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Interior space good for two, a squeeze for four
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| COMFORT AND EQUIPMENT RATING: |
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That's a score the Saxo could never have hoped to achieve. For front-seat passengers, comfort is as good as any supermini. The driver's seat has a large range of height adjustment and is large and comfy, though we'd rather have a rotary knob than a ratchet for seat-back adjustment. The steering wheel is hugely adjustable for both reach and rake. And here's a shocker if you've come from a Saxo: the front seats don't rock back and forth under acceleration and braking. The ride is respectable in all models - best in the HDI - and wind and road noise is well suppressed.
In the front, things are good. Both driver and passenger get decent leg, shoulder and headroom, but rear passengers don't fare so well. There's a two-person split-fold bench back there, with 'modular rear seating' available as an option, standard on some models. These seats tumble forwards behind the front seats and can even be removed to give a bigger load bay. We wouldn't bother, however: the front-seats have to be pushed so far forwards to create sufficient space behind them that you can't then drive the bleedin' car. The boot, meanwhile, is adequate at 193 litres, rising to 879 litres if packed to the roof with no rear seats in place.
The poverty-spec L model only comes with a radio-cassette, but a CD player is added to the next model up in the range. A five-disc CD changer comes in a pack with satellite navigation and telephone, but only on the VTR and it costs a fortune. We haven't heard the base model's unit, but sound quality on the single-disc CD player was reasonable. The head unit is by Clarion, so in our experience the radio reception may not be as good as some rival radio manufacturer units. The Saxo was a hit with youngsters who fitted their own hi-fi anyway, so the quality of stereo may not matter to many C2 buyers.
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