Thrills without the bills

Now, five years on, Citroen reckons it can do it again with the launch this week of the range flagship C2 VTS, offering once again sporty handling and performance, all powered by a new, uprated engine.

It's a car offering thrills without the bills, says Citroen. It is aimed primarily at young buyers looking for their first step up into the performance car market and those who want "excitement and street-cred" at a price they can manage. There is also the matter of needing a car that is safe and secure and in an insurable package that, in most cases, rules out anything much above 130bhp.

So, the C2 VTS has been designed to take advantage of this market: with its 125hp engine, sporty chassis and low, group eight insurance banding (lower than the Renault Clio 182 at group 16 and even lower than the Saxo VTS, group 14).

The new car carries a price ticket of £11,995, and also comes with a year's free insurance for those over 21. This price, incidentally, is £1,000 less than the Saxo was at its launch, and it still has more kit.

It is a zippy car to drive, achieved by some significant work on the 1.6i-litre 16V petrol engine. Test drives through the highways and byways of Middle England revealed a car with a good spread of torque lower down the rev range (unusual in this type of car), and able to rev quite freely to its maximum 7,200rpm.

The engine is matched to a nice, slick five-speed gearbox with close ratio gears, giving the car a 0-62mph burst of 8.3 seconds.

Fuel figures are encouraging, returning over 40mpg at the combined rate, 30.4mpg about town, and 52.3mpg on the open road.

However, the car is fun-to-drive nature falls a bit short, despite changes to the chassis design, which includes bigger anti-roll bars and stiffer springs and dampers...or was it the badly maintained roads of Middle England that led to the uncomfortable bumpy, thumpy ride experienced during test driving this week?

But it really does have more good points than bad, among them air conditioning, electric windows, height and reach adjustable steering wheel, and a CD player as standard. Also the power assisted steering is certainly more direct, and the car rides on wider pumped-up 16-inch alloy wheels fitted with special sports tyres, namely Michelin Exalto 2s.

It is also a stylish motor, with its appealing sharp angular lines and purposeful stance with flared wheel arches. It is dressed to impress with its front fog lamps, body-coloured bumpers and side mouldings, a subtle rear roof spoiler and a larger chrome tailpipe than on the VTR.

Although there is a range of attractive paint jobs outside, including the official Citroen Sport Red rally coat, inside it's dull, not quite like a coal hole but really very sober for a car aimed at bright and breezy youngsters.

Citroen, however, says black is THE colour for young drivers. So the cabin carries a number of style touches that are unique to the car: the metallic glint of the drilled, aluminium sport pedals and aluminium gear knob, a leather steering wheel all mixed together with the "distinctly styled" black sports seats, black fascia, dark carpeting, greyish door grab handles and overall, I think, a sober carbon-fibre look.

But then I am way out of my league when it comes to mixing it with young, sporty drivers...

There is room for four friends, together with surprisingly plenty of head and shoulder space as well as more front elbow room than experienced in other cars. The two doors are fitted with storage areas, just about useful for road maps and sweet and crisp wrappings, while two glove boxes, one lockable, do help to keep valuables out of sight. Of course there are can holders, too.

With a full car, boot room is a bit tight at 193-litres, but offload the passengers, and the back seats can be moved to provide 224-litres or folded down to provide 879 litres. A split tailgate makes loading in a confined parking space easier, and the lower portion also conceals a shallow storage compartment of its own.

A car that is primarily aimed at young drivers needs to ensure they are safe and the C2 is built on the same platform as Europe's safest supermini, the Citroen C3 Pluriel, which has been awarded a four-star rating in European-studied crash tests.

It comes with four airbags, driver, passenger and side, as standard, together with anti-lock brakes, electronic brake force distribution, emergency braking assistance and electronic stability control. Also, in hard braking conditions, the car's hazard lights automatically switch on to warn others on the road.

Other features available for those who want to upgrade their car include side window airbags, rear-parking sensors, heated folding wing mirrors and automatic headlamps.

A performance car can bring its owner problems when it comes to security, and British Insurance has named the C2 VTR as the most secure performance car under £15,000. It is delivered with an anti-theft alarm, an advanced transponder immobiliser, remote central locking with deadlocks and dashboard-mounted control and automatic locking of the doors and boot once the car is moving.

Finally, competitors? Difficult to pinpoint, but perhaps the Ford Fiesta ST, Vauxhall Corsa SRi, Renault Clio and Peugeot 106.

Verdict:

For: Stylish looks and zippy performance (footnote: The car was unveiled in Leicestershire, in a hanger housing the country's only remaining Vulcan bomber, remembered for its stylish looks and performance)

Against: Dull interior trim

Details at a glance:

Model: Citroen C2 VTS

Price: £11,995

Warranty: Three year/60,000 miles, 12-year anti-corrosion, three year paint

Service intervals:

20,000 miles

Insurance rating:

Group eight

Dimensions: Length 3666mm, width 1659mm, height 1451mm, wheelbase 2315mm

Engine: 1587cc, four cylinders, 125hp with maximum torque 105lb.ft. Multipoint fuel injection

- Citroens available locally from Reg Vardy, 32 Lawrence Street, York. Telephone: 01904 645 444

Updated: 15:59 Thursday, August 19, 2004