The 10.25-inch central touchscreen is subtly angled towards the driver, and comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity as standard. The built-in infotainment system is very simple, so it’s easy to navigate and clearly laid out, if occasionally laggy. The steering wheel features some physical buttons that work well and are easy to use on the move.
There’s no option to upgrade the sound system on the Citroen, with a six-speaker audio set-up your only choice. It sounded a little tinny to us, but pretty acceptable for a car in this price bracket.
During our drive, we found the speed recognition function to be wrong on multiple occasions – even registering an 80km/h sign as 20km/h at one point. The beeping from the speed limit change assistant was annoying too, although you can cancel this via a physical button on the dash next to the steering wheel.
“The Citroen’s cabin is a lot more fun than the rather boring interior you get in the Vauxhall Frontera sister car. The dash layout works well – in a similar way to the old C3 Picasso, actually.” – Alastair Crooks, senior news reporter
The C3 Aircross is a practical family SUV and the option of seven seats is welcome at this price
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Pros |
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| Cons |
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Citroen expects the vast majority of customers will go for the five-seat C3 Aircross rather than the seven-seater. The rearmost seats are inevitably quite small and by doing without them you gain quite a lot of extra passenger and boot space. If you really need to carry seven people regularly, it’s probably better to look towards a larger car.
Dimensions and size
At 4,395mm long, the C3 Aircross is compact for a seven-seater car but significantly larger than the C3 supermini it shares its platform with. The C3 is 3,996mm long and 1,829mm wide, so the extra space in the Aircross model shouldn’t come as a surprise. Even the Citroen C4 is slightly smaller than the Aircross SUV, coming up 35mm short in length and 50mm narrower.
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 4,395mm |
| Width | 1,850mm |
| Height | 1,660mm |
| Number of seats | Five/Seven |
| Boot space | 460 litres |
Driving position, seats & space in the front
Standard on every C3 Aircross model are the company’s excellent Advanced Comfort seats. These now have 10 to 15mm of extra foam and are redesigned to be even more supportive. We found the seats to be incredibly soft, squishy and comfortable, while the driving position feels quite high and commanding.
Seats & space in the back
Without a third row of seats to accommodate, the 40:60-split rear bench in the five-seat model sits 65mm further back. This makes the most of the 2.76-metre-long wheelbase and creates more space for those in the rear. In fact, Citroen claims the C3 Aircross offers best-in-class knee room and elbow room for those in the second row.
