Comments (7)

By Little Mummy, July 19, 2010 12:40 am

Guest post by BigDaddy

We all know if you want the coolest, most stylish small car on the market then you buy a Mini, right?? Well not any more thanks to the game changing DS3 from Citroen.

I have had a DS3 for a week to test drive and have loved every minute. The model I was driving was the DSport version and although it was the top of the range with all the cool toys and gadgets (sat-nav, air conditioning, Bluetooth phone connection, etc.) and the biggest engine (155 Brake horsepower, top speed 133mph) priced at around £17,000 it was a bit pricey for my liking but if you were to buy the equivalent Mini it would be around £19,000, so all-in-all not too bad if you have the money. However, there is a DS3 for all budgets and all of them look just as good.

The cool new design is a real head turner, with the sleek good looking body and neon strip lights on the front and sporty white alloy wheels it really stands out amongst the other drab & slightly boring cars in its class. I was unsure about the bright Yellow colour with a White roof but it really grew on me.

Inside the styling was again very funky with the leather steering wheel with chrome inserts was comfortable to hold and looked great. The leather upholstery was extremely comfy and held you snugly in the seat. All the onboard gizmos are very easy to use with a simple interface which is great as you don’t need a degree in computing to work the Sat-Nav! The only disappointment was the quality of the plastic on the dash and glove box which was quite poor and a bit flimsy. Still it’s a great place to be and there is plenty of room for 4 adults and a child (as we proved on a swimming expedition) and the boot is a good size too. With the two door design I would say it would suit a family with kids of four and upwards.

The best thing about this car though, as it should be with any car, is the driving. The driving position was excellent, the ride comfort was superb and the handling was very precise. The power was impressive and the car felt nimble and agile when driving in town while it was comfortable and smooth on the motorway with power all the way though the six gears. So no need for boy racer style clunky down shifts.

Having driven both the Mini and now the DS3 I would say the Citroen wins in almost every category. So if people want the best badge in the small car market, buy a Mini but if you want the best small car on the market right now, the DS3 is the way to go.