citroen c1 1.0 review

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Picture courtesy of Carlwyatt.

Average Ratings

Performance	7.3/10
Practicality	7.5/10
Reliability	10/10
Value for Money	9.8/10
Reviewer Rating	9.3/10
Overall Rating	9.4/10

100% Recommended4 out of 4 Reviews

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By carlwyatt on 20th May 2006

carlwyatt's Ratings

Year Manufactured	2006
Length of ownership	6 months
Doors	3
Performance	8/10
Practicality	7/10
Reliability	10/10
Value for money	9/10
Overall value	9/10
carlwyatt's recommendation

Good Points

Bad Points

General Comments

What is it?
The Citroen C1 is a car jointly developed and produced by Toyota and the psa group (Citroen & Peugeot) all the cars are built to Toyotas high standards and as Toyota regularly come near the top of most owner satisfaction tests that's another plus. The purpose of this car is cheap practical motoring with road tax at £40 per year, group 1insurance, 61.9mpg combined the car is also designed to need little in the way of maintenance due to its relative simplicity and ingenious design such as chain driven cam belts (longer lasting but slightly noisier than conventional rubber belts) and bumpers that can be removed with only two bolts. The engine I chose was the 998cc 3cyl petrol engine this is the lightest internal combustion engine in any mass produced four seat car (it weighs in at 67kg) this engine also has Toyota's vvti (variable valve timing intelligent) engine management system this is far more sophisticated than most vvt units as it can control not only when the valves open but also how long they stay open for, this increases power and torque and decreases fuel consumption.

Why I brought it?
I've been looking for a car that's advanced where it counts (e.g. engine, chassis, gear box ect) and basic and simple where it can increase reliability and decrease weight (windup windows, no central locking, ect). And I believe that I've found that in this car. For a car so small it's surprisingly safe (safer than many 4x4's) it comes with abs (advanced braking system) and ebd (electronic brake distribution) as well as a stability control system, so that all helps avoid and accident but it's also has seat belt pretensioners, two airbags (four with rhythm spec), isofix child seat mountings and advanced crumple zone's. The car is also a good performer due to the low weight (790kg) and Farley high power and torque output at 68bhp and 69ib ft respectively. The official performance specifications are 13.7 seconds 0-62 and 98 mph but many owners believe that the performance has been deliberately underestimated to keep the car in a low insurance group (autocar magazine recently did 0-62 in 11.2 seconds in a c1). It's also I good handling little car with rather stiff suspension, I was worried when I got the car that the ebs, abs and stability control would be overly intrusive but this isn't the case you can get away with some very creative driving before any electrical wizardry trys to saves the day. The practicality is very good with good front and rear leg/head room but the boot space dose suffer as a result in my opinion it's a shame that Citroen didn't fit it's module rear seats or Toyotas sliding bench seat's but there easy to fold and once down there's an impressive luggage area. After a bit of haggling I got the price down to £5245 and for that money I'm amazed by the built quality nearly everything feels solid and well fitted especially the indicators and the solid thunk that the doors make when there closed but certain parts of the dashboard feel flimsy.

Things I don't like
On the three-door variant the side rear windows are too small so they make checking your blind spot a little difficult but they made up for this by fitting very good wing mirrors, the rear wiper is too small and this really does annoy because the rear of the car is constantly dirty due to the stubbiness of the rear (cars that are flat at the back create a vacuum and suck up the dirt and water coming of the wheels) and last but not least the lack of a glove box lid but Citroen do sell one as an accessory for £29.95.

Economy
I've only done a 1000 miles but my average is 56.8 mpg with a low of 46mpg and a high of 62.7mpg.

Carl Wyatt.

Total Respect: +4