Citroën C3 Aircross long-term test

The Car Citroën C3 Aircross Hybrid 145hp automatic Run by: Tom Goodban, videographer

Why it’s here To see if Citroën's smallest SUV can be a videographers workhorse, combining practicality with efficiency

Needs to Ferry camera kit and crew to filming locations around the country whilst being efficient

Mileage 5804 List price £26,930 Price as tested £27,970 Official economy 53.3mpg Test economy 44.8mpg

2 July 2026 – Shopping around

Having driven more than 5000 miles in my Citroën C3 Aircross, I was curious to explore whether my hybrid version really was the best option, and to that end I decided to try out more expensive e-C3 Aircross as well as a cheaper version of my car, with a petrol engine and manual gearbox.

I found the driving experience of all three versions a tad mixed, but I actually slightly preferred the other versions to my Hybrid. You see, while my car can be quite jerky to drive – due to its coarse engine, mushy brake pedal and sluggish automatic gearbox – the electric version is smoother in its power delivery and, as I found with cheaper, manual-equipped C3, it turns out I can swap cogs more seamlessly than my car's automatic alternative.

In my car, the electric motor often drives the front wheels on its own as you pull away from a standstill, but it can feel a little weak and inconsistent at times. As a result, you sometimes get a dollop of electric pulling power and leap away, and other times... nothing, before the engine finally kicks in.

Meanwhile, the brakes have a fixed stage of regeneration that is quite strong and takes some getting used to. Ultimately, this mixture of patchy performance and the brakes can make smooth driving harder than in other versions. As I said, it can be jerky.

Obviously, the main reason that you’d go for the Hybrid over the pure petrol version is that it should save you money on fuel. However, in my experience, it hasn’t actually been that much more efficient or, at least, not enough to justify paying the extra money. I've seen around 42mpg compared with my my car's 44-46mpg.

Better news is that, once again, the boot proves to be pretty impressive regardless of version. This time around, I was lugging a marquees' worth of Autocar, Classic and Sports Car and What Car? paraphernalia into Finsbury for the London Concours, followed by a trip down to Dorset for a weekend away with three of my friends. So a mix of city and motorway driving, and that was before tackling my over 100-mile round-trip commute.

For the most part, the Aircross took it all in its stride. The space for the money can’t be beaten by anything outside of a Dacia dealership – even if you buy from a Chinese brand – and it’s perfectly refined on long journeys (the flat seat base did give me an ache after only an hour though).

With all the seats folded the boot is van-like, allowing me to fit all the large poster supports and poles in easily, and with the middle seats up there was more than enough room for four people’s weekend away luggage, as you’d expect. I didn’t have to venture into the third row myself but it’s a shame that, when the third-row is folded flat, it's covered by a flimsy bit of cloth. I had average-sized passengers report that the back row was satisfactorily comfortable, although general feedback was “I'd need to stretch my legs after half an hour".

All-in-all, I think my Hybrid C3 Aircross has its advantages. The auto 'box, while dimwitted, is handy in stop-start traffic. It also has the most powerful engine of any C3. However, for the most part, my mind is made up: I'd suggest just saving your money – almost £4000 of it – and choosing either the pure-petrol or electric version, whichever one suits your lifestyle.

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