2022 Citroen C3 Aircross review

This is the facelift C3 Aircross model and it arrives at a time when vehicles are fast hitting an all-time high for unaffordability, thanks to Covid-19, parts shortages, and ballooning logistics costs.

Last time we drove the C3 Aircross it carried a sticker price of $34k but four years on with much the same specification it’s back for $39k. There was a time when compact SUVs like this were closer to the $30k mark, well at least the entry models. Some still are but not this one, being a gang of one in terms of variants offered.

We rather liked the C3 Aircross last time round. It still looks and drives a bit different, with an emphasis on ride quality but is otherwise quite, er, normal, if you can say that of a Citroen.

So the relatively minor changes to the Aircross are welcome when wholesale change wasn’t required, the most obvious being the restyled front end with new LED headlights, and a reshaped grille. It reminds of a bulldog, though it is still recognisably Citroen.

Customisation remains a thing, still with 60 possible exterior colour combos thanks to seven body hues (three new, all but one costing $550 extra), four colour packs for the lower bumper trims and door mirror caps, and two roof variations. Several new wheel designs are also offered.

The only conventional options are a powered panoramic roof with an electric interior blind ($2990) and three- or five-year service plans at $1590 and $2790, respectively.
Inside, the colour contrast theme continues, though it’s not as loud as the one we drove four years ago. There’s a textile finish on the dash, and seats are covered in a mix of grey cloth upholstery and black leatherette. It looks different, in a pleasing way.

And on seating, the front pair are upgraded to Advanced Comfort seats. On one particular day, we drove for several hours and experienced no discomfort, so they work on that count. An extra 15mm of foam and new structuring clearly don’t hurt.

There’s said to be more storage in a newly designed centre console, but it’s hardly voluminous. Also new is a larger nine-inch colour touchscreen infotainment system that interfaces with both smartphone types. Most of the safety items are present and correct, including a colour head-up display but the traffic sign recognition should not be relied upon. Voice recognition is about as useful. There’s comfort entry and pushbutton start too, though the latter is a push, hold and wait affair. Other spec includes a Qi charger, full LED lighting, semi-automatic parking assist with sonar both ends, window tints and dynamic lines on the reversing monitor.

As to the powertrain, this is unchanged and we’ve no problem with that. The 81kW PureTech three-cylinder turbopetrol is no fireball but its 205Nm from 1500rpm make their presence felt admirably. About the only change is its fuel use figure, formerly 5.5 under the old NEDC regime, now quoted as a more realistic 7.3L/100km overall (we saw 7.2L/100km overall). And Aircross is fee neutral with a CO2 of 166g/km.

The engine is a gem, hauling well from below 2000rpm, the little turbo on the job, the three-cylinder thrum a constant. Occasionally the six-speed auto and turbo lag combine to confuse, and the auto brain is foggy at times, but on the whole this is undemanding providing you are.

We had a medical mission to undertake with this car and headed up to Whangarei with an elderly patient aboard. He found it relatively easy to enter and exit, as did we, and comfortable too.

You might not imagine this would be a wonderful car to experience from the back seat, set up as it is more for ride comfort than handling chops, but our notoriously carsick-prone passenger remarked on how well she felt in the back through the sinuous Pararoa-Oakleigh Rd. This shone on that road, cruising effortlessly, riding calmly and quietly, in part thanks to the Turanza rubber. Big bumps are well handled, shorter, higher frequency examples slightly less so. It’s no Arona in the corners but Citroen fans will appreciate the easy-going ride.

As to practicality, there’s good head clearance and reasonable knee and foot room in the back. With 60/40 split folding we managed to insert a fold-down walker in the hatch which has a two-level floor and is said to swallow 410L of gear (down on before because the rear seat no longer slides), expanding to 1289L when need be. The front chair back also folds flat for long loads like surfboards.

So it may not be the best at any one thing in its field but C3 Aircross makes a good fist of most things, and is undeniably different, if you want to stand out from the rest. It’s just all-round easy too. While it may undercut rivals on price in Europe, it doesn’t here – 2008 starts at $34,990 – and in this sector that counts against it.

Alternatively, you could check out the smaller but similarly specified C3 hatch at $31k, including rebate.

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