Inside, the Citroen C1 design is similar fresh and funky, with plenty of colour on show, and the cabin offers more scope for personalisation. The centre console, air vent trim and gear lever base, for example, can be customised with bright colours. The cabin looks great, although the quality of materials on show doesn’t match what you’ll find in a Volkswagen Up and in our test car there was quite a bit of rattling on the move. On the other hand, we had no problem with the driving position, but that may not be the same for everyone, as the steering wheel adjusts only for height (not reach) and Touch models don’t have a height-adjustable driver’s seat.
The space in the front belies the car’s budget price and small size, with good head and legroom. However, space is at more of a premium in the back: legroom is very tight, while headroom is restricted by the low roofline, especially on Airscape models. The boot, too, is smaller than you’ll find in either the
Hyundai i10 or the Volkswagen Group trio (the
VW Up,
Seat Mii and Skoda Citigo are all essentially the same car) and it’s further spoiled by a high lip that makes loading and unloading awkward.
The C1 isn’t particularly mechanically sophisticated – hence the attractive price – but it drives and rides reasonably well, with decent feel in the steering and a ride that’s just about comfortable enough on all but the worst surfaces. It’s very easy to nip around town in and acceptable on the motorway too, but it doesn’t feel as capable and impressive as the Up/Mii/Citigo.