated by plastic materials and shockingly the rear bench doesn’t have ISOFIX child seat anchors. The seven-seater version has a removable rear bench is best suited for kids. When removed, the luggage capacity is greatly improved.

Safety

On the safety and assistance side of things, it only has two airbags, ABS with EBD, ESP, a reverse camera and hill hold assist.This being a budget family vehicle, we are disappointed that the C3 Aircross doesn’t have ISOFIX anchors for child seats.

Powertrain and driving impressions

Powering the C3 Aircross range is a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine producing 81kW and 205Nm. It’s paired with a 6-speed automatic transmission and has a claimed fuel consumption of 6.3l/100km.

The 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine carries the C3 Aircross without a fuss, however we suspect that it might struggle when traveling with seven people. The powertrain is perfectly paired with a buttery smooth 6-speed auto as they work perfectly together. Sadly, this being a budget vehicle customers will miss out on the cruise control feature which is quite useful for long drives. Its ride quality is commendable, it has excellent visibility all-round and it sits noticeably higher than the C3 hatchback.

Pricing

C3 Aircross Max 1.2T 6AT 5-seater – R344,900

C3 Aircross Max 1.2T 6AT 5+2-seater – R354,900