First Drive: Citroën C1 brings a strange sense of deja vu

How do you review a car that has already been reviewed? The problem for the new Citroën C1, and indeed for the poor journalists assigned to write about it, is that we've seen it before. Not only is it essentially a reworked and (albeit significantly) updated version of the original C1, which launched in 2005, but it is also identical, underneath, to the Toyota Aygo and Peugeot 108. And we've driven those.

So how to differentiate a car that has similarity at its heart? It’s a conundrum that increasingly runs to the heart of motoring. With the sharing of components, from electrical and electronic systems to engines, gearboxes and entire chassis, the world of cars, once diverse and diffuse, is growing ever closer to a singularity of commonality.

Big tub of components

So it is with the C1. Would you be shocked if I told you that it drives pretty much identically to the Toyota Aygo? Of course not: they do, after all, share a chassis, a body shell and basic construction, engines, electrics, steering – you get the idea. There’s basically a big tub of components sitting in an enormous factory in the Czech Republic, and the workers on the line turn their dials from Citroën to Toyota to Peugeot depending on what it says on the work order.

The car factory as a giant cookie cutter? Yup, something like that, but the good news is that this time around the C1 is, at least, vastly visually different from its Franco-Japanese brethren. While the Aygo really does look angry and manga, with its dramatic X-face styling, and the Peugeot is smooth and sophisticated, the Citroën is . . . is . . . well, it’s bit hard to say, but the way the “eyebrow” running lights arch angrily over the circular main-beam units, I’d say it looks mildly peeved. In terms of the urban buyers Citroën is aiming for, it looks as if it has been given a skinny latte instead of the grande mocha it asked for.

Perhaps the pink coachwork of our test car didn’t help, but I can’t look at it and say it’s one of Citroën’s better recent efforts, not when the handsome, striking likes of the C4 Cactus and C4 Picasso are sitting in the same showroom. Still, I’d be complaining a lot more if it just looked ordinary or dull, so there’s that.

The cabin is a much better job of work. From the big, bright touch screen (which does all the mobile-phone mirroring stuff that you'd expect) to the big, clear instruments and the surprisingly big, comfy seats, the C1's interior is a surprisingly pleasant place in which to while away a long day.

The only snag is that there’s not much room in the back, and the cabin, if you’re built like me (extra chubby), is a touch narrow across the shoulders. Perhaps I should just go on a diet.

Peppy and refined

At least the engine proved capable of moving the combined bulk of the car and me around. The up-spec 84hp 1.2-litre engine would doubtless have done a better job, but the 1.0-litre 68hp version we tried proved willing, peppy and decently refined. Just watch the economy on long motorway runs, where it can get too thirsty.

It also shows itself up as being somewhat less sophisticated than some of its key competition, and this is where Citroën's (and Toyota's and Peugeot's) decision to update the existing cars is demonstrably wrong. Okay, small cars are hard to make money on, and recycling components makes for healthier margins, but the C1 is shown up by the Hyundai i10 and VW Up, especially in refinement and long-journey capability.

You may point out that such cars are not usually expected to do long-haul work, but this is Ireland, and we need our cars to perform more than one task, so even city tiddlers like this have to be multitaskers.

Mini-roundabout agility

And while the C1 does well around town (tight dimensions make for easy parking and excellent mini-roundabout agility) the Up and i10 can do that, too, and still feel a deal more grown up.

Perhaps being grown up is a moot point when dealing with a group of cars that is supposed to be fun-loving, funky and youth-oriented (if you believe the marketing bumf), but it's too easy to tell that, under the striking styling and pleasing cabin, beats the heart of a 2005 model year car. Citroën C1 1.0 68hp VTi Feel: The lowdown

Price: Starting at €11,595

Power:68hp

Torque:93Nm. 0-100kmh: 13.7secs

Top speed:157km/h

Claimed economy:4.6-litres per 100km (64mpg)

Emissions and motor tax:95g/km and €180