Citroen C2 test drive since 2003 hatchback

What takes "c-two"

The goods are face
Offers in the car market, as we notice, do not always comply with the principle: more - more expensive, less - cheaper. Even one brand may have strange surprises. Take, say, Ford Fiesta, which is more expensive than the next focus line. About the same with Citroen -C2 - the younger representative of the model range of the company. The price for this small machine starts at 11,500 euros, while the following in the Sitroen C3 gamut is offered from 9900. Surprisingly?
I think, yes. Nevertheless, interest in the car does not detract from the car. On the contrary, it encourages you to take a closer look: maybe in fact there is something to pay for?
So, we have already called the minimum price - 11,500 euros. It is offered a machine with a 1.4 liter engine (not so little for the baby), a mechanical five -speed gearbox, four safety pillows, a steering wheel, a lump -shaped velor salon, a body close in color (by the way, coated with metallic). Of the little things - adjusting the height of the driver and the steering column (along the angle of inclination and length), electric windows, central lock, immobilizer, audio training.
Such equipment, however, is in small demand and is supplied to the dealers to order for a particular client. In the car dealership, you will find a car much more often for 13 thousand, equipped with air conditioning, an audio system, heated seats and mirrors (see table). If desired, you can add something here: climate control, CD changer, alloy wheels for 14 or 15 inches, side safety curtains, cruise control, fog lights. There are enough sentences.
And you can swing on the cinema with a motor of 1.6 liters, 110 liters. with. - He is able to unwind the baby until 195 km/h (those around them will be surprised). Such machines are supplied only with a gearbox of a sensor-drive. For the driver, this is like an automatic machine, but instead of a hydrotransformer, a mechanical clutch controlled by electronics is worthwhile. A more powerful car is a slightly different upholstery of the passenger compartment, a more developed side support in the seats, additional anti -winged, all -recovery wheels per 16 inches, and the possibility of more cool reinforcements. Let's say, a parking system and even an electronic stabilization system.
Outside and inside
It has long been noticed: with an increase in the size of outdoor lighting, the car looks both more stylish and more recognizable. This fully applies to the zoom. Against the background of his miniature hood, large headlights seem huge. They are not as rounded as the Citroen-S3 colleague, although they are very similar in style. In front C2 seems more dynamic, but you look from the side - I want to say: an eek stump! So quickly, the roof in the rear comes to naught. Is there really there is a seat in addition to the trunk?
Wow, there really is. Two separate chairs with headrests can ride on the sled and forth, changing the volume of the trunk. There is no need to say that this adjustment gives something to the rear passengers. An adult can get back and even get out independently, but it’s not very good to go here - crowded! The capacity of the car most likely determines the formula 2+2. However, we note: despite the modest space from the back, the designers provided here developed armrests along the edges and a large pocket for small objects next to each. Children will probably like it very much.
Now let's look at the trunk lid - it is double -leaf. The most open part opens as usual - up, the smaller one - leans back, and also has a closing cavity for the tool or an emergency stop sign. Or maybe this is a big cosmetic bag?
The little car is small, but very sweet. A large glazing area provides good overview. Huge ranges of steering wheel and a driver’s seat adjustment for such a machine make it possible to find not one, but several convenient landings. Say, for sandals or stilettos, tight trousers or ... a short skirt (joke!).
To attribute small cars to purely ladies - a feature of the Russian mentality. Old Freud would definitely find what to say to the strong half about this. Objectively, Citroen C2 is a citizen car not burdened with a family, or a second car in the house. And who will more often sit on his steering wheel - the head of the family or the keeper of the hearth - does not change anything.
Let's go back to the car interior. If you look from the driver’s place, C2 is almost no different from C3: the same combination of devices with a switch tachometer and an electronic speedometer, the same display in the center of the front panel, informing about temperature overboard, time of day or a well -closed door. Management of all outer light (including fog lights) and wipers - on steering wheel switches. And at the end of the right, in addition, adjusting the channel changes and the volume of the standard radio.
Citroen has very convenient spherical deflectors, but not quite successfully located glass drive buttons - on the tunnel behind the gear lever. However, in a car with air conditioning, glass is not often lowered.
In the usual place, control of external mirrors and headlight corrector - to the left of the steering wheel. In view of the button for turning on the emergency. Under it - control of the central lock. There are all sorts of cup holders and even a rain sensor. And yet something is missing ... Oh yes, ashtrays! Sorry, dear ladies, the Ministry of Health warned you!
How to go
Someone will probably doubt: can a car with a 1.4-liter engine go normal? In vain, and even if installed on a small typewriter, even more so. A small mass provides good dynamics in the first two or three gears (read, in the city), and the modest area of \u200b\u200bthe frontal resistance does not interfere with the acceleration when the fourth or fifth is turned on (on the highway, therefore).
Of course, a light and sensitive steering wheel with an electric power, of course, will deserve a special praise with a weak half. And the strong, if it does not hesitate to sit in C2, will be pleasantly surprised by the behavior of the car on the highway.
Sitroen engineers traditionally pay special attention to the suspension, but even taking into account this, her moves pleasantly surprise. On the waves, the car does not hit at the fifth point and does not bake, like many of its classmates, but tries to smooth out, gently pumping the riders. It does not always work? So you are in Russia, dear!
Small bumps, fossa and rude joints of the asphalt, the machine passes worse. Low -profile tires 185/55R15, in which our shod, well inform those sitting inside about the shortcomings of road workers.
But, like the colleague of the Ts-third, there is good sound insulation. In addition, the engine has enough opportunities to equip a car with a relatively long transmission. For example, when driving along a highway at a speed of 120 km/h, a tachometer shows less than 3500 rpm, and a hundred less than 3000. C -class cars with an engine of the same working volume are sometimes noisier. And a very important circumstance: with one driver C2 it accelerates to hundreds per 12.2 s (with a 1.6 liter engine for 10.9), so no one in the city will infringe on your right to go in the left row - you will not become obstruction of the stream.
In official press releases, Citroen C2 is called a city sports car. In addition to high maneuverability, light steering wheel and a sense of size, the car has a small, by our standards, road clearance - about 130 mm without loading (for a foreign car, this is the norm). It’s not so simple to damage the car seriously, since the lower point is the crossbar of the subframe (strong thing), but you need to put the protection of the motor compartment, at least plastic. From below there are a lot of wires, sensors, and they will not work better from close contact with road mud.
What else to add: about a palette of bodies of twelve colors or a 100,000th warranty? This, probably, will not surprise anyone. And yet, if tomorrow friends see you in Citroen-C2, they will most likely be surprised at a funny typewriter, and not your choice. If so, its price justifies itself.
 



Alexander Budkin. Photo: Alexander Kulnev

A source: The magazine "Driving"