Citroen Saxo VTS Review

Overall Rating

Excellent bulletproof engines, good mpg 38 average with alot of high revs driving, good looks as standard, cheap.

Gearboxes are like chocolate, the syncromesh will give up after 60000 miles resulting in crunching between gears, the odd squeak and rattle, nickable spare wheel, idle problems as standard.

I've owned both a new shape Citroen Saxo VTS and my current VTS and I can definetely say the VTS is in a different league, as someone mentioned the VTR is a warm hatch that is 'nippy' whereas the VTS is the flyer. The gearboxes are the definite weak point, my 75,000 one will crunch 2-3 and now 3-4 if you change gear quick-ish. It gets a lot of stick though so I can't really knock it, the engines are just so sweet, they are rev happy engines right up to 7000 and just 'hum' along around 4000revs, giving impressive acceleration even at motorway cruising speed as its sitting on peak torque at that speed so any acceleration is brisk. Light weight helps too as its only a 1.6. You cannot fail to be impressed, I really don't know if mine's standard as its kept with a sierra cosworth, (though cosworths are heavy the power to weight between the two isn't that much difference, though after that he would probably pull away as he just has more power), and lately a Nissan 300zx auto, again a heavy car but with 286bhp it should have left me, and his car was gleaming red so a nice example - I saw the moment he used the kickdown (as its automatic) cos it lunged like he stamped on the accelerator!
Its been ultra reliable, returning an average 38mpg for alot of town driving, and the usual heavy foot action combined, I can't fault it, doesn't use a drop of oil or water over 10,000miles so far. Handling is typical torsion bar feeling, a real chuck around and predictable oversteer, but I bought mine with lots of tread on the tyres but in the wet it is very slippery. I'm hesitant to replace 4 tyres as they have alot of tread but I wish they gripped better in the wet. I've had no water leaks apart from in one of the rear lights which has partially corroded the lighting board circuit, so a piece of insulated wire soldered from a good point, bypassing the corrosion and soldering again to make a good circuit has stopped any more odd brake light bulb happenings. Temporary bodge but even though it'll be fine I will eventually replace the lighting circuit board.
The heater works very well and quickly, the seats are comfy and a nice dark patterned colour, and also the windows are nicely tinted as standard so glancing in the car gives the impression of darkened windows as dark interior and tinted windows combined has that effect.
I've had many cars, done a review on a few if you want to check out some others, but this car I'm sticking with for a long while, even knowing it'll need a new gearbox when the clutch is due in the next 10,000 or so miles. I don't get hassled by boy racers as mines totally standard, even ride height, and its nice having a standard car when alot of previous cars have been modified.
I must add also that the alarm when it rained caused a few problems in that it kept going off! Standard alarm, if I turned off the interior sensors it solved the problem, strange seeing as the control box is inside the car under the dash, apparently the sensors are hyper sensitive and with no adjustment many owners simply disconnect them, very basically you just unplug them from the control box and hey presto, no more false alarms in the wet! Simple things like windows winding up quickly (electric) and nicely weighted steering, light-ish clutch pedal and ABS brakes add to a nice overall feel when driving the car, mines a Diablo Red which is a colour I've loved and now I finally have one I don't give it a second thought anymore!
I've added genuine Citroen roofbars to mine as I go mountain biking and use cycle carriers on them, the fit is good although it takes a bit of fettling and tweaking brackets so they don't rub when you shut the doors, I've amped up a 12inch sub in the boot and being a 4 channel amp it runs the fronts too (alpines) so boot space is a little limited but being a box shape boot with little intrusion from suspension struts either side it leaves an ok space for shopping and bags etc.
I've serviced mine a few weeks ago, oil, filter, fuel filter, spark plugs and new clutch cable (preventative measure!). All fitting except the clutch cable was straight forward for a DIY-er (I changed a clutch on my old 106 1.1-my parents now own it, and I've also done the cambelt and headgasket replacement on the 106 too as well as a reno 19 16v and clio 16v head gaskets over the years so I can do most jobs myself). Hmm, the clutch cable runs along the bulkhead and up under the steering rams into the car and joining up to the clutch pedal. Access down by the pedals is seriously awkward, as is trying to route the cable under the steering rams, a nightmare! I tried and finally succeeded by running a wire from inside the car through into the engine bay, attacing to a heavier cable, pulling back through into the car, and attaching the other end to the clutch cable and drawing them both through until the clutch cable was in place!
Fiddly is the word!
But anyway to sum up, i'd recommend one of these to anyone, as long as the size and interior space suits your needs, you can't go far wrong, insurance isn't much more than a VTR even though the books say it is- VTS comes standard with a CAT1 alarm for a start compared to just an immobiliser on the VTR.
performance=9/10
driving =8/10
mpg =8/10 38mpg combined
reliability =9/10
looks =8/10
security =8/10
fun =9/10
parts prices =7/10 Genuine Citroen ones
" " =10/10 Non-Genuine ones
Electrics =9/10 power windows,mirrors,reliability etc
overall =9/10