- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
2.0i, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
102kW, 194Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (91) 8.4L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
3 Yr, 60000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
Clothes-horse power
FOR: Spacious, comfortable cabin with low noise levels. Supple ride even on poor roads. Enjoyable dynamics. Tractable, willing engine with good fuel economy. Large boot.
AGAINST: Expensive. Premium unleaded recommended. Gearbox and clutch need better smoothness and precision. Dash reflection in windscreen. Under-equipped for the price.
VERDICT: Expensive, but also one of the better drives in hatchback territory. Pity the advertising ignores the car.
RATING: three *** (out of 5)
Just when you thought the days of using naked women to sell cars were over, along comes Citroen, which has paid Claudia Schiffer a zillion francs to get her gear off in the cause of flogging the new Xsara hatch.
What exactly is the suggestion? Buy a Xsara and enjoy roadside sex with tall blondes like Claudia?
It sure beats free towing, and fortunately the Xsara has generous interior space by class standards, so the proposition is at least feasible. But, gee, the "Take me, I'm yours, love Claudia" feature is nowhere to be found on either the standard or optional equipment list.
I'm confused, but great minds have applied themselves to this pitch so there must be a more sophisticated connection I'm missing.
Perhaps Drive's women readers are more able to appreciate the subtleties of this approach.
The car, by the way, is a sweet but pricey five-door hatch. Citroen is owned by Peugeot; the Xsara range is based on the 306, with which it shares 1.8- and 2.0-litre engines, transmissions, running gear and many interior fittings.
The 1.8 models start at $28,490; the 2.0 tested by Drive costs $33,490, or $34,990 with a four speed automatic.
Tractable and responsive from low revs, the 2.0-litre four is a fine engine, with a refined, unstressed character and respectable top-end performance thanks to a free-breathing 16-valve cylinder head, introduced on the current 306.
It easily pulls the high gears around town, and returns good fuel economy, though the maker recommends filling up with premium unleaded petrol.
Less impressive, however, is the transmission; the test car's clutch was stiff and grabby, while the gearbox was rather loose and notchy, with a long reach to the lever.
The French have mastered the black art of delivering a big car ride/small car handling package, and the Xsara, like the 306, is ideally suited to our B-grade roads.
Its long-travel suspension has a unique combination of suppleness and precise wheel control, absorbing the worst surfaces (the cratered streets of Sydney come to mind) in a remarkably smooth, compliant manner.
Soft suspension often means sloppy handling, but the tight, solid Xsara takes a set of bends with fluid grace and a firm grip on the road. Even when cornering hard, its suspension maintains sufficient compliance to remain unaffected by bumps.
Very quick direction changes induce somebody roll, and a slightly taily attitude, but the Xsara's lovely balance means it is easy to control at remarkably high limits.
Precise, tactile steering is another of the Xsara's attractions for enthusiastic drivers. The car goes exactly where it's pointed, a quality enhanced by a self-steering feature in the rear suspension. Some kickback is evident under extreme pressure on choppy corners, though, and the turning circle is slightly larger than average.
The four-wheel disc brakes feature ABS as standard; a firm push is required to get a proper bite, but emergency stops are quick and powerful. The three manual pedals are quite close together - you soon get used to this, but getting busy with a set of size 10s requires finesse.
Spacious and well insulated, the Xsara's cabin features attractive upholstery and door trims. However lots of plastic (including the front seat backs) and do-it-yourself rear window winders and driver's side mirror adjustment are incongruous alongside a price tag of $30,000-plus.
The French know how to make a decent driver's seat; the Xsara's is soft and supportive, well bolstered and height adjustable. Height and tilt adjustable head restraints are fitted to both front seats, and the wheel is adjustable for height and reach.
A few Euro-style quirks - the horn on the end of the left wand, for example - compromise the dash layout, but a full set of audio controls on the wheel is smart design.
A major annoyance is the reflection, smack in the middle of the windscreen, of the hard, shiny plastic which surrounds the instrument binnacle.
Standard equipment in the 2.0-litre includes alloy wheels with Michelin tyres, dual airbags, transponder-immobiliser security, remote central locking, automatic air-conditioning, and an in-dash CD player.
The Xsara's back seat is also deep, soft and very comfortable, with good leg and headroom by class standards. Only two lap-sash belts and head restraints are fitted.
Long and deep, the boot can be extended with the 60/40 split-folding back seat, but the front seats need to be set well forward to use the full flat floor. The spare is slung externally, underneath the boot.
The Xsara's mid-$30,000 pricing puts it in premium Euro hatch territory, alongside the Peugeot 306 and Volkswagen Golf. All three are better driver's cars than anything currently coming from Japan.
But Holden's Astra - also a Euro import - has similar features, refinement and dynamic ability at a Japanese price: less than $25,000. No promises of any funny business with Claudia, though ...
ENGINE: 2.0-litre, 16-valve fuel-injected four-cylinder.
POWER: 97 kW at 5,500 rpm (average).
PERFORMANCE: 0-100 km/h in 10.2 seconds (average).
BRAKES: Discs with ABS (good).
ECONOMY: 10.2 litres/100 km city; 8.3 highway (good).
PRICES:
Recommended retail
1.8 $28,490;
2.0 $33,490.
Street price
$1,000 off.
Main options
Automatic transmission $1,500;
metallic paint $595;
sunroof $1,600.
Alternatives
Audi A3 1.6 $37,450
Holden Astra CD 1.8 $23,490
Peugeot 306 XSi 2.0 $34,000
Volkswagen Golf GLE 1.8 $34,990.