Citroën C3 Aircross: the affordable, practical, comfortable French car is back

Telegraph

03-03-2025

Before the groundbreaking Renault Espace MPV came out in 1983, if you needed to transport a sizable family, your choices were simple: a minibus, a Land Rover or an estate car with flip-up occasional seats in the boot.
Three-row estates were all the rage in the United States, where station wagons' vast boots lent themselves to the conversion. In Europe, Citroën, Volvo and Mercedes started adding extra seats to their large estate cars – and for a time, they became the de facto choice if you had lots of kids to move and wanted a 'normal' car.
Now Citroën is at it again. The previous C3 Aircross was a comfy but otherwise unremarkable SUV based on the C3 hatchback, but now the regular C3 is an SUV; the Aircross is a longer version with a larger boot. A C3 estate, to all intents and purposes. And – yes – you can specify an extra row of fold-down seats in the boot.
Pros
Comfortable
Cheerful
Cheap
Cons
Cramped in seven-seat form
Comes with no heat pump option
Could do with more lower back support
Under the skin
It's no surprise, then, that the mechanicals are largely the same as those of the C3. The electric version has a 111bhp motor and a battery with a total capacity of 44kWh, enough for an official range of 188 miles, or between 130 and 150 miles in the real world. A heat pump isn't available as an option, though, so there's every chance those figures could head even farther south in cooler weather.
In electric form, then, this is very much an urban family hauler rather than a long-distance machine – although a 54kWh model with a range of about 220 miles arrives later this year to fill that gap.
But if you are unable to charge at home, you're best off with one of the petrol models. There are two: both versions of the ubiquitous Stellantis 1.2-litre, three-cylinder 'wet belt' engines.
The cheaper Turbo 100 delivers only 99bhp, so expect to make judicious use of the six-speed manual gearbox to maintain progress. The car tested here might be a better bet: a mild hybrid with 134bhp and a six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
It's in the seven-seat option that's the big news though. The first disappointment is that it isn't available in the electric version, only the petrol.
The next is that the seats are bolted into the boot, which means that even with them folded down, you lose a huge chunk of the boot space; at 330 litres, it's a touch more than in the standard C3, but not by much.
Flawed floorspace
What's more, the variable boot floor has disappeared in the process, replaced by an odd false floor consisting of two flimsy pieces of reinforced fabric, which you simply rest on top of the folded seats.
While these cosmetically cover the deep crevasses in front of and behind the folded-down rearmost seats, they aren't supported in these areas; put too much weight in the wrong place, and the whole thing gives way, scattering your belongings onto the floor.
With the third-row seats in operation, boot space is virtually nil; don't expect to fit your shopping in. And as you might expect, the seats themselves aren't the most capacious; an adult might just squeeze in for a short trip, but they won't thank you for it.
Children will fit better, as long as their car seats aren't too bulky, but there aren't any Isofix points in the third row, so those seats will have to be belted – and you might reasonably question the wisdom of strapping in small people when their seats are jammed against the boot lid, right in the car's crumple zone were you to be rear-ended.
Perhaps, then, this is a car that works better in five-seat form, as a small SUV with a bit more passenger space.
Viewed thus, the C3 Aircross goes from a car that feels cramped to one that feels spacious. The boot is now 460 litres; the variable floor, meanwhile, which in its raised position sits flush with the folded seat backs, provides a shallow under-floor cubby.
In the back seats, there's a huge amount of room for such a relatively small car; even 6ft adults can sit comfortably without their knees touching the backs of the front seats. The only downside is that the rear bench is fixed; in the seven-seat version, it slides back and forth to provide an extra degree of flexibility.
From the central pillar forward, the Aircross is identical to the standard C3. Citroën's latest infotainment system features a more simple design that helps make it quicker to respond (not to mention quicker to navigate).
Keep it simple, stupid
The instrument binnacle sits above a small steering wheel, a bit like Peugeot's divisive i-Cockpit gauges. The difference is that the black panel filled with crystal clear digital numbers is much easier to read than the Peugeot form, while it's slim enough that it isn't hidden by the top of the steering wheel rim.
In fact, the whole of the C3's dashboard is a clever combination of smart design and usability. There's a lovely swath of tactile fabric that spans the dash, for example, while in top-spec models, there's ambient lighting throughout and heated seats.
Yet there are also large, tactile piano-key controls for the climate control, along with proper buttons on the steering wheel. To disengage the most egregious legally mandated driver aids there are two more buttons, located side-by-side below the driver's side air vent, which makes it easy to press and hold them together each time you start the car. It's refreshing that Citroën has considered such details.
For a car that starts at only £20,240, the C3 feels remarkably upmarket and well thought out. Which makes it an absolute bargain for what it is. Even the top-spec hybrid model tested costs less than £26,000, while the electric version is actually cheaper, at £24,990.
What's more, Citroën will now provide up to eight years' worth of extended warranty on your C3 Aircross's powertrain if you use a main dealer for servicing. Not quite as good as Toyota's warranty offer, but neither is it to be sniffed at on a car this affordable.
On the road
Given the value, you might be expecting the C3 Aircross to drive like a school chair bolted to a sheet of plywood, mounted on a set of ball bearings. Happily, it does not.
In fact, it's about as comfortable as you'd hope a Citroën to be. And not in the wafty way of the larger C4 and C5 X. No, the C3 Aircross does a better job of controlling its vertical body movements, resisting the urge to waft over the largest, fastest undulations. Yet it still manages to smother almost all of the bumps. In fact, for the price, no other car can really touch it for ride comfort.
If there's a downside, it's that Citroën's much-vaunted 'advanced comfort' (read: memory foam) seats lack lower-back support in this car and there's no adjustable lumbar support to boost it.
It's not fast – what were you expecting? – but the three-cylinder engine revs gamely to get you up to speed. True, on a motorway, it's hardly the quietest and when you push it hard there's a lot of vibration – you'll take all of three seconds to work out that money has been saved on sound deadening.
And given the suppleness of the suspension, it's no surprise that in corners the body leans over. Not by too much, though, while there's grip and traction aplenty. The steering, meanwhile, is over-assisted but direct, meaning you can hustle the C3 Aircross with abandon.
The Telegraph verdict
This car isn't redolent of the big old Citroën seven-seaters, however. In fact, you're better off avoiding the seven-seat version altogether. The five-seater is a far more coherent proposition.
Like the Ami 8 Break of old, it is built for comfort and versatility; its remit to provide basic, affordable transport to a family on a budget. Like the Ami, it's a bit gawky from some angles, but its form follows function. And, like the Ami, it isn't fast, but it is laden with charm, in spite of its affordability.
I love cars like this: simple, honest and accessible, but chock-full of joyful touches so that they don't feel like wearing a hair shirt.
That the C3 Aircross manages to be comfortable and relatively stylish as well is merely the icing on the cake. It isn't perfect – but this is just the sort of car many buyers have been crying out for.
The facts
On test: Citroën C3 Aircross 1.2 Hybrid 136 Max ëDCS6
Body style: five-door SUV
On sale: now
How much? £25,740 on the road (range from £20,240)
How fast? 120mph, 0-62mph in 10.1sec
How economical? 53.3mpg (WLTP Combined)
Engine & gearbox: 1,199cc three-cylinder petrol engine, six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, front-wheel drive
Electric powertrain: AC permanent magnet synchronous motor with 0.9kWh battery (gross), no external charging capability
Electric range: 0.6 miles
Maximum power/torque: 134bhp/170lb ft
CO2 emissions: 121g/km (WLTP Combined)
VED: £210 first year, then £180
Warranty: 3 years / 60,000 miles (extendable up to 8 years for powertrain on servicing)
Spare wheel as standard: no (optional extra)
The rivals
Dacia Duster TCe 130 4x2 Extreme
128bhp, 51.4mpg, £23,850 on the road
The new Duster still has the edge over the C3 Aircross on price, and its rough, tough styling might well be more appealing to those who want their SUVs to look like SUVs. It is handsome inside, too, although the materials aren't as varied nor as tactile as the C3's. You might not care, given the £2,000-odd saving – especially given the Duster does better than most Dacias in crash tests.
Vauxhall Frontera 1.2 Hybrid 136 GS e-DCT6
134bhp, 53.3mpg, £27,405 on the road
It's hard to imagine why you'd pay almost £2,000 more for the same car with a Vauxhall badge (and, it's worth noting, without the C3's clever hydraulic suspension bump stops). However, we haven't driven the Frontera yet, so perhaps it will deliver some quality and specification upgrades that justify its price. Watch this space.
Renault Captur E-Tech 145 Techno
143bhp, 61.4mpg, £26,495 on the road
Time was the Captur was the value option in this sector, but it's been undercut by cheaper (and more cheerful) rivals. Still, for your cash you get a full – rather than mild – hybrid powertrain; its impressive fuel economy will help mitigate the extra outlay. Inside, the Captur feels plusher than the C3, but it doesn't ride as nicely, and while the rear seats slide, the boot isn't as large.