Be good. Have fun. Be happy. Feel good. Citroën’s C3 Aircross comes with those little messages on fabric tabs, one on each door, writes Brian Byrne. In a fraught world, such a little idea, possibly considered by some to be a frivolity, might well be more important than we realise. With our cars often being our cocoon from more tricky parts of our day, any reminder of positive things can’t be anything but good.
At the time of writing, I’ve driven a couple of versions of the C3 Aircross, the B-segment crossover from the French brand with a pedigree that’s a mix of innovation and quirkiness. Now part of the Stellantis group, and the technological inter-brand commonalities that come with that, Citroën is still determined to make its own mark.
This is the second generation of the European C3 Aircross, completely restyled with a strong exterior design that includes sculpted and muscular front bumpers, larger wings, LED headlights, and distinctive daytime running lights. It looks imposing, and my review car in red with a contrasting black roof certainly held a presence. Horizontal shapes and lines on the tailgate add visual width to the car as it drives away in front of you.
Citroën is associated with comfort, and the new C3 Aircross takes that to the next level with interiors in soft materials, funky designs appropriate to the slightly offbeat theme, providing a calm and comfortable cabin. The latest version of the brand's Advanced Comfort seats is completely redesigned, with 10mm of high-density foam added.
The traditional driver’s information pod behind the steering wheel has been replaced by a long, narrow display at the base of the windscreen. A 10.25-inch centre infotainment screen is slightly angled towards the driver. Both feature colourful and easy-to-read graphics. There are physical controls for climate management, with a wireless charging pad tucked in below, along with USB-C ports, cupholders, and the Stellantis flick switch-type selector for the automatic transmission. The compact, multi-function steering wheel has a flat top and bottom, which initially felt odd when doing lock-to-lock manoeuvring, but I got used to it.
Second row passengers have fairly good head and leg space, the latter depending, though, on the front occupants not being overly lanky. My review car was the 7-seat option, quite rare in a B-segment car. With all seven seats in use, the boot volume is nominally 40 litres, but nil in practice (maybe you could stack a pair of umbrellas there, but they'd likely fall out when you opened the door). In my hybrid version, there's 300L of cargo space with those rear seats folded, 330L with the petrol manual option.
Power in my car was the now-familiar (and easy to like) Stellantis mild hybrid-assisted 1.2 three-pot, with a six-speed dual-clutch auto transmission. Nobody will ever call it the smoothest combination ever, but it has a comforting, lusty sound when pushed and rewards the owner with a decent economy, along with the advantages of automatic. I have also driven the electric version, and everything written here also applies except that the powertrain is quieter, maybe a bit zippier, and has a rated range of 400km.
Citroën has its own patented suspension technology, which gives its modern models an appreciably more comfortable ride than some other cars in the segment space, even ones that are related. It's the nature of the market for this small SUV that it's not going to be asked to manage rally-like handling, but I suspect that even if pushed in its standard form, drivability limits would be at the outer end. For my needs and those of most owners, it offers an entirely appropriate mix.
I didn't have to read the little 'happy tags' at any time to be smiling while driving the C3 Aircross. But it was nice that they were there.
PRICE: From €27,760; electric from €28,452; Hybrid from €29,620. WHAT I LIKED: The push to positivity.
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