Citroen C3 vs Nissan Sukura

What's the difference?

The Citroen C3’s plus column contains some big ticket items like a solid standard equipment list, design flair, generous interior space, an eager engine, good safety and a comfy suspension. However, the minus side of the ledger isn’t exactly empty, with entries like steep price, marginal perceived quality, poor cabin storage, sub-par refinement, okay economy, and high ownership costs. 

But there’s no doubt this car delivers a different, adventurous take on the city-sized hatch, and for you, that alone may count for more than any of those things. 

The Sakura won't be for everyone, but why does every car have to have mass appeal? Can't we have some unique offerings in the mix, too? With a slightly bigger battery, Nissan could definitely find and audience for the Sakura in Australia, and I might even be near the front of that queue.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

If Citroen is known for anything it’s daring, innovative design. From the idiosyncratic 2CV, via the sleek DS, to the ultra-cool SM, and angular BX, Citroen boasts a 100-plus year back-catalogue of stunning automotive breakthroughs.

And true to form, the C3 sits left-of-centre with a determined, almost angry expression defined by chrome borders extending from its signature ‘double chevron’ logo above the grille.

A mix of carefully radiused curves, soft organic shapes and whimsical decoration define the rest of this SUV-ish hatch. Rounded rectangles and squares (squircles?) are a recurring theme, forming part of a dent-resistant panel along the car’s flanks and embossed into the door cards inside.

Our white test example sported a (no-cost) contrast red roof colour, the same shade picking out details like the front fog light surrounds, exterior mirror caps and side scuff panels. 

The interior is less bold with a multi-tone grey colour palette broken up by light green contrast stitching on the seats, as well as piano black finish on the centre console and satin chrome highlights around the air vents, instrument panel and door handles.

Plus, the squircle still makes its presence felt in everything from the directional air vents to the speaker grilles and sections of the dash.

Functionality and ergonomics are good with sensible touches like a physical knob for audio volume control (big tick) as well as easy-to-navigate controls for audio, phone and more on the steering wheel.

An unexpected highlight, and regular talking point with people in the car during my week with it, is what Citroen calls ‘Luggage-inspired’ front interior door handles. 

Check out the interior photos. The straps look amazing, are easy to use, and remind me of the handle on my mum’s circa-1965 Olympia portable typewriter.  

I’ve got to say, I reckon this thing looks pretty cool – but then, I have a bit of soft spot for small, quirky cars.

It’s definitely not going to be for everyone, and it looks like it could fit in your back pocket, but there’s something Smart-like about it’s diminutive dimensions, and even though it’s small, there’s some lovely detailing.

The Nissan badge glows, for example, the alloys wheels are beautifully intricate, and the two-tone colour palette and the bronze strip that runs the length of the body works beautifully, too, and matches the bronze highlights in the cabin.

Inside, it’s everything you need, and nothing you don’t. The interior is available in just three options — black, beige or grey — the seats are cloth and the whole vibe is kind of clean, unfussy and pared back.

At a fraction under 4.0m long, just over 1.8m wide, and close to 1.5m tall, the C3 is a small hatch that, in terms of practicality, does well in some areas and could do better in others.

On the plus side, there’s plenty of space for the driver and front seat passenger, and rear room is surprisingly generous. Sitting behind the driver’s seat, set for my 183cm position, I had more than adequate head, leg and knee room.

Three full-size adults across the rear is a short-journey proposition only, but a trio of up to mid-teenage kids will be fine.

The space-efficiency carries over to the boot, with 300 litres of volume available (below the parcel shelf) with the 60/40 split-folding rear seat upright. But beyond that number, the space has been carefully sculpted to maximise usability.

We managed to fit our three-piece (36L, 95L, 124L) luggage set in there, with a small cheat of removing the divider, and could swap them out for the bulky CarsGuide pram, with room to spare. Fold the rear backrest down and available space increases to an impressive 922 litres.

The downside is storage and concessions to comfort elsewhere in the car. As in, a lack of them.

For a start, the dual cupholders in the front centre console confirm the French’s affection for Espresso. You’ll struggle to locate an average size take-away coffee cup in one of those dainty receptacles.

The front door bins are long but relatively narrow, and lack a designated spot to hold bottles upright, so I found myself laying drink bottles horizontally along them, which is awkward.

Plus, there’s no lidded storage box between the front seats, so no centre armrest, either. Rather an open tray behind the handbrake lever.

The glove box is modest, there’s a small open cubby below the central multimedia screen that isn’t big enough to hold a phone, there’s just one USB-A port for connectivity/power and a single 12V outlet.

No fold-down centre armrest in the rear, either. There are map pockets on the front seat backs, a single (again, small) cupholder at the end of the front centre console for back-seaters to share, and while rear door pockets are welcome, they’re petite.

Yes, the boot is commodious, but it lacks tie-down anchors to secure loose loads, and the flimsy carpet in there is prone to moving around.

On a more positive note, the spare is a 15-inch space-saver, which is streets ahead of the all-too common inflator/repair kit.

The Sakura stretches just 3395mm in length, 1475mm in width and 1655mm in height, and it weighs just over 1000kg.

Small, yes. But also clever. The space in the back of this four-seater, for example, is ridiculously generous, with miles of knee and headroom, and because it's on rails, you can slide the rear bench forward to just about double the 107 litres of standard boot room.

Cubby and storage spaces abound, including a hook for your takeaway food, and you can plug your devices in, too.

Honesty, you'll be surprised at how spacious this thing feels in both rows, and by how comfortable the couch-like seats are, too.

Ok, so as we’ve covered the fact that this is a cheap-as-chips city EV that starts, in Japan at least, at around $27k.

And business is booming. The Sakura is the best-selling EV in that country, accounting – at times – for half of all EV sales in Japan.

But the thing is, it really doesn’t feel like a cheap EV. The material choices are super clever, giving off premium vibes while avoiding expensive leather, and the tech in the cabin is pretty much on point, too.

There’s a 9.0-inch central screen, with wireless Apple CarPlay, and a second 7.0-inch screen in front of the driver, and there’s a digital climate-control panel.

The headlights are LEDs, while the rear lights in the upper-spec cars are LEDs, too. And the wide, bench-like front seats feel like the couches at you nan’s place, and the copper trimming is a nice touch.

It's clever, without being flashy, and without ever feeling like corners have been cut.

The Citroen C3 is powered by a small-capacity (1.2-litre), turbo-petrol, three-cylinder engine, driving the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. 

This little unit punches well above its weight thanks to tech like direct injection, and dual variable valve timing to enhance pulling power. The lightweight (all-alloy) unit produces 81kW of power at 5500rpm and a substantial 205Nm of torque at just 1500rpm.

The Sakura is a single-motor, 2WD proposition, with the city car producing a not-so-staggering 47kW and 195Nm, and a flying top speed of 130km/h.

Citroen’s official fuel economy number for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle is 5.2L/100km, the 1.2-litre three-cylinder emitting a modest 118g/km of CO2 in the process.

Our time with the car included mainly city and suburban trips, with some freeway running thrown in, and the result was a (dash-indicated) average of 8.0L/100km. Not exactly miserly, and points to the turbo triple having to work pretty hard to keep up around town.

Minimum fuel recommendation is the relatively pricey 95 RON premium unleaded, but you’ll need just 45 litres of it to fill the tank. Using the official consumption figure, that translates to a range of 865km, dropping to around 560km using our real-world number.

The 20kWh lithium-ion battery will deliver up to 180km in WLTP driving range. That isn’t massive by any stretch, but Nissan says its owners in Japan drive less than 30km a week, which means what’s on offer is plenty. 

And if you’re thinking of a city EV as your second car, I guess you need to ask yourself - how much range do you need?

When it comes time to charge, a standard plug should take around eight hours to top the Sakura up.

The C3’s compact footprint and relatively light weight (1090kg) make it an urban-friendly option and outputs from the 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine are exceptional.

Maximum torque of 205 Nm is plenty of pulling power from such a tiny unit, and with that number arriving at just 1500rpm it should be ideally suited to stop-start traffic. 

And yes, with enthusiast use of the right pedal the C3 gets up and goes pretty well, but refinement isn’t its strongest suit. 

The throttle can be jumpy unless you’re super smooth with it, the three-cylinder engine’s typically coarse note makes its presence felt under load, and the brakes need to be dealt with gently to avoid an overly aggressive stop.

Sure, familiarity and practice will help you get in tune with the car but it’s not a smooth ‘plug-and-play’ drive like the majority of its competitors.

That said, in true Citroen fashion, steering feel is good, the front seats are as comfortable as they are supportive, while the suspension manages to blend plush compliance with excellent dynamic response. Another Citroen hallmark.

The six-speed auto shifts smoothly, with a press of the Sport button encouraging it to shift up later and down earlier for a more urgent response. But the zig-zag (my term, not Citroen’s) shift pattern makes for an awkward shuffle between D, N and R when parking. No doubt you’d get used to it, but I’m not a fan.

Speaking of parking, the C3's diminutive size makes it easy to slot into even tight spots, the standard front and rear proximity sensors, as well as a decent resolution reversing camera helping out, too.

There's a calculation that you need to apply to those less-than-stellar power outputs, and that is that the Sakura only weighs around 1000kg, which means that the little EV actually doesn't feel underpowered.

I mean, I wouldn't want to be overtaking on a country road – especially given the Sakura tops out at 130km/h – but in the city, the instant torque makes the cheap and cheerful Nissan feel perky enough.

The steering is typically Japanese-market specific, in that it's relatively vague and stodgy, but the ride – at least on Tokyo's very good street surfaces – is comfortable, and you do feel connected to the road below you.

The biggest perk, though, is that, not unlike the Suzuki Jimny, the Sakura is one of those vehicle's that feel a little bit silly, and lots of fun.

Now, this test was very much a sample, rather than a deep dive, with the entire experience lasting a handful of city blocks, but on first impressions, I think the Sakura is a smile-inducing EV that's plenty clever, and surprisingly practical.

The Sakura gets Nissan’s ProPilot semi-autonomous system, as well as an auto-park function which will take over the steering and braking when parking.

There’s also 360-degree Safety Assist, which bundles in AEB with pedestrian detection, Lane Departure Warning and other active safety gear.

There’s front side and curtain airbags, too, while upper grades also get a driver’s knee airbag.

Citroen covers the C3 with a five year/unlimited km warranty, which is cost-of-entry now in the mainstream market, and roadside assistance is included for the duration.

Service is scheduled for 12 month/15,000km intervals, with costs capped for the first five workshop visits. The average annual figure over that period is $505, which is way more than double the $205 you’ll pay annually for servicing a Toyota Yaris ZR Hybrid. Sacre bleu!

If the Sakura makes it to Australia, it will be covered by Nissan’s EV warranty, which includes a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. And a battery State of Health guarantee, which spans eight years or 160,000kms.