Taxi drivers are a breed apart, and I’ve had more than my share of close calls with them and we now do our best to ignore each other. Until I drove the delectable Citroën DS3 cabriolet that is.
At the very first set of traffic lights outside our offices I became aware of the taxi driver alongside me trying to attract my attention. With a broad grin he was pointing at the Citroën showing me the thumbs up. And for a while our karma was good until the next taxi driver tried to cut me off ...
There’s a feel-good factor to the DS3 and it certainly turns heads, even though I would consider it a bit effeminate and a chick car. The unusually mild Gauteng winter allowed us to drive it around in cabriolet mode, although the term cabriolet is a bit of a misnomer as it’s not a full-on convertible and still has its roof pillars and frame.
The electrically-operated canvas top slides right back to the boot letting in the sky and putting you in a carefree, holiday mood. The roof can be opened and closed while driving at speeds up to 120km/h so no there’s no need to worry about a sudden rain squall catching you unawares.
QUICK OFF THE MARK
We were pleasantly surprised by the oomph in the top-of-the-range 1.6 turbo THP 155 Sport. The 115kW turbocharged motor propels the DS3 quickly off the mark and keeps on accelerating, displaying an enthusiastic willingness (with hardly any turbo lag) up to a claimed top speed of 214km/h and a claimed 7.3 seconds from 0-100km/h. Fuel consumption was fair and we attained an average figure of 7.1l/100km in a mix of urban and open road driving, but not on a par with the claimed figure of 5.8l/100km
Gearshifts are fairly slick and precise, although on one or two occasions we battled to snick it into third gear when accelerating hard.
An advantage of the Citroën not being a full convertible is the absence of scuttle shake, which is where a vehicle vibrates on bumpy roads due to a lack of structural rigidity caused by the lack of a roof. The DS3 remained nimble and taut on 17” alloy wheels over most surfaces and under hard cornering.
Effeminate looks aside, this is a car that has enough panache and pace to replace the Mini Coopers used in the movie The Italian Job should there be another remake.
CAN BE IMPRACTICAL
Guess all this explains why Citroën decided to use the acronym DS for this car (pronounced déesse, which is French for goddess). Déesse she may be, but she’s also quite impractical in some ways.
Fellow journalists have described it as having a cute derriere, which is true enough, but although the boot is the same size as the hatchback with 245 litres of space, it has a tiny aperture that makes it difficult to load bulky luggage.
The DS3 is also a 3-door with limited legroom in the rear, but that is probably not going to worry potential buyers who are unlikely to be playing mom’s taxi.
The cabin is funky and definitely out of the ordinary, although the carbonfibre-look on the dashboard would not be my first choice of material (I prefer the real thing). But plenty of soft-touch plastics, and the Mistral “Alcantara” sport seats more than make up for this.
FRENCH PERFUME
The air freshener leaves a faint trace of French perfume which beats the smell of traffic fumes.
The funkiest item is the multifunction display with just about every conceivable bit of information available. Besides the usual information such as fuel consumption, average speed and fuel remaining, the screen also displays the optional built-in navigation system.
We quite like the onboard compass, although it doesn’t help much since few roads follow a direct bearing – unless of course you’re driving through the Karoo.
A drawback of this monitor is that although it is readable under most conditions during the day, it becomes completely unreadable if you try to use it in the day with your headlights on, as I normally do for safety reasons. This meant that I had to switch off the lights every time I wanted to check something on the display.
The Bluetooth system with USB port ensure hassle-free communications and CD players will soon have gone the way of the Dodo, as the USB port makes it a cinch to plug in a memory stick and listen to music.
Weighing in with a R271 900 price tag the THP 155 Sport would not be considered cheap. But it does come with a high spec level with ticks behind all the bells and whistles.
The Mini Cooper S Convertible comes in at a much stiffer R347 375 pricetag but comes with extra power (135kW and 260Nm) and is a full convertible. Service intervals are every 20 000km and the car comes with a three-year/100 000km warranty and four-year/60 000km service plan.
VERDICT
The Citroën DS3 THP 155 Sport comes with a built-in feel-good factor thanks to the sliding roof, good looks and a high spec level, placing it high on the desirability meter – especially if you’re female.