Citroen C1 AirScape Flair & Toyota Aygo

Stylish…but a bit too similar

A young driver’s choice: is it pink or black?

HAGGLING with insurance companies, fitting high-tech black boxes that snoop on your driving style and tackling advanced driver training are all potential ways of lowering premiums of young drivers. But simply buying a new car rather than searching out a bargain banger from the free ads can open up a world with no shock maintenance charges, cheaper insurance, tax and fuel bills. As a fresh crop of superminis hits the streets our man Tom Sharpe got behind the wheel of the Toyota Aygo and Citroen C1 to see what sets two closely-related French and Japanese siblings apart from the rest.

A PARTNERSHIP between the Peugeot-Citroen Group and Toyota to create three of the best-selling small hatchbacks around has produced cars with differing flavours.

All three have entered their second generation in 2014 and in the case of the new Citroen C1 seen here, I’d say the taste is Strawberry.

In Sunrise Red (read: pink) this AirScape Flair specification C1 came in at £12,335 — more than £4,000 more than the entry-level C1 — but came with a summery demeanour that went beyond its vibrant colour scheme.

The AirScape element of its name refers to a 800mm by 760mm folding canvas roof which transforms the diminutive city car into a pseudo convertible.

The quirky addition doesn’t unduly hamper refinement on the move and, when open, wind buffeting is minimal at speeds of up to 50mph.

Other highlights of the Flair’s standard specification were: a seven-inch touchscreen system featuring DAB radio, trip computer and heating controls, Bluetooth, air conditioning, LED daytime running lights and 15-inch alloys.

The C1 is a pretty car, its elliptical headlights making it appear friendly and approachable.

Four doors and a 196-litre boot are all present in a feat of packaging.

Up front, the touchscreen dominates the dash, surrounded by gloss plastic trim, while the driver’s view is dominated by a large circular speedometer.

The controls are clear and functional and the interior is neatly designed with maximum space in mind.

A 1.2-litre, three-cylinder Puretech engine sits under the C1’s stubby bonnet and delivers perky performance, the C1’s 865kg kerb weight making the most of the 82bhp and 86lb.ft. of torque.

This feels like a car that wants to scurry off down the road, an 11 second sprint to 62mph and 106mph top speed feeling respectable.

Even on the motorway the Puretech-equipped C1 can hold its own, a standard adaptive speed limiter making life easier on the M1’s numerous 50mph stretches.

This isn’t the greenest C1 available, but it also achieves claimed fuel economy of 65.7mpg and tax-dodging 99g/km CO2 emissions.

Despite being tiny, the C1 was made practical by that perky engine and a lot of fun thanks to that folding roof.

In the specification tested here, it’s not the cheapest option for the young drivers, but it is one of the most appealing.

AFTER the cuddly appeal of the C1, Toyota’s Aygo prowled into the car park at Advertiser headquarters like a Star Wars X-fighter with a target locked in its sights.

With jet black paintwork, a silver cross dominating its front grille and frowning headlights set with intent, its visual aggression comes in sharp contrast to that of its French sibling.

Toyota’s advertising slogan “Go Fun Yourself” is similarly in-yer-face and communicates the Japanese brand’s desire to appeal to the kind of new-age yoof that insists on wearing his jeans below his bum.

In three-door guise the Aygo is 10mm shorter than the five-door C1 and in range-topping x-clusive specification tested here (£11,295) falls 28 litres short in terms of boot space.

It also goes without the Citroen’s natty folding roof and is also only available with a one-litre, three-cylinder engine delivering 69bhp and 70lb.ft. of torque.

Toyota claims a 14.2 second sprint to 62mph and 99mph top speed, the little engine feeling better suited to city driving than life on A-roads.

Refinement is better than that of the C1, however, and young drivers will benefit from a lower insurance band (7E versus 11E), thrifty 95g/km CO2 emissions and 68.9mpg fuel consumption.

I actually found the Toyota to be slightly less economical than the Citroen, though, as I worked it a little harder to maintain my preferred pace.

The Aygo’s interior is very similar to that of the Citroen, with the same seven-inch touchscreen system and instrument cluster.

Like the C1, the Aygo is fun to drive, the narrow tyres that clad its 15 inch wheels offering limited grip but a playful balance through corners.

There’s plenty of lean but comfortable and supportive seats make a good fist of keeping your bum parked where it should be.

Toyota has clearly pitched the Aygo at a youthful and dynamic audience. It’s a more love it or hate it design than the C1 but hits harder than anything else in the class right now.

In this comparison of two very differently specced cars the Citroen offered greater depth of appeal and usability but for some the lure of the dark side (that’s lighter on your pocket) might prove too much...