26 Jul 04
Let's off-road!
The image is an intriguing mix of improbable angles and imminent disaster. The ground is wet and muddy and a good six inches of sludge is squelching beneath the wheels of the C3 XTR. A sharp drop looms ahead and the Citroen clings to terra firma for all it's worth, even lifting a rear wheel as if to mark its patch. This is a pumped-up supermini like no other. This one can plainly handle itself off-road.
Those beefier bumpers, side skirts and arches mark out the XTR from its city-dwelling stable mate, hinting at what it's capable of and making it far more aggressive to look at. A set of natty 15-inch alloys reside under those huge arches. Up top, there are some useful roof bars and a panoramic sunroof.
Inside, things get even more utilitarian. Out goes the soft, light-coloured, easily marked interior and in comes two-tone black and grey sports seats. They've got more lateral support to hold you in place better when cornering or bumping up a kerb and the fabric is harder wearing, which makes it easier to wipe clean. Those in the back get 'aircraft style' fold-up tables to hold the travel scrabble board or game boy, and can have a beady eye kept on them from the front thanks to a wide angle mirror mounted above the rear-view mirror.
