Citroën C1 practicality and boot space

Tested in 2014, the C1 achieved a four-star rating from Euro NCAP. 

There are six airbags fitted to all C1s as standard, comprising a front, side and head system, while the front seatbelts come with pyrotechnic pretensioners to tighten the belt at the moment of impact. And should you forget to put your belt on, the C1 will alert you to this via a warning buzzer.

And of course the Citroen C1 has tyre pressure monitoring fitted as standard, as well as the usual compliment of stability control and ABS. In the rear you’ll find a pair of Isofixchild seat mounting points, too.

From the options list, you can add Active City Brake (autonomous emergency braking), which also comes with lane-departure warning and traffic sign recognition in the same package. 

Given its size, it’s no surprise that Citroen C1 practicality isn’t its strongest selling point – that said, it will (relatively) comfortably sit four adults and even some bags.

With the rear seats in place, the boot can hold 196 litres of luggage, and if you don’t need to carry passengers then folding the rear seats liberates a total of 780 litres of space. The glass tailgate reveals a relatively wide opening too, though the boot’s depth does mean it can be tricky to lift heavy items in and out.

Taller adults may struggle to sit behind those of a similar height though, as the seat backs are relatively thick. And it’s made all the more apparent by the optional Airscape trim, the fabric roof and its mechanism robbing rear passengers of headroom by some margin – if you enjoy the wind-in the hair feeling then the rear seats are for children only. Legroom isn’t perfect back there either, and passengers in a VW Up or Skoda Citigo enjoy far more space in the back.