Citreon DS3 opinions

[tim2100]

Possibly looking at one of these when I change my car.
I'll be looking at the DS3 Sport with 1.6 turbo engine.

Has anybody driven/got one? good or bad experiences?

[cailean]

Have you looked at the RS Clio 200?

[Kitchski]

My opinion is that they look like Citroen have tried to create a chintzy Mini alternative, and any car which has placed style and image ahead of any sort of driving dynamics or innovation in my opinion is pants. I'd happily burn every Audi TT on the planet.

Couldn't comment on the actual cars, but I bet a Saxo VTS is a damn sight more fun to hoon around in

[cailean]

In my earlier post I thought you were referring to the DS3 Racing, anyway here are Evo's 2 reviews of the DS3 Sport and the DS3 Racing, either way I would still go for the Clio.

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/cargrouptests/2568...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3e_mYY7Yr8

[tim2100]

cailean said:

In my earlier post I thought you were referring to the DS3 Racing, anyway here are Evo's 2 reviews of the DS3 Sport and the DS3 Racing, either way I would still go for the Clio.

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/cargrouptests/2568...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3e_mYY7Yr8

Thanks Cailean, The Clio is not one of the options for my new car.

[dannytherev]

Had a road test of the THP model when they were first launched great car suprisingly quick as well, good spec (even without options unlike the mini) Once the prices come down a bit (rare thing to be saying about a french car)I'll be getting one to replace my C2 hth

[C2james]

There's a Crome one in the classifieds, if you want to be different.

[Dave Brand]

I've now done around 5,000 miles in my DStyle 120VTi - not quite the car you're looking at, but similar in most respects.

I never thought I'd buy a Citroen - I'd always regarded them as, at best, cheap & cheerful, at worst cheap & nasty, & often over-complicated to no real advantage. However, after reading a few road tests in which the DS3 compared favourably to its rivals I decided it was worth a look.

First impression was that they have tried very hard to give the car a "quality" feel - details like the gloss-painted dash & centre console look far better then acres of grey plastic. The interior is a nice place to be. An important point for me was that cruise control is standard, as is a speed limiter which I find very useful.

It's a pleasant car to drive. The ride is firm but not harsh - road noise could be better-suppressed, but that may be as much a function of the tyres as the car & it's better than my old Alfa. The steering has a reasonable amount of feel, possibly artificial but not bad for an electric system - I've driven a lot worse. Handling is good, even on Michelin Energy Saver tyres - it's got something of the 1980s Peugeot feel about it, that sort of feeling that all four tyres are working equally hard.

It's a relaxed motorway cruiser, although I do wish a six speed gearbox had been available with the VTi engine as the engine is audible, but not objectionably so, at legal cruising speeds. The engine is free-revving & sweet-, if a little bland-sounding at high revs.

Overall, a good little car - much better in every aspect than the Alfa 147 it replaced, although that was never going to be a difficult task!

I've never had a car which has attracted so much attention & so many compliments . . . well done, Citroen!

[xkrGiles]

Ive driven a THP 150 on a circuit, against fiat500, alfa mito, mini etc & the DS3 was the best.

For an all-out drivers tool, buy the clio200

For everything else, buy the DS3

TBH you cant compare, the Clio is bare and lightweight in comparison to the DS3. The DS3 is a quality car and that takes weight to achieve

In escense, i'd take the clio onto the track for 3 laps but i'd drive 20,000 miles in the DS3

For a bargain, the DS3 white diesel is superb. Otherwise its the THP Dsport 150.....and a quick visit to get it chipped

[tim2100]

Cheers all. Some interesting points.

I Had a quick look at one last week at the dealers. It was a special edition rather than DSport. Seemed very nice (Apart from the flowers on the roof)

Giles; Thanks for your opinion. i would like to do a track day or two over teh ownership so the fact it can cope round track is pretty important, however if I do 2 days in the 3 years I have the car then it is only 0.2% of the time so not that important. Besides i have other vehicles for TRack Days.

Nice to hear it can mix it with the others. Will see how things progress now.

Thanks all again.

PS Will not be looking at the chrome one as this will be a new vehicle.

[GI Jnr]

I bought the 110BHP diesel DSport as my company car. I needed something fun, frugal and nippy.

5k in and I'm still really enjoying it. 6th is great for the motorway. It rides firm and a little high for my liking, but is pretty well made and very well specced.

The engine you're looking for is in the Mini and so it'll be pokey enough.

Only word of warning is to not buy white. I have and regret it a little as the vast majority I see now are in white.

The gunmetal grey is lovely IMO.

You could buy a lot worse cars.
Tuan

[hotmelt]

Have driven both vti 120, and thp 150. I liked the vti 120 engine, goes well enough and sounds crisp and modern. Both were on 17s, but thp 150 seemed more compliant, and somehow had more of the classic PSA tail follows front feeling(similar to 106). 120 was easy to oversteer too, but 150 is the one to go.

[robsco]

Quick little cars the THPs. And very good on fuel when driving them steady. The only thing is, the steering, despite being pointy and direct, does feel a little bit on the artificial side. They do tend to camber chase quite a bit as well.

[Stefan SRT8]

Well I was originally going to go for the Racing, but after taking the 1.6 Hdi 110 DSport out at the weekend I decided that will fit the downsizing and economising bill perfectly!

It's pleasantly nippy and very quiet, quite a step down from my current fire breathing 6.1L monster I'm replacing it with, but I'm looking forward to some very cheap motoring for a while!!

Stef

[RedYellowGreen]

Had a test drive of a dsport a couple of weeks ago and was pleasantly suprised feels a step on from my current C2 vts although I would stop short of heaping as much praise as the motoring press have on it, also drove an Audi A1 on the same day and although I prefered the all round niceness of the A1 it was nowhere near as much fun to drive and they also didnt have quite the spec that I wanted in the pipeline, and I want to change before the summer, so I ignored my badge snobbery and plumped for the DS3. Have been avoiding disiesel all my life but my commuting distance will be much bigger after xmas so need something more frugal and being the same price as the petrol it was a no brainer really and I wont miss the extra performance of the petrol as its hardly in the super car league anyway. :O
Its a very similar spec to EVOs long termer aside from being FAP as opposed to THP in yellow with black roof and sat-nav being the only option. Picking it up next week so will update this thread with my experiences.