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Citroen's designers have excelled themselves with the stunning styling of their new DS3 three-door. Yet again Citroen has shaken up the beliefs that cars should evolve slowly from one era to another. Like many Citroens from the past, but in particular the famed DS series of 1955, the 2010 DS3 simply throws away convention and starts all over again.
The French have never been ashamed of taking a new route. Citroen, Peugeot and Renault all have stunning models on the current new-car scene, yet even the rivals are likely to be gasping at the huge leap forward in shapes the DS3 headlines.
And if the shape of the Citroen DS3 isn't enough in its own right, the artists among the marketing brigade have run wild with body colours that can be varied in an almost infinite manner. It's possible to order a DS3 with its body in one colour, the roof a different hue, the door mirror in all sorts of interesting colours and material, and the wheels in yet another colour.
Yet that huge range only touches on the surface, there are numerous decals that can be added to the roof and the body sides to totally personalise the DS3.
Then there's the interior. Though Citroen denies it has looked to the past with the new DS3 the metallic look on the dashboard says otherwise. In these times of intelligent safety belts and airbags it's no longer necessary to have softly padded dashes. So Citroen has thrown away the rule books and come up with a hard dash that looks brilliant – a nice combination of retro and modern.
There is also a huge choice of interior fittings, trim materials and colours to complement – or even clash with – the exterior shades of the ultra-stylish Citroen. And of course a healthy dash of 1950s automotive chrome plating if a DS3's owner so desires.
Note that Citroen in Australian is only importing some of the favoured colour schemes to this country on a standard basis. Should you wish to do your own design you may have to wait about three months before your DS3 can be built in France then shipped out here.
The downside of the new DS3's body shape is that it steals some interior room. While the DS3 isn't as tight inside as rivals such as the BMW Mini and the Volkswagen Beetle, its back seat is on the squeezy side. And getting in and out is something probably best left to the young and supple. Once ensconced back there the kids will find it reasonably easy to see out of the cute little Citroen, though the heavy shape of the B-pillar may cause some viewing hassles.
Citroen is importing the DS3 to Australia in two variants, both with a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine. The powerplant comes in two stages of tune. It produces 88 kilowatts and is fitted with a four-speed automatic transmission when installed in the model called the DS3 D-Style. Then there's the Citroen DS3 D-Sport, with a turbocharged version of the engine and a six-speed manual gearbox.
No turbo-diesels are being imported to Australia at this stage. Although these are obviously available in Europe the Australian importer doesn't feel buyers in this country are particularly interested in diesels in small cars. It will be interesting to see if Ford Australia's strong marketing push on the Fiesta Ecotec will influence buyers’ thoughts. If this does happen Citroen has no shortage of diesels in its inventory.
The only vehicle we have been able to road test as part of our initial review has been the DS3 D-Sport with its turbo engine. It came as no surprise that in a small light car like this one the engine give plenty of punch. Aided by 240 Newton metres of torque across most of its usual rev range it gives smile-inducing acceleration and very safe overtaking.
Citroen DS3's body has a nice solid feel even on harsh backroads in the hills to the north west of Sydney where we did our initial road testing. The chassis has a nice supple feeling and the suspension makes the tyres grip the road with plenty of verve. There's a fair bit of tyre noise on some coarse-chip roads, but we have heard and felt a lot worse from small Euro cars.
Ride comfort is very good, both by way of the suspension’s tune and also because the seats have been correctly tailored and sprung. Indeed, the Citroen DS3 really does live up to the claim that on the inside if feels like a car from the next class upwards in size.
Buyers looking to downsize, either because of parking hassles with a large car, or because they want to minimise their automotive pollution, will find they lose nothing in the way of ambiance and feel when travelling in this French machine.
Citroen deserves nothing but praise for the design of the new DS3 and we await with interest the colour and trim contrasts that are dreamt up by imaginative Australian buyers.
The Citroen DS3 model range, with prices (excluding dealer and government charges) is:
DS3 DStyle 1.6-litre petrol: $32,990 (automatic)
DS3 DSport 1.6-litre turbo-petrol: $35,990 (manual)
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