04 Dec 03
Out on the road the GT does feel slightly punchier than the VTR when you're trying to extract the best performance, but the real joy is that the manual transmission makes you feel more in control. So you tend to use the performance more, knowing you can get a shift as smooth as you want exactly when you want it. That said, it's not a perfect solution - the gearchange is a shade springy and the accelerator is set too far below the brake for the natural heel-and-toe gearshifts that should be so easy in a car like this. The pedal is made of plastic and actuates a drive-by-wire potentiometer, so there's no chance of bending the pedal to a better position or adjusting a cable. Over to Halfords for a pedal extension, then.
Now that it's easier to see into the C2's soul and interact with it properly, you can have a great time. The steering, though quick to respond and very crisp, tells you a little less about the road beneath than that of a Ford Sportka (blame the viscous effect of the electric power assistance), but nevertheless this C2 is a taut, chuckable little device whose front wheels grip hard and whose rear end edges out just enough to help you flick through bends. There's none of the tailspin threat of a Saxo, but neither is the C2 inert and down-dumbing. It keeps you in the picture, forces your attention and rewards accordingly. And that accurate gearchange control lets you explore its abilities all the more.
The suspension is the same as a VTR's, which means firm and taut but beautifully damped. You feel breaks in the road surface, but they're rounded off and there's no after-bounce or choppiness. The brakes are too snatchy, though; a car like this, in which physical interaction is so important, should have a more progressive pedal action.
Otherwise, it's as if you're in a VTR: quick but not electrifying, pleasingly rattle-free, quite loud for both road noise and stereo output, and cursed with a coarsely calibrated, five-blob LCD fuel gauge which has no place in a precision driving machine. You could get to like the digital speedometer, though - it's a boon when you're dealing with a Gatso.
All this fun and group six insurance, too. All it needs is an air-con option - and for Citroen to make more than 2500 of them. No plans as yet, though.
