Citroën has updated the C3 Aircross after four years. And as you can see, it's quite a serious one.
At the front that is. Before, it was dominated by the so-called 'squircles', the big square shapes with round corners.
They're completely gone now. Instead, it's all tight lines and sharp angles at the front. LED-headlights, a new bumper,
different grille, and that's about everything new on the outside. The rest has remained the same, so it still has squircles at the back.
The rest of the new stuff is found on the inside.
In the interior, there are three new features. There's a new multimedia screen, it has more storage capacity and the seats have been updated.
First things first. The screen has increased in size from 7 to 9 inch. They were able to increase it by removing the shortcuts on the edge...
of the screen. Instead, we now have a home button underneath, which you have to press to access those shortcuts again.
That actually means you've got to press an additional button to get to the function you only had to press one button for before.
It is what it is. Other than that, there's a new storage compartment around the handbrake. And it can be covered up.
And lastly, you've got the seats, which have received about 1,5 centimetres of additional foam. That means they sit even softer now.
The dashboard has remained unchanged, which means there's still a lot of hard plastic. It also means there's a analogue instrument cluster,
which is very clear. The speedometer is very clear, and so is the rev counter. If you want additional information, you can also...
have a head-up display. However, you don't really need it.
Let's get back to the seats. They're nice and soft, but I would've liked it if the seats were a tad longer. But that's probably a me-thing.
Other than that, there's more than enough space in the front. It's a slightly different story on the back seat,
because it's quite cramped there. If we move another row backwards, we arrive at the boot. And that's pretty big for the segment.
If it's necessary, you're able to move the back seat forwards, which increases the luggage space to more than 500 litres.
Not bad at all for a B-segment SUV.
Technologically speaking, there haven't been a lot of changes. That means there are still four engines to choose from.
Two petrol engines, with 110 and 130 horsepower and two diesel engines, producing 100 or 120 horsepower.
With both engines, the lighter version is only available with a manual gearbox whilst the more powerful version only comes with an automatic gearbox.
Right now, I'm driving the 110 horsepower petrol version, which means I've got a manual gearbox.
The engine is very audible and it does what it needs to do, in a good way as well.
It's got quite a lot of power in lower revs, and it feels pretty smooth. Nothing wrong with that.
It's an enthusiastic little engine, which means you don't need to change gear a lot. That's nice as well, because the gear lever has quite long strokes.
The steering is pretty direct, which is nice in the city. It responds quite rapidly to steering movements as well.
It's not very communicative, but it's not a sports car either. Something you can notice in the chassis as well.
It's very smooth. You could call that French comfort, but I don't think the comfort would have to suffer if they'd install stiffer dampers.
The car is available with a lot of driving assists and safety systems, which means Citroën is very much in touch with the current technology.
Funny enough, I'm driving a version with a big turning knob in the middle console to operate Grip Control.
With that, I'm able to adjust the ESP to different surfaces. Snow, ice, gravel, you name it.
Also, there's a Hill Descent Control-button, so the electronics seem to be on par with the big, black wheel arches.
Prices for this facelifted C3 Aircross start at €23.090, which makes it €100 more expensive than before the facelift.
For that money, you get the same technology, only with a different nose.