Citroën DS3 (10 on) - Review

Review by David Ross on
Last Updated: 18 February 2011
The DS3 is the first in a range of very different Citroen models that put the emphasis on style and personality, along with strong performance and driver appeal. With its stylish look and compact size, it's easy to see why so many comparisons have been drawn with the popular MINI and Fiat 500. In contrast to those two, the DS3 isn't a 'retro' model, but it is similar in many ways with an elegant cabin, a sporty stance and impressive handling. It really is great to drive with tremendous poise in corners and responsive steering, while the ride remains forgiving. It's also very well built - something that can't be said for all Citroens - with a genuinely premium feel to the interior and impressive refinement at higher speeds. Overall, it's the best car Citroen has made for a long time.
4 out of 5

Other Citroën reviews

4 out of 5

Running costs

It may be stylish and sporty, but the DS3 is also cheap to run. List prices are competitive and all the engines return strong fuel economy - the HDi units being especially frugal. Insurance rates are low and under the new insurance system with 50 groups, the entry-level 1.4-litre DSign is group 12. Citroen servicing is affordable too, although the dealers don't have a great reputation for quality and often perform badly in owner satisfaction surveys.

* based on most recent data

Estimated fuel cost for 10,000 miles per year

Unleaded

£1,279 - £1,461 *

Diesel

£822 - £1,034 *

The estimated fuel cost figure is a guide to how much this model will cost to fuel each year, so you can compare between cars. It's calculated by using the model's average mpg (calculated from both town centre and motorway driving) and the average fuel price. It's based on the following cost-per-litre: petrol 135p and diesel 141p. Prices are updated daily.

Summary Running Costs

Servicing period

Petrols: two years or 20,000 miles. Diesels: two years or 12,500 miles.

Warranty

Three years/60,000 miles.

Road tax (12 months)

£0.00 - £170.00

Vehicle excise duty (VED) varies according to the CO2 emissions and the fuel type of the vehicle. For cars registered after March 1st 2001 VED or road tax is based on the car's CO2 emissions. For cars registered before March 1st 2001 it is based on engine size.

Full running costs data

4 out of 5

Green credentials

  • A
    95
  • B
  • C
  • D
  • E
  • F
  • G
    155
  • H
  • I
  • J
  • K
  • L
  • M

CO2 emission figure (g/km)

Fuel economy rating

The arrows indicate the best and worst CO2 bands for this model.

Emissions summary

All the engines in the DS3 range are economical and even the top 1.6-litre THP emits just 155g/km of CO2 - impressive for a turbocharged engine with 150bhp. The diesels are cleaner with all three emitting less than 120g/km of CO2, but special mention goes to the low emissions 99g/km HDi which is capable of 74mpg.

Find the exact engine and CO2