CITROEN DS3 · photos, packages and modifications

The latest Citroen DS series car was the Citroen DS3 which was launched as a comfortable car for their customers and now also includes the DS4 and the DS5. This car is intended to provide much more panache, more apparatus, and a sharper drive as compared to the unimpressive C3 Supermini on which this car was initially built on. And it has done all this with some achievement as well as the car Citroen gets by to be a convincing opponent not only to the Mini and the Vauxhall Adam, but also more high-priced competitors like the Audi A1. It's a fabulous looking car that presents the opportunity to be personalized by its own making certain that it's easy to modify it to your own special needs. The engine line-up has an effective 91 g/km free of tax model along with a punchy 1.6 litre turbo charged petrol version. There is the availability of four trim levels, DStyle, DSport, Dsign and Dsport Plus - but there is also a limited edition racing version, a Special Red edition and a costly Ultra Prestige model, which attaches a luxury kit like a leather dash and decorative leather seats. A cabriolet model was shown at the 2012 Paris Motor Show and it went on sale on February 2013. The DS3 Cabrio has a big canvas tilting back roof that furls up on top on the boot lid, abandoning the roof rails and the B and C pillars in perfect place.

The rear door of the Citroen DS3 is only accessible as a three-door, though it looks amazing as an outcome. The ultra progressive design has a neat chrome bar grille, two compelling vertical LED strips in the front bumper from DStyle trim upwards and shark-fin window line. A large variety of accessories may be utilized to privatize the car too with a large selection of wheel designs and various colors and roof patterns. Actually the company of Citroen asserts that 90 percent of the DS3's are spaced with a roof combination and two tone paint. Even though the DS3 has only been on sale since 2010, the inside has already started to reveal its age in such a short time and the deceiving stereo controls are one of its low points. The entry-level models are the fundamentals but the mid-range DStyle versions put in 16 inch alloys, glossy black interior trim, tinted rear windows, and air-con. DSport models obtain a roof spoiler, chrome exhausts, 17 inch wheels, and alloy pedals along with climate manage and Bluetooth connectivity.

While on the road, the Citroen DS3 has a good equilibrium between luxury and composure. It’s fantastic steering lets the driver to enjoy the feel and exploit the strength and the power on tap and even the big wheels of the car rides over the bumps and the potholes in roads admirably. The extensive array of engines starts off with a 1.2 litre VTi petrol that returns 61.4 mpg releases 104 g/km and comes into the insurance group nine (the other version comes into the categories 15 to 32, so will cost considerably more to insure). There's 95 bhp 1.4 litre petrol that's speedy enough around places but feels a bit stressed on the motorway, as well as a 118 bhp 1.6 that's also available turbocharged to yield 153 bhp. The second is really fast and imperative even from low revs, providing it a 0.62 mph time of just 7.3 seconds. The 1.6 HDi diesel can be had with either 90 bhp or 110 bhp, but it is short of the responsiveness of the petrol versions and feels slow if you’re not in the right gear.

The most fragile and feeble point on any Citroen is conventionally its reliability, and the brand finished a lowly 22nd out of 30 in the 2012 Driver Power manufacturer results. However, the company has made a big effort to improve the reliability of its newer models, particularly the exclusive DS range. No major problems have been reported with the DS3, so far, so it seems to be working, although some have complained of issues with the electrics and windscreen washer jets packing up. Protection and safety weren't ever an issue though, and the DS3 was awarded a maximum five-star rating from the crash safety body Euro NCAP, and comes with ESP, seatbelt pre-tension less fitted as standard and an immobilizer.

Scoring accessibility to the back bench is a little crafty in the DS3, but it's astonishingly practical for a car of this dimension. The back area is decent and there is ample headroom, although passengers who are tall will find their knees touching the front seats. The 285 boot don’t sound so fancy or not much but is nearly twice the size of the corresponding room in a MINI. The boot unlocks nicely and extensively too, so using the 60/40 split folding seats is easy and it opens up 980 litres of space for bigger articles of luggage. There's a rational quantity of storage space but the glove box is almost entirely taken over by the fuse box and the control buttons of the stereo are small in size, a hoax and almost totally hidden by the gear stick.