2018 Citroen C3 vs Peugeot 208

What's the difference?

The Citroen C3 Aircross is definitely one of the better options in the small SUV segment. It’s not without its faults - its ownership costs are too high, it’s not brilliant value-for-money, and more grunt would be appreciated. But it is a charming little car that rights a lot of recent Citroen wrongs.

It’s more practical than many competitors, and like many past Citroen models, offers a charm not found in its competitors. If you’re in the market for a small SUV and the C3 Aircross’ styling and pricing suits you, you’d be crazy to not check it out.

CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel and meals provided.

The Peugeot 208GTi, isn't the best value for money as far as features goes, but it's great bang-for-your-bucks in terms of a rewarding drive experience. The Peugeot GTi 208 is fun to drive, has stylish looks and is backed by a great warranty.

I quite like the way the C3 Aircross looks. While other small SUVs - looking at you Nissan Juke, Hyundai Kona and incoming Skoda Kamiq - feature the same split face arrangement, I think the Aircross’ works better thanks to the car’s overall dimensions and the way the daytime running lights blend into the grille and Citroen badge.

I also really like the colour ‘stripes’ on the rear three-quarter window, which give the car a slightly retro look - the colour varies depending on which exterior colour you choose.

It’s taller than a lot of competitors, which gives purpose to the styling, and there are endless ‘squircles’ for you to look at. If you owned one, you’d never tire of the styling because there are endless details to look at that change depending on your viewing angle.  

Citroen offers only one colour combination that doesn’t cost extra - all others will relieve you of a further $590.

Yet, choosing a different colour also brings different coloured roof rails, mirror caps, rear quarter light, headlight surrounds and wheel centre caps.

Citroen encourages you to think of it as a colour concept. Choose the blue exterior, you get white details. Opt for white or sand and you'll cop orange bits and pieces. You get the picture. 

Compared with the Honda HR-V, the C3 Aircross is 194mm shorter at 4154mm long, yet 34mm wider at 1756mm and 32mm taller at 1637mm. It weighs over 100kg less than the Honda at 1203kg.

The 208 GTi is a three-door hatch just like the iconic 205 GTi and there are styling similarities between the two as well, such as the low waistline, the shape of those large rear windows, and the C-pillar badging.

The GTi grade also brings chrome door mirrors, the ‘chequered flag’ grille design, dual chrome exhaust tips, alloy pedals, GTi monogrammed sports seats, plus red elements to the seats, seat belts, instrument cluster and door sills.

It’s a stylish hatch, with a premium looking cabin, but there are some less than premium feeling hard plastics in places.

The big change we hinted at earlier is the fact that Peugeot will no longer produce a three-door GTi after this one. Yup the next 208 GTi will be a five-door for the first time, possibly making this car a collector’s item, or not. You’ll have to wait 30 years to find out.
 
How big is a 208 GTi? The dimensions show it’s 3973mm end-to-end, 1739mm across, and 1460mm tall. As a model comparison the Polo GTi is only 10mm longer.

Small SUVs are bought because they offer extra ride height and interior practicality compared with the small cars that they’re based on. Think of the Mazda CX-3 versus the Mazda2 on which it’s based and you’ll see what I mean.

Yet they’re still not the roomiest cars. You can do better for the asking price, and the same is true for the C3 Aircross.

Boot space is a good size for the segment at 410-litres - the Mazda CX-3 offers just 264L - and folding the seats down unlocks 1289L and allows items up to 2.4 metres long to be carried.

The boot itself features a false floor with a space saver spare wheel underneath, as well as a few shopping bag hooks. The parcel shelf can be stored behind the rear seat if taller items need to be carried.

Interior space is reasonable. In fact, headroom is fantastic for the segment with good legroom for my 183cm (six-foot) self sitting behind my driving position, though a Honda HR-V is still the practicality king for this segment with even more legroom and an airier feeling inside. There are four bottle holders in each of the C3 Aircross’ doors.

The ISOFIX points on the two outer rear seat positions are easily reachable for those installing child restraints/baby capsules.

Annoyingly, the Euro model’s sliding and reclining rear seat (with a middle armrest and cupholders) hasn’t made it to Australia because our draconian child seat design rules would render the car a four-seater. 

The rear seat also does not feature air vents as well, so keep that in mind if that's important to you.

Moving to the front seat, the cabin is definitely more French than the rear - the standard-fit wireless phone charging pad in Australia means there are no front cupholders.

There is also no covered storage, an armrest is unfortunately absent in this market, and the one storage spot for a wallet, etc is removed when the handbrake is down.

The door bins are a reasonable size, though the typically-French tiny glove box (thanks to the fuse box not being converted properly from left-hand drive) still remains.

The 208 GTi is a five-seater and comes only as a three-door hatch. That means if you want to get into the back seats you’ll have to go through the front doors which are long and heavy.

Up front the cockpit is roomy with plenty of head, leg and shoulder room, but at 191cm I can’t sit behind my driving position – my legs were jammed into the seat back when I climbed in there. Those front seats do push and fold a long way forward and that means getting into that second row isn’t too tricky – I was even able to get my toddler in and out of his car seat without much trouble.

Storage isn’t terrific, with no cupholders in the back, but there are pockets for bottles under the windows, while up front you’ll find two cupholders and bottle holders in the doors. There’s a tiny storage area under the centre console armrest which I had in the upright position most of the time as my elbow kept bumping it while changing gears when it was down.

How big is the 208 GTi’s boot? The luggage capacity is 311 litres which is much bigger than the 280 litres of boot space in the Polo. 

The 208 GTi had $1000 lopped off its list price last year and while at $29,990 its still expensive for a little car, its ‘go-fast’ tiny hatch rivals ask similar amounts. The Volkswagen Polo lists for $27,690, Ford’s Fiesta ST is $27,490, and the Renualt Clio RS 200 is $30,990.

Coming standard is a 7.0-inch touchscreen with sat nav and reversing camera, a six-speaker stereo, dual-zone climate control, cloth and leather seats, rear parking sensors, tinted rear windows, halogen headlights and 17-inch alloy wheels.

There’s also a stack of cosmetic sporty bits which come with the GTi – you can read about those below.

The single C3 Aircross model available in Australia is equipped with the same 81kW/205Nm 1.2-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine that’s in the C3 light hatch.

Like the C3, it’s paired to a six-speed auto as standard - there’s no manual if that’s what you're after. 

The 208 GTi has a 153kW/300Nm 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine. That’s more power and torque than you’ll find in the Polo GTI (141kW/250Nm) or Renualt Clio RS (147kW/260Nm).

The 208 GTi only comes with a manual gearbox, which suits the agile personality of this car perfectly.

The car is light at less than 1.2 tonnes, so according to Peugeot, the available grunt is enough to get the 208 GTi from 0-100km/h in 6.8sec. And it feels quick; you’re able to brake traction in second gear.

Citroen claims the C3 Aircross uses 6.6L/100km of minimum 95RON premium fuel, and on the car’s launch we manged 7.5L/100km after a day of hard punting over a mix of city and country roads.

The 208 GTi comes with start-stop technology and Peugeot says that if you take in a combination of open and urban roads you’ll use just 5.4L/100km. Our time with the 208GTi was mainly spent in city traffic and the trip computer was reporting an average of 10.3L/100km.

The C3 Aircross is refreshingly different in the small SUV segment, which is full of firm-riding cars for no real benefit. Because of the brand’s renewed focus on comfort, the C3 Aircross rides a lot softer than many competitors and it’s this ride quality that gives it a unique selling point in the segment. 

However, don’t think its softness means poor body control. Its ride is soft but the car is well disciplined. This means it doesn’t handle as well as a CX-3 and its body roll is more obvious. But it’s a small SUV, who cares? 

I’m a fan of the drivetrain as well. While 81kW isn’t huge power in the segment, its the 205Nm peak torque figure that should be looked at because it delivers excellent driveability.

Especially compared to the Honda HR-V and its ancient 1.8-litre four and dreadful CVT auto combination, the C3 Aircross is torquey, refined and a pleasure to drive. 

We did notice that at higher speeds the engine tends to run out of puff and it can feel slow overtaking, but as a purely around-town proposition (as many small SUVs are) the C3 Aircross suffers no large faults.

The Aircross’ higher-speed ride is also excellent, and lack of grunt aside, is mature at highway speeds.

The C3 Aircross doesn’t feature sister brand Peugeot’s 'i-Cockpit' digital dials, but the cabin is still quite modern.

The standard head-up display is more aesthetically pleasing than the dated digital speedo in the instrument binnacle, which really needs to be updated.

All-round vision is excellent, with large windows and there's a good range of adjustment in the reach/rake steering wheel and driver’s seat (though it would be nice to have electric adjustment at this price level). 

We now come to the main reason for buying the Peugeot 208 GTi – the way it drives. Within my week of driving it, I felt like the car fit me like my own skin. The combination of great feedback, to let you sense whatever is happening, and the responsiveness to react instantly made for a fun and rewarding experience.

There’s great pedal and steering feel, with excellent turn-in and balance. The engine isn’t overly powerful, but the car’s light and there’s more than enough grunt for it to be quick, while shifting through those six gears is easy with a light clutch and short flicks between gears.

The experience was better than the Polo GTI with its overly hard ride, more fun than the Fiesta ST, but closest to the Clio RS. However, the Renault's disadvantaged by the fact that it's only available with a dual-clutch transmission.

The 208 GTi's high-placed instrument cluster has caused me issues in the past  - the problem being that at my height (191cm) I need the driver's seat low and far back, with the steering wheel high.

That combination means the rim of the steering wheel perfectly eclipses the speedo - the digital read-out completely, and the analogue dial between 30-60km/h. This meant sitting up tall and awkwardly peering over the rim when travelling through a 50km/h zone. Same place, every day, past a speed camera. Annoying.  

The Peugeot 208 scored the maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2012. Safety standards have come a long way since then, and as the 208 GTi is pretty much the same car that’s been around for six years, it doesn’t have advanced safety equipment such as AEB, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic or lane keeping assistance which are now common place on new cars.

Looking after you is traction and stability control, six airbags and ABS. For child seats you’ll find three top tether anchor points across the second row and two ISOFIX mounts.

It’s great to see the 208 GTi comes with a full-sized spare – essential if you’re travelling in more remote areas. 

Citroen doesn’t have the best reliability reputation, though its new products seem to be better than in decades past.

Warranty cover is five-years/unlimited km, including five years of roadside assistance, which used to stand ahead of the crowd, but the majority of mainstream brands have now matched it.

Servicing is scheduled annually or every 15,000km, whichever comes first. Capped price servicing is available for C3 Aircross owners and costs $2727.39 over a five-year/75,000km period.

That equates to a $545.47 average cost for each service, which is high for the segment. It is better value when you consider that a Mazda CX-3 costs $2623 serviced to the same distance with its shorter 10,000km intervals the culprit. By comparison, a Toyota C-HR costs $925 over the same period.

The 208 GTi is covered by Peugeot’s five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, plus there’s five years’ roadside assistance. 

Peugeot recommends you service your 208 GTi every 12 months or 20,000km. The first service will cost you $524, the second $685, the third is $524, then $690 for the fourth. In fact, the Peugeot website calculates how much you’ll pay right up to your 180,000km service.