Citroen C1 Review, Specs & Performance

Overview of the Citroen C1

Great city car offering fun

Funky looks help it stand out

The city car segment is a very competitive part of the market and the Citroen C1 offers funky good looks and a fun to drive alternative to its rivals. The engine is excellent around town and it's also a cheap car to run. The other big attraction, along with the colourful cabin, is the list of personalisation options to create a really striking car, particularly with contrasting roof colours.

Engines and performance for the Citroen C1

There's just one 1.0 litre engine to choose from and it has three cylinders but it offers decent performance and economy when being driven around town. It can be mated to either an automatic or five-speed manual gearbox to return more than 50 mpg. The engine is responsive and will give the little car a surprising turn of speed when needed and it offers good cruising performance on motorways. The latest generation of the three-cylinder petrol unit features 'Stop&Start' that helps to boost fuel efficiency and is Euro 6d compliant.

Equipment and handling

The main aim of the Citroen C1 is to deliver a sprightly city car that is easy to drive, has good visibility and is small enough for easy parking. It's been around for a while now but it's still a popular choice among buyers with Citroen delivering various special editions to help improve its attractive qualities. Among these are tweaks to the exterior design, including adding special graphic stripes and striking 15-inch alloy wheels. The C1 is also available with an electrically-operated canvas roof to make it a nice open-topped small car and, as mentioned, the personalisation options do make it an unusual proposition. Despite the size, there is plenty of room in the C1 for four people and with a boot of 196 litres, it will meet most needs - the rear seats fold down for the boot to extend to 780 litres and the parcel shelf flips up so it is easy to load the boot area. There is also a lot of equipment fitted as standard and depending on the model chosen, including the various special editions, this will include Bluetooth connectivity, a reversing camera, steering wheel controls and a USB socket. The C1 also has a 7-inch touchscreen to enable smartphone connectivity and the options include automatic air conditioning, keyless entry and start and also active city brake, along with speed sign recognition.

For anybody looking for an eye-catching city car that is comfortable to drive and cheap to run, then the Citroen C1 is recommended with a range of prices to meet various budgets with the slightly more expensive models offering more equipment and style.

More information about the Citroen C1

Why not have a look at the C1 on the official Citroen UK company website and get the latest news about it in the UK at The UK Citroen Owners' Club.