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| The French used to make cars that look like freedom feels, like this 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atlantic. The world will have to wait for 3D printing of car panels to become commonplace before cars will look like this again. Meanwhile, the Citroën’s DS3 is daringly different. |
IN the 1984 film Karate Kid, Pat Morita showed the
young Ralph Macchio how to “wax on, wax off”. The handbook of the 2013 Citroën
DS3 ragtop teaches differently: “only sponge gently and never rub hard”.
Otherwise you would damage the moondust grey fabric roof, optional at
R5 000.
The Citroën difference continues at the back, where the boot lid
pops out and then up, to end quivering like a guillotine blade above the tiny
boot opening.
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| The boot lids pop up and out to quiver like ze quillotine blade above ze purse mouth of ze boot, qui? |
Behind that letter-box opening awaits a sizeable, 245-litre boot,
but to get a suitcase in there you must first go back to the front — qui? — to
lower the back seat so that you can wrestle the suitcase past the
B-pillar.
Better then to stay single and travel in the DS3 with just a credit
card and the roof down, non?
And travel it can, at least as well as the Beetle 1,4 TSI Sport.
But in the DS3 the turbo just keeps on piling more power when other cars want to
shift up.
As Witness Wheels correspondent Gordon Hall reported
from the launch: “the 115 kW, 240 Nm motor designed in collaboration with BMW is
quick, responsive and pulls well throughout its rev range”. The firm ride stops
just short of being kidney-pulping. As with all ragtops, expect a rattle or two
when throwing this hot mini into a corner, material not being a good chassis
stiffener. The wheels will remain planted at speed. And when the wind noise gets
too much, close the roof en route, even at at 120 km/h.
Our test model came with assorted extras that added more than
R56 000 to its base price of R297 900. With the optional Freedrive warranty and
maintenance plan of R16 400, the DS3 cabriolet ends up playing in the same price
range as the Mercedes-Benz A-class TD or Volvo C30 T5 R-Design, both of which
offer as much desirability in their designs, but have more power.
For those who wants to go fast with a soupçon of style, there are
half-a-dozen contenders that sell for a few thousand less than the DS3.
FAST
AND STYLISH CONTENDERS
• Opel Astra 1,6 Essentia Plus R251 700
• Ford Fiesta
1.6 ST R254 500
• Peugeot 208
GTI R259 900
• VW Beetle 1.4 TSI
sport R308 600
• Nissan Juke AWD
Tekna R322 520
• Honda CR-Z
R332 800
• Toyota 86
R334 500
• Mini Cooper
S R347 375
• Citroën DS3
R354 100
• Merc A250 Sport
2.1TD R355 000
• Volvo C30 T5
R-Design R476 000
THE
NUMBERS
THP
155 – 1598 cc, turbocharged four-cylinder developing 115 kW at 6 000 rpm and
240 Nm at 1400 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h:
7,3 seconds and 214 km/h maximum
Warranty: 3
years/100 000 km; with roadside assistance
Service plan:
4 years/60 000 km
