Citroen DS3 DSport 1.6 HDi 110 Road Test
Feature added: July 23, 2010
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Citreon's DS3 has proved to be one of the big surprises of 2010. The styling has proved impossible to resist, shooting straight to the core of the market for fashionable, customisable small cars. With appeal across age groups, sexes, socio-economic divisions and at home in or out of the city - it has received praise from all quarters.
The DS3's appeal also seems less susceptible to engine choice. Available with an impressive range of engines from the word go the model line-up appears carefully tailored to avoid stigma being attached the badging. The DSign and DStyle models prove every bit as enticing as the DSport despite the less powerful engines and customers can opt for the road-tax free 99g/km model without fear of badge snobbery.
Still, the 110bhp diesel engine option proves a particularly tempting choice, with a measured combination of performance and efficiency, while retaining all of the flair of its sister models in DSport form.
Priced to match the range topping 150bhp petrol engine equipped model, the most powerful of the diesel options available produces just 118g/km CO2, giving it a tax advantage over both the 155g/km CO2 emitting 1.6-litre 150bhp petrol and, perhaps more relevantly considering the similar performance levels, the 120bhp version of the same petrol engine. An additional bonus comes from the extra 14.9 miles the diesel unit will wring from each gallon of fuel.
Of course, petrol fans will be right to point out that the diesel unit fails to offer the same enchanting exhaust or engine note, an aspect of diesel driving that can be resolved with the big diesel V8s of some SUVs but is harder to overcome in a small four cylinder unit.
The DS3's appeal also seems less susceptible to engine choice. Available with an impressive range of engines from the word go the model line-up appears carefully tailored to avoid stigma being attached the badging. The DSign and DStyle models prove every bit as enticing as the DSport despite the less powerful engines and customers can opt for the road-tax free 99g/km model without fear of badge snobbery.
Still, the 110bhp diesel engine option proves a particularly tempting choice, with a measured combination of performance and efficiency, while retaining all of the flair of its sister models in DSport form.
Priced to match the range topping 150bhp petrol engine equipped model, the most powerful of the diesel options available produces just 118g/km CO2, giving it a tax advantage over both the 155g/km CO2 emitting 1.6-litre 150bhp petrol and, perhaps more relevantly considering the similar performance levels, the 120bhp version of the same petrol engine. An additional bonus comes from the extra 14.9 miles the diesel unit will wring from each gallon of fuel.
Of course, petrol fans will be right to point out that the diesel unit fails to offer the same enchanting exhaust or engine note, an aspect of diesel driving that can be resolved with the big diesel V8s of some SUVs but is harder to overcome in a small four cylinder unit.
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