Punching up

The Citroën C3, with its turbo-petrol engine, has added some spice to the segment. But is it enough to satiate your appetite?

- DHRUV PALIWAL

The Citroën C3 has always been a quirky car, which is enough to get it noticed. But to make sure that people take it home, it needed something extra. And Citroën reckoned that something extra could be a turbo-petrol engine. To be precise, a 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine, which makes 109bhp and 190Nm of torque and is mated to a 6-speed manual. While sane-headed people might be puzzled at this rather odd display of power, I can already see enthusiasts smiling with satisfaction at the prospect of a light / small car with a healthy amount of power to make their everyday drive fun.

HOW QUICK IS IT?

To be honest, quite quick. To give you some perspective, the only other small car that feels as quick as the C3 is the Hyundai Grand i10 Nios Turbo. The C3's engine begins enthusiastically low down the rev range; however, the initial enthusiasm is followed by a brief pause due to the turbo spooling up, post which revs begin to rise in an excited manner. The engine continues to pull through the mid-part of the rev range quite gracefully, and even as you near the redline, it doesn't feel stressed. Once you are in the meat of the power band, subsequent gear changes keep you there, so if you are hustling the turbo C3, you only experience the turbo lag once. However, if you are driving it in a relaxed manner, the turbo lag isn't all that bad - the C3 continues to gain momentum, albeit at a more docile pace.