04 Dec 03
The Citroen C2 VTR. Good little semi-hot hatchback, fun to drive, chunky looks and frisky demeanour like a big radio-controlled toy. It merges the cultures of hotted-up Saxo and PlayStation games very adeptly, hitting just the right spot for the rising generation of car-nuts. Except for one snag. It comes with just the one transmission choice, a Sensodrive sequential-shift system with a pair of steering-column paddles.
Yes, it's very Sébastien Loeb, but the reality is that it detracts not only from accelerative step-off but also from real, deep-rooted driving pleasure. For the fact is that however efficient these robotised manuals are (and the Sensodrive is far from the best), they take away a whole layer of driver involvement - from the co-ordinated timing of arm and legs to the visceral feeling of body movement as it contributes to the car's progress.
Here's the answer: the C2 GT. Actually its creation is the answer to a different question, that of how to create 2500 cars to homologate for the Super 1600 rally championships, but it was a fine opportunity to create a slightly different C2 and address the criticisms without losing face.
So yes, the C2 GT is fundamentally a kind of C2 VTR Club Sport with a standard manual transmission, and it saves you £500 over the VTR (it's £10,495 with one year's free insurance for those over 21). You lose some kit - the air conditioning, front foglights, side sill covers, front-corner spoilers, electric mirrors and cruise control - but your GT does gain a revised nose with an open-slatted grille and brake-cooling vents. All that extra air rushing through the engine compartment would add aerodynamic drag, you might think, but the top speed is still quoted as a VTR-matching 121mph.
Other visual changes are the white wheels and the availability of Citroen Sport Red paintwork, this combination matching the WRC-winning Xsaras' colour scheme. The cabin looks almost like a VTR's apart from a carbonfibre-effect instrument surround, the manual gearlever (with translucent red knob) and the disappearance of those upmarket toys, but ahead of the gearlever is a plaque with the build number of the particular GT. There will be 2250 roadgoing cars and 250 reserved for conversion into rally weapons - and all the road cars will be right-hand drive examples destined for the UK market. That's because we took to hot Saxos more than any other country, and our car-critics were the most vociferous over the lack of a manual transmission in the VTR.
Further weight is saved by replacing the spare wheel with a puncture repair aerosol and reducing the size of the screenwash bottle. The 27kg diet helps with acceleration, of course, but not as much as the ability to spin the wheels optimally from a standstill should you so desire. That drops the 0-62mph time from 10.9 seconds to 9.5, although in real conditions it's a fairly academic improvement.
