Had a poke around the dealership last month and realised I had completely ignored this car despite it seeming to be exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. So I made enquiries and the dealer said they would phone me when they had a demo car back in as they had just sold theirs.

A month later and they actually phoned back! so off to Telfords Citroen in Carlisle to have a go of it.

The demo was a brand spanking new Dstyle model with the 120bhp petrol engine, which is the one I was most interested in. They had it priced at £13,999 as a special in black with white 17" wheels. So, here goes with my impressions.

Styling: It's a pretty thing isn't it, I like it's look, but black doesn't do it justice as it hides all the styling.

Interior: mmm, nice. Seats are comfortable and slightly more support than my standard Fabia seats (but only slightly). Dash is fairly funky with a central trip computer display, bold dials and a cloth effect covering on the plastics. So far, so good. The roof is low, but not too low, still good headroom available and you can even fit some passengers in the rear (not for a long trip though). It also has a decent size boot!

Ergonomics: Ah, this is not so good. While the controls around the wheel all fall to hand perfectly, the wheel itself isn't very comfortable. It has sharper edges, which don't fit your hands very well, the clutch pedal has a long travel and a bite point right up at the top, it's very hard to feel the clutch bite, and the footrest is higher than the pedal. That rapidly made my left thigh get crampy. When I adjusted the seat back to take some of the pressure off my leg, I was at full stretch for the steering wheel, even with it adjusted as far back as it would go. You ideally need to be a species of monkey to fit this car comfortably, because humans don't seem to fit.

Driving: This is better. It drives very well, smooth, fairly quiet apart from tyre noise, no body roll and decent ride comfort. No complaints there on the short test drive, should be good fun to drive. The engine is powerful, but doesn't feel like it. It is plainly over-geared so that it gets to 60 in 2nd for a good headline time in the brochure. As such it isn't punchy and feels flat, compared to the 1.2 TSI. From the feel of it, this is no faster in the real world than my Fabia. The gearbox is the opposite of what I expected. The throw is really long and not that precise. A sporty car should have a short throw gearshift. Anyone who thinks the Fabia's gearshift is too long hasn't tried one of these. I think I would get used to it, but it needs to be much shorter really. Other good points are that it has good rear three quarter vision and it's easy to park.

Would I buy one? I think I would, but I would need a much longer test drive so I could play with the seat position to see if I could make it work, if I couldn't then the answer would be no. They would also have to do a better deal on it than I could get at the moment. I might ask again in 18 months and see. Then again, I might not. It has great style, but some big flaws that you need to be sure you can live with. At least servicing is quite cheap.

Price-wise, this car competes directly with the Fabia Monte Carlo, and if I was changing today, I would be straight into a 1.2 TSI 105bhp Monte without any question.

To sum it up then it's French...

Yep! They know how to make a car look good, they know how make them handle, but they still don't know that humans have longer legs than that

Hehe

I had a 155THP. From Citroen UK and really enjoyed it. Your review matches mine except the driving position, I'm nit very tall so had no problems.

The gearbox was ok on the 155 too. Cracking engine as well.

The 155 THP is out of the Pug 207 GTI, Cooper S etc.

This engine is rubbish after a while! Mine even set on fire with only 10000 miles on the clock.

French S£%TE

Decent review,

You didnt say what rear passenger space was like once you had the drivers seat setup.

Having checked around before buying the Octy, i looked at the DS3 as a replacement for the 500, but looking over the DS3 the rear seats & legroom looked just as horrendous as the 500.

Also the lack of both reach & rake for the steering wheel in most other cars is a failing to driver comfort ( as you mentioned about th wheel being too far away when re adjusting seat)

The 155 THP is out of the Pug 207 GTI, Cooper S etc.

This engine is rubbish after a while! Mine even set on fire with only 10000 miles on the clock.

French S£%TE

Do you think they ALL "set on fire" with only 10,000 miles on the clock? Honestly, what a ridiculous thing to say.

Edited 28 April, 201115 yr by Dave_G

You didnt say what rear passenger space was like once you had the drivers seat setup.

It wasn't exactly generous. I could have sat behind myself, but I would not have wanted to be there for very long.

Still, it was better than my Hyundai Coupe. There's no way I could have sat behind myself in that car... In fact nobody could :no:

We bought one, the wife and I love it, it has the sport package so better seats pedals and wheels etc.I am 6 foot and it is the most comfotable car I have sat in, the gearbox is great too. I have driven most variants of the fabia including a vrs, but still think it is a grandads car, my father in law who is 78 loves his! The Ds3 has cruise as standard as well, handles great, the monaco might look like a mini vrs but is a sheep in wolfs clothing . The wifes car http://briskoda.net/..._1#entry2091933

I like that, good choice of colours