[dinomito]

Had a drive in the new DS3 at Rockingham Motor Speedway yesterday, not a bad car really. They had a selection of rivals to take round the track too, Fiat 500, BMW Mini and the MiTo. I managed to keep quiet about owning one for a while, until almost everybody there started to rave about it and how it was by far the best car there!
The DS3 is quite a good effort from Citroen, not as rapid as the 155hp MiTo even though the performance figures suggest otherwise for the 150hp car i drove. Build quality is a huge step forward for a Citroen and the cabin and materials they use have a real quality feel. A smooth racetrack in light rain is not the best place to find out about how it will cope with our roads, but i managed to go a little bit Troy Queef on some of the faster corners. Which was nice.
Should be taking delivery of a DS3 here in Montrose in next couple of days, so i'll save my final verdict after driving it on some of our roads up here.
So far though it's no match for the MiTo

 

[Shusky]

Nice report, we had a good look at the DS3 in the MPH show at the NEC last November and liked what we saw but I was still happy that I chose the MiTo.

 

[tess]

sparkywills was there too.....he loved the mito and is a citreon salesman

 

[Nev]

Comes first in a head-to-head with the MiTo and a Mini Clubmunter
in L'Automobile Magazine this month.

1st: DS3 THP 150 Sport Chic
2nd: Mini Clubmunter Cooper
3rd: MiTo 1.4 Multiair

Interior looks pants.

 

[techwork]

Saw the DS3 in the Citroen showroom on the Champs-Elysees in Paris - I want to like it but it's just a weird Mini /Citroen C3 hybrid.

They should've gone full-on wacky and used the original space-age retro-futuristic stylings of the original as much more of an inspiration

 

[Nev]

It's a tarted up C3. What's to like?

 

[Dave Brand]

Comes first in a head-to-head with the MiTo and a Mini Clubmunter
in L'Automobile Magazine this month.

Quelle surprise!

 

[dinomito]

sparkywills was there too.....he loved the mito and is a citreon salesman

I'm a Citroen salesman too Tess. Just about everybody there loved the MiTo, especially on the track. We had our 1st one delivered this afternoon, so I'll take it home tomorrow night hopefully and what it's like to live with for a few days

 

[tess]

hope you enjoy it hunhugz

 

[dinomito]

Feels like a really solid car on some of the bumpier roads up here, with excellent body control and a really comfy ride quality. Took my car out on our usual test route straight after, and i have to admit that the DS3 is the comfier car. The MiTo has more feel and outright grip, but the DS3 really is a bloody good effort. The DS3 Racing which is due at the end of the year with a more aggressive look inside and out and 200+bhp will be a hoot.
It also seems to appeal to all ages too. Orders already taken from amongst others a 25 year old male, 30 year old female and even an 80 year old Mini Cooper D driver! Everybody seems to love it, so it makes my job easy i suppose.

 

[Scudetto]

The design is a - IMHO - dog's dinner.

A lot of modern marketing talk about it reviving the DS 'brand' (was the DS a 'brand' when it was launched? er, think not; 'DS' wasn't marketing puff, it was a brilliant car) seems to avoid the fact it's a comical looking car based on a so-so one. 'Brave B-pillar design' doesn't automatically mean great or desirable design. To my eyes, it looks like Citroen is clutching at straws ('oh my God! BMW has the MINI! Fiat has the 500! We have to cash in on this!')

It doesn't look modern. It doesn't look pretty. It's nothing like as wacky as the Nissan Juke. It doesn't look clear about its purpose (BMW Mini; modern template of a classic; Fiat 500, chi-chi town car to be seen in)

Citroen will sell about five, and when it becomes a sales flop, Citroen will resort to the very same discounts and prices slashes that have parked the brand in the bargain basement bucket that they're desperate to get out of.

It's an average car, with faux premium brand aspirations and positioning; it takes more than an awkward looking, truncated B-pillar, and Mini-copied floating roof to make an average, podgy-looking small hatch, look cool.

 

[ghiribizzo]

Sadly I agree with Scudetto. Saw one at a dealers locally today and thought WTF. Despite being a fan of Citroen Tractions Avant/DS/SM and even 2CV I felt it looked really disappointing. I feel the proportions make it look much bigger from a distance than Mito/Mini/500 but dear oh.
So Fiat/Alfa still win for me. Still enjoying the bouncy but damned fun way the 500Sport goes :lol:

 

[ukmike2008]

I really don't get the DS3 - the philosophy is sound but the design is totally hideous.

I cannot imagine what is in the road testers mind when they keep commending the design (Autocar tested it last week and liked it!)
It can't be retro because it has no links with any Citroen model of the past, whereas MiTo has its Alfa grille,, Fiat has the lovely 500 and Mini is clearly based on a twice-sized 1960's Mini with half the internal space.

And it can't be modern because it is just too horrendously designed.

The profile of the DS3 is disjointed and messy, the front is dreadful and the overall effect would be enhanced if the car still wore the padded disguise of the prototype.

Do I want one? No thanks - I will pass

 

[ukmike2008]

It also seems to appeal to all ages too. Orders already taken from amongst others a 25 year old male, 30 year old female and even an 80 year old Mini Cooper D driver! Everybody seems to love it, so it makes my job easy i suppose.

We can excuse the 80 year old - her eyesight will be failing. :lol:

....... not everyone loves it - I don't

 

[Squadrone Rosso]

It looks really great in the metal (honestly)

 

[ukmike2008]

Sorry SR I have to disagree - I have seen it in the metal and I still think its pants. Not for me I'm afraid

 

[Nev]

Being advertised all over the shop with the by-line:

"Anti-Retro"

 

[Dave Brand]

I'll reserve judgement until I see one in the metal. It does appear to me to be a design that's very colour-sensitive.

The one thing I find attractive about it is the opinion expressed in all the road tests I've read that ride quality is good without compromising handling - not something the MiTo's ever been accused of, is it? One road test described it as a sort of latter-day Peugeot 205GTi; if so, I'd consider buying one - after three Alfas I could live with Citroen's quality standards!

 

[techwork]

It's so high and just not sleek / sporty in it's appearance to me

 

[Fierce]

I'll reserve judgement until I see one in the metal. It does appear to me to be a design that's very colour-sensitive.

The one thing I find attractive about it is the opinion expressed in all the road tests I've read that ride quality is good without compromising handling - not something the MiTo's ever been accused of, is it? One road test described it as a sort of latter-day Peugeot 205GTi; if so, I'd consider buying one - after three Alfas I could live with Citroen's quality standards!

+1 - need to see one in the flesh, I think it's a funky car aimed at first timers, and off the bat I would take one over a C2/C3 anyday!