Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo driven

More Photos of Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo driven

 

Additional Info

• 

As pretty as the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo is to look at, its styling is not the only story here. It's the new plug-in hybrid electric drivetrain which the sleek new silhouette is hiding that's the main feature. It's entirely possible, if you believe the swirling rumours, that a production version of the car will be built in a few years, but for now you really shouldn't let that knowledge affect your buying decisions.

The e-hybrid drivetrain, as Porsche calls it, will debut much sooner. Effectively a thorough upgrade of the existing Porsche parallel hybrid drivetrain found in the current Panamera and Cayenne, e-hybrid swaps the existing nickel-hydride battery for a much more perky lithium-ion unit.

This is almost exactly the same size as the more ploddy ni-hy cell but offers much greater storage capacity. The li-ion battery offers more of everything you want from a hybrid - faster acceleration, greater range and a higher top speed without having to resort to waking up the 333bhp, 3.0-litre V6 supercharged petrol engine, a carry-over from the current system.

The other new element - besides the ability to plug the car into the mains - is the electric motor, which now produces around double the amount of power (95bhp) compared with today's electric engine. This brings the total drivetrain output to a maximum of 416bhp, allows a top all-electric speed (if you feather the right pedal) of over 81mph and increases the maximum all-electric range (not at 81mph, I might add) to about 18 miles. Petrol consumption is a claimed 81mpg.

If you just get in the car and start driving, it defaults to all-electric driving as much as possible. This can be overridden by slamming down the throttle, or, more elegantly, by pressing a wheel-mounted button. This allows you to charge up the battery as you zip down the motorway and then cruise into town on a wave of electric silence. Charging using an AC plug takes two and a half hours.

In the Sport Turismo, the system worked perfectly, cutting the engine on cue and bringing it back into the game as soon as asked. It also demonstrated in bursts of vivid acceleration down a sleepy section of Sunset Boulevard with a police escort, that it is still very much a Porsche. Its 0-62mph time is quoted at about six seconds, but it feels faster than that.

When fitted to a production Panamera, the sensation will undoubtedly be more muted, but still a significant advance over the current car. It's a pity that Porsche won't do the same for the styling, but with the Panamera Sport Turismo breaking cover, there's hope even that will change for the better soon.

Pat Devereux

The numbers
3000cc, V6, lithium-ion battery, RWD, 416bhp, 428lb ft, 81mpg, 82g/km CO2, 0-62mph in 6.0secs (est), n/a mph, n/a kg

                                         Land Rover Defender Kahn driven

£49,875 Driven March 2013

More Photos of Land Rover Defender Kahn driven

 

Additional Info

• 

I'm not quite sure what to make of these modded Defenders. Range Rover Sports I can understand - the car leans that way in the first place, so aftermarket tweaking is merely caricaturisation. But a dressed-up Defender? Surely that's like trying to cram a mangy gundog into a chichi shoulder bag? It might fit, but it won't be a happy union for any of those involved.

So why is it that I have a soft spot for this car? I think it's because no matter how much you do to a Defender, whether you give it a Towie-tan or a camo-and-winches makeover, its character remains unaffected. It's always noisy, always harsh, always utilitarian, always a semi-shambles to drive.

This Kahn (we've driven Overfinch and Twisted versions before) is no exception. The 2.2-litre diesel is rowdy, and the automatic gearbox is hilariously indecisive at high speeds, constantly flicking and jerking between ratios. In any other car, this would be unacceptable, but here it's a key part of its charm. In fact the gearbox might be the single best upgrade - it makes the Defender so much easier to live with.

The live axle chassis bucks around, the discomfort exaggerated here by a super-firm racing bucket seat (standard for all passengers too). The upside is that the Kahn has the best driving position of any Defender I've ever driven. I could do without the three-spoke chrome steering wheel, though. It's from a speedboat, and not bad to hold, but trying to remember when it's pointing straight is a trial.

However, the quality of the fit and finish is first-rate. It really is. We're not just talking about the quilted leather and Harris Tweed seats here, but every insert, panel or stitch. And there are a lot of them. Including rear-passenger knee protectors. Steering wheel aside, the Harris Tweed 'n' Defender mix works pretty well, adding luxury without seeming overly precious.

It wears its body mods well, too. There have been few mechanical upgrades bar the wheels, tyres and exhaust, but the extra side cladding over the arches gives the LR a tougher stance, and the wheels and grille sit comfortably on the slabby panels. It shouts oligarch security entourage or perhaps rural agri-rock star. We didn't mind being seen in it at all, but if it were ours, we might change the numberplate.

Ollie Marriage

The numbers
2198cc, 4cyl, 4WD, 122bhp, 265lb ft, 25.5mpg, 266g/km CO2, 0-62mph in 13.0secs, 90mph, 1887kg

                          Toyota Auris Hybrid driven 

£19,995 Driven February 2013

More Photos of Toyota Auris Hybrid driven

 

Additional Info

• 

Toyota gave us the GT86 this year, something for which it's clearly keen to make amends. So it's set about balancing the sports car's yang with a bit of plainer yin. And given us a new Auris hatchback.

Toyota's Golf rival has long been an underperformer of the highest order, but as we understand it, company boss Akio Toyoda's demand that Toyotas ought to be more fun to drive applies across the board. So here we have a heavily facelifted Auris, one that's received some heavy body revisions, an all-new interior, has new suspension, has lost weight and possibly found a new purpose in life. Possibly.

It does look quite different from before. Well, the nose does, anyway; it's a bit like one of Citroen's chevrons inverted. The flanks are neatly pressed, too, but I bet when you first clicked to this page there was no flash of instant recognition. The biggest change is the drop in height, the Auris is now 55mm lower - a big drop. This has a nice knock-on effect, reducing the frontal area, improving the aero and lowering CO2 emissions.

To just 85g/km, in the case of this hybrid model. It's a Toyota, so of course there's a hybrid model. Same system as the Prius, but flakier. This one can travel a mere 1.25 miles solely on electric, and it's a shame that, having instigated the hybrid revolution, Toyota isn't doing more to keep the pressure on. However, 85g/km is low and makes for free tax and good boasts in tearooms across the land. If only it weren't paired with a horrid CVT transmission and blandly intrusive 1.8-litre petrol.

And why does the cabin have to be so slabby and plain? I swear the old one was more interesting than this dull and generic effort. Perhaps the most interesting thing is the cloth on the seats, which has a raised weave. No detectable improvement to the quality or tactility, either, but, as ever, you get the impression you're sitting in something that will never go wrong.

But never excite, either. Some good stuff exists here, though. The Auris is now more professional around corners, it doesn't flounder, has reasonable body control and is placid when cruising. Bit more road noise than I was expecting from something that aims to do battle with a Golf (or even a Kia Cee'd) - and it's not a car you're ever going to get a kick out of driving. It's just too boring.

Ollie Marriage

The numbers
1798cc, 4cyl petrol and electric motor, 134bhp, 105lb ft, 76.3mpg, 85g/km CO2 , 0-62mph in 10.9secs, 112mph, 1370kg

The verdict
Sharper-looking, better-driving, but this plain-clothes Prius lags well behind the Golf.

BMW 3 Series Touring 320iX driven

£28,730 Driven April   2013  BMW 3 Series Touring 320iX driven

More Photos of BMW 3 Series Touring 320iX driven

They're the standard backdrop to your average winter wonderland outside broadcast. Some frozen-to-the-core reporter attempts cheeriness in front of sledging children before copping a snowball to the earhole, while behind him, you, the geeky petrolhead, can clearly identify a rear-wheel-drive BMW flailing amateurishly on a millimetre of ice. Maybe Audi stalks regional TV crews with a purpose-bought 3-series just for such eventualities.Additional Info

• 

Well, no more. BMW has clearly had enough. Here we have a BMW 320iX, or 320i xDrive as BMW would prefer it to be known. It's at the pointy end of a range that expands in March with the arrival of 4WD saloon and estate versions of the 320d and 330d, plus the 120d hatchback.

OK, so for 360 days a year, you'll bemoan the fact you spent an extra £1,535 on a car that is 85kg heavier, plus 4.8mpg and 12g/km CO2 less efficient than a standard 320i, but just imagine how smug you'll be on the other five. And all thanks to a tiny little xDrive badge on the rump. And the small matter of a 4WD system that sends 60 per cent of its power to the rear wheels mostly, but is able to send up to 100 per cent to either axle if needs must, and can also brake individual wheels to improve stability and traction.

The engine it's mated to here isn't the 3-series's best. The 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo does the job, but is neither tuneful nor especially interesting, and never feels 0-62mph in 7.4secs fast. But we're here to talk about the 4WD system, which is quite brilliant. Mainly because it's almost impossible to detect it at work.

The iX feels as fluid and natural down a country road as the standard 3, with none of the tightness, stiction, steering corruption and nose-heaviness that can signal a car with front driveshafts as well as rears. So maybe the weight and frictional losses have marginally dulled performance and made it a hair's breadth less sparkly, but this is a great car to drive, and the extra sense of all-weather security is there at all times of year.

Boot it in tight corners, and you can feel the power transfer, the front end digging in and pulling you through smoothly and surreptitiously. This is not some Impreza-style hardcore physics-bender, instead, it's a benign confidence-inducer. Top it off with a set of winter tyres, and go find a snowbound TV crew.

Ollie Marriage

The numbers
1997cc, 4cyl, AWD, 184bhp, 199lb ft, 41.5mpg, 159g/km CO2, 0-62mph in 7.4secs, 144mph, 1560kg

The verdict
BMW enters the 4WD family car fray with something really rather excellent. Would gain an extra star with the diesel engine.

Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S 4Matic driven

£100,500 Driven April 2013  Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S 4Matic driven

More Photos of Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG S 4Matic driven

 

Additional Info

• 

Sometimes, it would be so much better if Britain drove on the right. Because if we did, we'd get cars like this, the first ever production AMG to get all-wheel drive. It's almost enough to make you move to France. Or even Belgium.

It's part of a raft of changes for the E-Class range as a whole - which include styling and safety kit tweaks - and AMG has also added a new S version. And guess what? The S has even more power.

On the old E AMG, there were two power choices - the standard car made do with 518bhp, while a performance pack option upped it to 549bhp. The ‘normal' car now has 549bhp, and the S goes further than that: 577bhp and 590lb ft. Which means that the S 4Matic will crack 0-62mph in just 3.6secs - supercar fast. But because all the UK's cars are RWD only, we'll have to put up with a best time of 4.1secs in the S - which is still... rapid. But we do at least get the S, which will set you back roughly £10,000 extra over the regular E63's £74,945 list price.

But back to my original gripe - no 4Matic in the UK. It wouldn't be so frustrating if it weren't such a game-changing system. You can tell within 30 yards which car you're driving. When you accelerate in a straight line, it grips. When you turn into a corner, it grips. When you boot it in the middle of the corner, it grips.

It's the best of both worlds - still fun, and also faster. Compare it to the RWD version, which is basically in a constant battle between torque and tarmac. The 2WD E is still quick, but it's more of a struggle.

Criticisms? The main one is regarding the 7spd gearbox, because the facelift hasn't made it any quicker. But that applies to both, so isn't a reason to reject the 4Matic. And the nose feels a tiny bit heavier in the 4WD. But not to the point of being frustrating or slow to turn in. You can just feel it.

You can see why AMG reckons nearly 90 per cent of left-hand-drive Es will be 4Matic - it's that good. Now, if only the Brits could contribute to that percentage...

Piers Ward

The numbers
5461cc, V8, 4WD, 577bhp, 590lb ft, 27.6mpg, 242g/km CO2, 0-62mph in 3.6secs, 155mph, 1940kg

Porsche Cayman S driven

£48,738 Driven April 2013       Porsche Cayman S driven 

More Photos of Porsche Cayman S driven

 

Additional Info

• 

In an entirely unsurprising development, the new Cayman turns out to be brilliant to drive. Who'd have thunk it? Keep bearing that in mind as you read what follows. The new Cayman, based, of course, on the same underpinnings as the Boxster, now has more grip, more power, a stiffer chassis and less weight. It's 11 seconds faster around the Nürburgring.

But dynamics are not where the biggest advances have been made. Let's use the engine we're testing as a weathervane for the whole car: the 3.4-litre flat-six in the Cayman S has 321bhp, a 5bhp rise, contributing to a modest 0.2secs reduction in the 0-62mph time and a single mph rise in top speed.

Small improvements, yes? Now look at the efficiency gains. They're massive: a whacking 33g/km CO2 reduction, an economy boost of 4.4mpg. Now tell me where you think Porsche has been focusing its engine-development resources.

You can expand this theory out to the whole car. The cabin is more habitable than ever, visibility is a treat, there's an extra 15 litres of luggage volume (425 litres in total) and it'll go 450 miles without refuelling. It's quiet, comfortable, smooth and borderline luxurious, plus it rides beautifully.
This is all good news if you're buying a Cayman to live with and drive every day. A chap called Hans-Jürgen Wöhler, the product director of both the Cayman and the Boxster, says Porsche wants to "expand the range of all possible uses". Reading between the lines, that means
they want to sell more cars to a more mainstream audience. Uh-oh.

The Cayman, when it arrived in 2005, was a bastardised, turreted Boxster and a difficult sell: dismissed by the narrow-minded as the coupe for those who couldn't afford a 911, and challenged because it bucked the usual trend by being a coupe that was more costly than its convertible cousin.

Basically, it succeeded because it was brilliant to drive and sold strongly enough that Porsche hasn't done anything to rock the boat this time round. The rivals talked about are the Mercedes-Benz SLK, Audi TT and BMW Z4 - all of which are sports cars in a looser sense of the word. You get the feeling Porsche isn't overreaching itself.

Still, let's not forget it's brilliant to drive. You may be able to sense the imminent arrival of a caveat, and, yes, one will be along shortly, but in the meantime, let's consider the Cayman. It's lighter. About 30kg lighter on average, chiefly thanks to the widespread use of aluminium in the bodywork. It doesn't look lighter, though, does it? The surfacing, especially of those sculpted flanks, has more depth and solidity to it now, and overall this one is, well... muscular.

The back end of the first Cayman was unresolved, but now there's something deeply appealing about the interaction between the rear arch and the tailgate, and the integration of the spoiler and the rear lights. The front end's less noteworthy, although, when you look out from inside, there's a nice crease line running over the front arches that you otherwise don't notice. In the flesh, it's curt and cute and a great bit of work.

Same inside. OK, the console and dash template is almost identical to the 911's, which itself has much in common with the Panamera and Cayenne, so think generic Porsche, but there's simply nothing to fault. And the quality... Honestly, as a static object, the base Cayman, at £39,694, looks terrific value. You sit where you need to, on great seats, with all controls logically arrayed. Just don't go overboard on the options. Porsche seems proud of the fact the Cayman is now available with keyless entry, a stadium-spec Burmester hi-fi and radar cruise control, and I guess if you're competing with more cosseting rivals, you have to offer such things. Whether you need them is up to you.

There are some boxes you do need to tick, though. Sport Chrono is one; sports exhaust is the other. Together, they add £2,557. Like I said, go easy on the options, or you'll be sitting in a dealership deciding which kidney you need to part with to own the Cayman of your dreams. The big choice for most people will be PDK or no PDK. Again, your choice. The £1,922 double-clutcher is good, smarter now than ever, has a coasting function and won't change up mid-drift. Seriously, it says that in the bumf. Porsche also commented that, being an auto, it allows you to drink your coffee in heavy traffic.

But if you are a driver, by which I mean someone who isn't just fussed about what the Cayman
says about them as they mooch up the rush-hour M4, sipping a skinny latte, then have the manual. It's a sweet six-speeder, and - provided you've ticked the Sport Chrono box - blips the revs for you on downchanges. You can't outwit it. I tried: driving idly along in sixth, then cramming it into third as fast as possible, only to be rewarded with a perfect downshift, accompanied by an addictive zap of revs.

But mated to which engine? The 2.7 is the more changed. It used to be a 2.9, after all. The reduced capacity has resulted in an engine that's more powerful and torquey, as well as cleaner and more efficient, natch. 271bhp from 2,706cc means it's the first Cayman to boast over 100bhp per litre, and it's a joy to listen to as it climbs its way across the rev range. You get plenty of time to listen to it, too, because it just ain't as punchy as you'd expect. In fact, below 4,000rpm, where the VarioCam variable-valve-timing system really gets its freak on, the 2.7 is a tad sluggish. Just a tad, you understand, and it's only worthy of mention, because we're getting so used to the slug of low-rev oomph that only a turbocharger can deliver. Put it this way: get caught out in the 2.7, and you'll be easy meat for a Focus ST.

It never quite feels 5.7-to-62mph fast, but you won't mind, because your ears will be smiling. Even without a sports exhaust, this flat-six sounds wonderful; with one, it's close to divine. It yowls and rasps and, on the overrun, it sounds like a Crimean battle re-enactment scene heard from two hills away. So what if it makes more noise than forward progress?

But, if push came to shove and we had the spare cash, we'd be seeking out the extra £9,089 needed for the S. No need to fear hot hatches now. Yes, it's naturally aspirated, but more capacity means more torques, and so more grunt. And we have that manual gearbox to row around. It's a lovely pairing.

We're on some truly excellent roads in southern Portugal, and the Cayman is showing just what benefits its mid-engined layout brings. Consider the dual (alright, dull) matters of stiffness and weight distribution.

Were a giant pair of hands to grab the coupe by both ends and attempt to twist it, a force of 40,000Nm would only move it by a single degree. The same movement can be accomplished in the Boxster with a force of just 17,000Nm, and we reckon that's plenty stiff. The Cayman, now 40 per cent stiffer than before, is more rigid than a carbon-tubbed Lambo Aventador, in fact. It also has its weight more evenly distributed - 46 per cent on the front axle, 54 on the rear (the figure for a 911 C2 is 39:61) - plus the positioning of the engine within the wheelbase means the car is inherently more agile.

The Cayman scoots into corners, and, if it happens to be a long one, you can have a play with the throttle, feel what it does to the car's trajectory and balance. This is all good fun stuff. The stability control is undetectable, the limits are very high, and yet you don't have to visit them to really get something out of the Cayman.

And you can always, always, get on the power earlier than you think possible. This is because you also ticked the £890 box marked PTV (Porsche Torque Vectoring). It consists of a mechanical rear differential combined with electronic control of the rear brakes. The latter helps agility on the way into corners; the former deals with your escape from them. I kept hitting the throttle earlier and earlier in corners, exiting them with an increasing sense of disbelief at what the Cayman was capable of.

As I found out later at the Portimão circuit, the Cayman is supremely neutral at the limit, slipping gently between understeer and oversteer. And the suspension is staggering. All the cars had PASM, Porsche's active suspension system, with two damper settings. In normal, it's amazingly supple, almost Jaguar-ish, soft at the back, yet still wonderfully well controlled (a result of the car only weighing 1,320kg); in Sport mode, the ride never becomes harsh, but exhibits rock-solid control. Rock-solid. You hit a bump, and before your brain has registered it, the car has moved on and you're left questioning whether the bump actually existed in the first place.

And here we come to the crux of the matter: the Cayman controls the amount of information you have. The chassis delivers all you could want, but the steering, well, there's this bit in the press pack where it says "negative or unnecessary noise is filtered out". But that unfiltered steering was in perfect harmony with the chassis in the old car - both were constant streams of information. Here, the flow of one has been reduced.

Yes, the Cayman, like the new 991 911, has electro-mechanical steering, and, as with the 911, we're going to criticise it. Not much, though, as compared to its bigger brother, the extra nose weight seems to have reduced numbness a little. And, as far as weighting, accuracy and consistency go, it's very good. But when you drove along a straight road in the old car, the wheel fidgeted and let you know what was going on. Now it's calm and quiet, and while many might prefer that, some will agree that a bit of fizz and sparkle has gone missing.

The new Cayman is an improvement in almost every area, then. I count myself a lover of hardcore cars, but I'd have new over old Cayman every time. Yes, it feels a fraction more formulaic than before, more rounded and accommodating, but, for driver appeal, it blows everything this side of a Lotus Exige into the weeds at the side of your favourite B-road. Yes, it can come across as a bit ‘painting by numbers', but isn't that how Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?

THE NUMBERS
3436cc, 6cyl, RWD, 321bhp, 273lb ft, 32.1mpg, 206g/km CO2, 0-62 in 5.0secs, 176mph, 1320kg

Ford Fiesta overall verdict

Additional Info

• The sort of car people buy for their daughter but then steal back when she’s out

• 

• Our buying tip

  We like the Fiesta. Lots. If it's a supermini you want, buy one

Ford gets the blue oval back on top - this is a fantastic little car with a driving experience beyond the class

• Comfort

  Given that the Fiesta isn't so small anymore its no surprise that the ride and comfort quotient has grown as well. There's loads of space here - and the car simply feels like it has managed to grab the waft from a car in the class above. It works, simply as that.
  

• Performance

  There's no hot ST at the moment - but there will be. Until then you get the whole range of smaller engines from the Fordrange. The pick at the moment is the 1.6-litre petrol. There will also be a 99g/km ‘Econetic' that should perform well but not kill so many daisies.
  

• Cool

  The three-door looks genuinely brilliant - especially in some of the new bold colours. The five-door doesn't look half bad either. Just one problem - the Fiesta name just hasn't got the barside pizzazz you might want.
  

• Quality

  The new central dash arrangement is a bit silver, but not many will complain about the quality at this price point. Ford have worked on that big car feel and the Fiesta does a grand job of not feeling cheap even though it is.
  

• Handling

  The best bit about the new Ford Fiesta is that it drives so much better than it has any right to. Turn in is crisp, the chassis is capable of way, way much more power and you can have fun even with the modest amounts of grunt on offer from the current range.
  

• Practicality

  The Fiesta has very thick c-pillars and a small rear windscreen, so you might want those £200 optional parking sensors. Other than that its on the pace for space, but not exceptional.
  

• Running costs

  The 99g/km Econetic will be a real cheapie - it even pays no tax. Other than that, insurance across the board will be cheap, the cars are generally very frugal and the Fiesta is easy to fix and small cars are ever more popular. You're on to a winner all round.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Peugeot RCZ driven

  £26,380 Driven April 2013
  
  

  More Photos of Peugeot RCZ driven
  Tweet 

  Additional Info

  • 
  The thing with midlife facelifts is that they can often go awry. Some designer gets a bit heavy-handed, and, before you know it, the car's become a caricature of itself. Luckily, Peugeot had the foresight to make a hash of the original RCZ, so all they've had to do is put that right.

  Not a total hash, you understand. No, it was just the grille, a gaping great maw filled out with a boxer's gumshield of a bumper. Now there's a much more acceptable two-tier arrangement, upper and lower separated by a slice of body colour. And that's it. All is aligned. You can forget about the old one's conk and focus on what a handsome, uniquely proportioned coupe this is.

  And that's almost all you need to know about this facelift, one plucked straight from the colour/trim/kit school of cost-effective upgrades. You can now have the roof arches in matt black, leather and Alcantara upholstery can be added to the base Sport model (for £1,200), while the higher-spec GT, as opted for by 80 per cent of buyers, is available with brown leather. Thrills.

  However, this is a car worth taking another look at. The temptation is to imagine it as another ordinary continental coupe, more style than content. But the RCZ does feel sports car-ish. The ride is firm but not jarringly so, and it has responsive steering and good turn-in. It's quite eager and backed up by an engine that's way more punchy than its 1.6-litre displacement suggests. It even sounds vaguely enticing.

  The manual gearbox is tight and sharp, and this is a satisfying car to punt around in. The gearing's a bit low and noise a fraction high, just taking the edge off refinement, while comfort is slightly compromised by a flat, firm seat that's mounted too high in the car. We don't go a bundle on the bulbous steering wheel, either. But it's a light, airy cabin with good visibility and reasonable practicality. It's a two-seater, though - the back's not for humans.

  Prices start at £21,595 for the 156bhp petrol Sport, with this hot 197bhp GT as the flagship. There's also a 161bhp, 2.0-litre diesel from £23,430. Personally, I'm not sure GT trim is worth the mark-up - the pokiest engine in Sport trim at £23,980 looks the best deal to me. Oh, and the hot 256bhp RCZ R? Not here until the end of the year. Boo.

  Ollie Marriage

  The numbers
  1598cc, 4cyl, FWD, 197bhp, 206lb ft, 42.1mpg, 155g/km CO2, 0-62mph in 7.6secs, 146mph, 1421kg

  The verdict
  Vastly improved front-end treatment takes care of our only real criticism. Not wonderfully charismatic, but a more enticing driver's car than you might think.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Citroen DS3 overall verdict

  

  

  Additional Info

  • 

  • Our buying tip
  Unusually for a piece of fashion-driven frippery, the pay-off needs no varnishing: the CitroenDS3 is a seriously good little car. Stylish, spacious, fun to drive and well built. Just ordered your Mini? Shame...

  • Comfort

    

  • Performance

    Citroen's usual array of engines are all available here, including the 1.4, 1.6 and 1.6 THP petrols, plus two versions of the 1.6 HDi with either 90 or 110bhp. The turbocharged 1.6 THP with 150bhp is the pick. It's smooth and torquey (177lb ft from 1,400rpm)and although it's not hot-hatch urgent (0-62mph in 7.3 secs, 133mph top-speed), the DS3's performance and in-gear acceleration is perfectly good. Uniquely for a small Citroen - any current Citroen, actually - the major controls have a glossy feel to them, and changing gear puts the driver centre stage in a process during which he or she might actually feel something mechanical happening. This is called driving.
    

  • Cool

    

  • Quality

    Citroen is making big noises this is a premium car, claims that could crumble with one crummy door-handle or wonky bit of trim, but the DS3 has a strong tactile appeal. The instruments are crisply styled and are split across three inter-connecting pods. The leather is high-quality stuff. The rest of the cabin hides its more proletarian C3 origins pretty well beneath body-colour dash panels and polished plastic that does a fair impression of aluminium.
    

  • Handling

    The new DS3 manages to be supple without being sloppy. Its steering is nowhere near as meaty as a Mini's, and there's a noticeable degree of body roll, but it moves with a nicely contained accuracy. The fact is, the DS3 is pretty much bang-on for everyday use. What it lacks in ultimate chassis finesse, it more than makes up in overall refinement and general poise.
    

  • Practicality

    The DS3 is still a fairly small car, but it is cleverly packaged to provide five proper seats and a boot that the Mini can't begin to match.
    

  • Running costs

    Forget its stylish exterior for a moment because at its heart the DS3 is simply a three-door hatchback, and so its running costs match. All engines return an excellent economy figure, with the worst being the 1.6 THP at 42mpg and the best coming from the 1.6 90 HDi at 70mpg. The latter is also the one to choose for the lowest tax costs - at 104g/km of CO2 it's just £20 compared to the 1.6 THP's 155g/km and £155 cost.