Review of the new Citroen C1 - The Eco Choice

Today, more than ever before, offering a green choice is a priority in the automotive world - and manufacturers are producing cars to meet this demand. Cars like this one, Citroen's little C1 citycar. It sums up everything that modern eco-friendly motoring should really be about.

We live in a world where there are many different opinions on what the shape of environmentally-friendly motoring should be. Some say it lies in expensive hybrid technology. Others that it'll only be solved by even pricier hydrogen cell power. Diesels too have a huge following, with supporters pointing to the low CO2 and high fuel returns that emanate from the latest generation of common rail units. But perhaps we've all been thinking a bit too deeply about this. Perhaps the green future of city motoring really lies behind a much simpler solution - something like the Citroen C1 we've been trying over a long term test.

The C1 isn't hybrid or hydrogen-powered. Most of its customers don't choose diesel power. It doesn't even have fancy stop-start electronics. Yet despite all of that, it still manages to be one of the most frugal and eco-conscious petrol models on UK roads today. How has Citroen done it? Let's find out.

When it comes to eco-friendliness in cars, maybe we all need to take a step back. Take a car like Citroen's original 2CV with a design that goes back to the 1940s. It was light, its 600cc engine was efficient and it used its space brilliantly to transport up to five people across anything from a ploughed field to a pretty long autoroute. At the end of its life, it was easy to repair and maintain and simple to recycle. In short, conceptually it was well ahead of its time.

With such a history, it is perhaps hardly surprising that Citroen has always been at the forefront of greener technology, the most recent example being the company's C-Cactus concept car. Like the plant it's named after, it's low on liquid consumption. It also includes a whole range of clever new parts and is built with a significant proportion of recycled or recyclable materials. If you look carefully around modernday Citroens like the C1 citycar we've been driving, you can already see many of its ideas coming to production reality.

"It's an ideal example of what it really means to be green.."

And benefitting the driver. Citroen have discovered, you see, that many of the things that make a car eco-conscious also make it fun to drive. Light weight is a good example. The 998cc three cylinder petrol motor I have here is billed as the world's lightest production engine which is one key reason why this car, with a total weight of no more than around 800kgs, is so affordable to run. As Lotus founder Colin Chapman used to say, 'more power makes you quicker down the straights. Less weight makes you quicker everywhere'.

And so it is with this C1, the zippyiness it delivers around town is at odds with its modest power and apparently unpromising 14.2 second 0-60mph sprint figure. You don't need to row the thing alone with the gearlever either, the engine developing its peak pulling power from way down in the rev range. This is, in other words an engine that backs up its perky soundtrack with perky power delivery, perfectly suiting the C1's up and at 'em personality.

We're looking here at a Citroen C1, but many years from now, the parts that have created it will nearly all themselves be part of something else entirely. The C1, you see, is proudly one of Citroen's 'Airdream' models, a branding reserved only for the greenest models across the company's range. To qualify, the car in question must be at least 95% recyclable. So that the end of its life as a car is really just another beginning.

For now though, this product must function as a sensible little car for a family of four - no small ask for a car that's 23cms shorter than a modern MINI. Other manufacturers produce two or three seater models in the C1's citycar segment but for many families needing to use this as a regular second car, that simply won't be enough. And there's nothing very 'green' about having to take two cars when one would have sufficed.

Inside, you really can fit two fully-sized adults (or more easily two children) comfortably across the backseat, with adequate knee room and headroom to spare. And at the wheel? Well, being green doesn't mean you have to be boring. There are some lovely stylish touches like the way this translucent panel lights up at night. And the cute design of the rev counter that sprouts on top of the speedo.

More practically, the steering wheel adjusts for rake (up and down) and there's enough fore/aft adjustment in the front seats for even the most portly people. At the back, the glass tailgate looks good and though it doesn't open down to bumper level like a conventional rear hatch, it does reveal 139-litres of space which you can extend to 751-litres by flattening the rear seats.

Eco-friendliness demands that our choice of car should include everything we need - and nothing we don't. A directive which has very much been taken to heart by Citroen, who've priced the C1 very affordably in the £7,000 to £9,000 bracket, well below Ford and Vauxhall rivals. Fortunately though, the definition of 'everything we need' has become a little more liberal in recent times, so you shouldn't feel too guilty about upgrading to the plusher C1 variant we've been using, which includes niceties like a chromed radiator grille, front electric windows, high frequency remote central locking, front lateral airbags, a rev counter, split-folding rear seats and beautiful leather and alcantara trim.

We've already talked about the way that much of this model's enviro-friendliness is based around its very light weight. Which makes it all the more impressive that it still carries plenty of apparently heavy safety design as standard. As well as a specially developed body structure that incorporates crumple zones and impact absorbers at the front and rear, the C1 also boasts ISOFIX child seat anchor points, reinforced doors and up to four airbags.

What's more, it's also well equipped to avoid a fender bender in the first instance with anti lock brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution and corner stability control. The C1 has also been designed to limit the consequences of a pedestrian impact - wise indeed for a car that will doubtless spend much of its life in the urban environment. The front end features no sharp edges and impact absorbers up front also help to limit leg injuries. There's plenty of clearance between the impact absorbing bonnet and the top of the engine which means that shock is dissipated without coming into contact with anything hard.

As we've already mentioned, this C1 is part of Citroen's Airdream collection, this being benchmark branding reserved only for the French company's most efficient and cleanest vehicles. To qualify, a model must not only have 95% or more of its parts recyclable, it must also be manufactured cleanly to the tough ISO14001 standard. Perhaps most tellingly, it must also return under 120g/km of CO2 or, for larger diesel models, be fitted with a DPFS particulate filter and achieve less than 158g/km.

The C1 of course shatters those targets, this 1.0-litre petrol version managing just 106g/km of C02, with the 1.4-litre HDi diesel variant only just behind - at only 109g/km. Fuel economy is also standout, the petrol-engined car averaging over 50mpg even around town, a return that rises to an extra urban figure of 72.4mpg if you include some open road work. The diesel model's extra urban figure is even more impressive - at 83.1mpg. That offers higher mileage buyers a chance to recoup the diesel's necessarily higher upfront asking price, plus they can enjoy slightly lower servicing costs and the same cheap insurance group 1 as the petrol models. Whichever variant you choose though, you'll be buying into one of the least expensive family-friendly cars that it's possible to run.

Long before all the green efficiency hype began, Citroen was pioneering cleaner, more fuel-efficient motoring. The common rail HDi diesel engines now fitted in all their diesel models - including this C1 - are a great example of that. As a result, the French brand can today boast one of the UK's widest ranges of low emission vehicles, three of which are in the top four for low CO2 and fuel efficiency. And no model illustrates their mastery of the subject better than this C1. An ideal first car for young motorists, a brilliant second or third one for older ones or families, it's also an ideal example of what it really means to be green.

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