Kia Cerato VS Citroen C3
Kia Cerato
Likes
- Peppy turbocharged engine
- Modern simple multimedia system
- Massive boot
Dislikes
- Harsh ride quality
- Unrefined, noisy cabin
- Ageing interior design
Citroen C3
Likes
- Equipment
- Design
- Space efficiency
Dislikes
- Price
- Sub-par refinement
- Ownership costs
Summary
Kia Cerato
Three years after the fourth-generation Cerato small car rolled into Australian dealerships, Kia launched a mid-life facelift for the sedan and hatch range in mid-2021.
It ushered in styling tweaks including new headlights and Kia’s new logo, as well as more safety tech and a multimedia upgrade.
At the top of the range sits the warmed-up Cerato GT. It’s not quite Hyundai i30 N-level performance, more i30 N-Line. In other words, more than enough performance to keep most people satisfied and enough poke to get away quickly at the lights.
But is the updated version of Kia’s Cerato trying to be something it’s not, or is it a performance bargain?
Read on to find out.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.6L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Regular Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 6.9L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Citroen C3
You’re a city dweller on the hunt for a small hatch, but the usual suspects just don’t do it for you. Time for a trip down the urban road less travelled.
The Citroen C3 fits the bill in terms of scale, but brings something extra when it comes to personality. A fun-sized European with the ability to surprise and delight.
It comes at a price, though. So, is the promise of some extra excitement in your motoring life worth it? Read on to find out.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.2L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Regular Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 5.2L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Verdict
Kia Cerato7/10
Kia has value and packaging on its side with the sleek and spunky Cerato GT sedan. There’s no shortage of standard gear, it comes with the latest multimedia and safety gear and the cabin and cargo area are spacious and practical.
The powertrain is a winner too. Which is why it’s such a shame that it’s let down so badly by the ride quality.
If you’re going to be driving on various road surfaces, or regularly driving long distance, check out the far more compliant Hyundai i30 N-Line instead.
But if you’ll only ever drive in urban areas – or enjoy the occasional back-road blast – and you can handle the firm ride, there’s still plenty to like about the Cerato GT.
Citroen C37/10
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.
Design
Kia Cerato
When the fourth-gen Cerato sedan was revealed in US-market Kia Forte guise at the 2018 Detroit motor show, the design was praised for taking inspiration from the sleek Stinger performance sedan.
The facelift has arrived at just the right time to keep the Cerato fresh against the dominant Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 and new Volkswagen Golf.
The sharpened front-end styling features an eye-catching daytime running light signature and the headlights now connect with the redesigned, slimline Kia ‘tiger-nose’ grille in gloss black.
It’s a subtle, yet successful design refresh.
Inside, the Cerato is starting to look its age against rivals like the Golf and Mazda3. Those GT themed additions definitely lift the ambience of the cabin, but the dash layout feels a bit generic and the overall interior design is nothing flash. Especially when you consider the interior of some of Kia’s latest models, like the impressive Sportage medium SUV.
Citroen C3
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.
Practicality
Kia Cerato
As mentioned, the red stitching throughout, chunky steering wheel and sports seats are welcome additions to the GT cabin.
There are soft-touch materials on the top of the dash but hard plastics on the dash fascia.
There’s no fully digital instrument cluster, but it has a 4.2-inch LCD display in the cluster showing fuel economy and the like. No complaints with the analogue dials and there’s a digital speedo if required.
The update ushered in Kia’s latest multimedia system to the Cerato and it’s a winner thanks to cool graphics, logical menus and its ease of use.
There’s quite a sizable central storage bin and glovebox, while the console houses a key slot, two sizeable cupholders and a second spot for devices adjacent to the charging pad.
The front sports seats look sexy, have excellent side and body bolstering and they’re firm, but comfortable.
A 600mL bottle will just fit into the doors, bit it’s tight.
Sitting behind my six-foot (182cm) frame in the rear, legroom is adequate but toe room is tight. My head was about an inch away from the headliner due to the sloping roofline. The rear seats are also firm.
The Cerato has lower rear air vents, one USB-C port, a map pocket on the passenger side, a central rear armrest with two cupholders, and bottles slot into the doors easier than they do up front.
Kia offers a temporary spare wheel housed under the boot floor. The boot is long, offering an impressive 502 litres (VDA) of cargo space, which is more than other small sedans like the Subaru Impreza (460L VDA) and the Hyundai i30 (474L VDA).
Lower the rear 60/40 seats via the levers in the boot and that space increases further, but they don’t fold completely flat.
Citroen C3
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.
Price and features
Kia Cerato
The GT is priced at $35,290 before on-road costs regardless of whether you opt for the four-door sedan (as tested here) or the five-door hatchback, though be aware that Kia Australia regularly runs drive-away pricing campaigns.
There’s not a lot of competition in the warmed-up small car market these days. A number of carmakers have slimmed down their small-car line-ups in the face of falling sales.
Kia’s closest rival is also its mechanical sibling, the Hyundai i30 N-Line sedan and hatch. The Hyundai is cheaper by more than $2500, but the more generously equipped i30 N-Line Premium sedan is a little over $2000 more expensive than the Cerato GT.
The Mazda3 GT sedan and hatch could also be considered a rival and pricing is about on par with the Kia.
Other lower grades in the Cerato range run from $25,490 to $30,640 (MSRP).
The GT benefits from the more premium powertrain offering in the Cerato line-up – the 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine shared with the i30 N-Line and the recently discontinued Veloster Turbo.
The GT bodykit adds sporty styling flourishes like a black front and rear diffuser, boot spoiler, dual exhaust, black external mirror caps, red highlights and 18-inch GT alloy wheels.
This theme carries through to the cabin too with features like alloy sports pedals, flat-bottom perforated leather sports steering wheel and leather-appointed seats with red stitching and embossed GT logo.
As the range flagship, the GT also has the most standard equipment. It comes with a sunroof, eight-way power driver’s seat, wireless device charging, an eight-speaker JBL premium sound system, heated and ventilated front seats and dual-zone climate control air conditioning.
The only option fitted to the test car was Snow White Pearl premium paint for $520.
Citroen C3
The Citroen C3 is offered in a single Shine grade, and lines up against a slew of similarly city-sized hatches from China, Europe, Japan and South Korea. Think Kia Rio, Mazda2, MG3, Suzuki Swift, Toyota Yaris, and VW Polo.
But when it comes to its price - $32,267, before on-road costs - you’re looking at primo competitors only, like the Suzuki Swift Sport Turbo ($30,990), Toyota Yaris ZR Hybrid ($32,200), and VW Polo Style ($31,250).
And to tempt you away from those more mainstream options, Citroen loads up the C3 with a solid list of standard equipment.
Aside from the safety tech covered later in the review, this small hatch features keyless entry and start, cruise control, a 10-inch colour multimedia touchscreen (with voice recognition across multiple functions), climate control air, a leather-trimmed steering wheel, six-speaker audio (with digital radio as well as Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity), built-in sat nav, LED headlights and daytime running lights, rain-sensing wipers, and 16-inch alloy wheels.
Not too shabby, but bear in mind, as is often the case in this class, the trim is cloth, the front seats adjust manually and the instruments are conventional analogue.
At this point, it’s important to mention ‘perceived quality’, a term used in various industries to describe the look, touch and feel of a product. And it’s here that the C3 suffers.
Open the tailgate, look to the pillar on the right-hand side of the rear windscreen (from the inside) and you’re confronted with more than half a dozen spot weld craters that have creased the sheet metal to varying degrees. Not to mention a crude fold of the outside panel onto this interior piece. Perfectly functional, but not a good look.
The elastic cords suspending the cargo divider at the top of the boot space feel as insubstantial as the thin metal hooks they’re attached to, and the finisher matt sitting on top of the engine looks like it won’t stand the test of time.
There are other examples, but suffice it to say, the overall feel is not in the same league as this car’s main competitors.
Under the bonnet
Kia Cerato
While all other Cerato grades use a 112kW/192Nm 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, the GT benefits from a spicier powertrain.
Under the bonnet is the Hyundai Group 1.6-litre T-GDI four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine delivering 150kW of power at 6000rpm and 265Nm of torque at 1500-4500rpm. This is the same tune as the Hyundai i30 N-Line.
This is paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission that drives the front wheels. Lower grades use a six-speed torque converter auto. Kia dropped the manual from the S and Sport grades as part of the update.
The GT differs from the rest of the Cerato range as it has multi-link rear suspension, instead of a torsion beam setup. Both the suspension and steering have been tuned for dynamic driving. More on that later.
Citroen C3
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.
Efficiency
Kia Cerato
According to Kia, the Cerato GT sedan uses 6.9 litres of fuel per 100km on the combined cycle. The GT hatch uses 0.1L less.
After a week of mixed driving in the Cerato GT, we recorded a combined fuel consumption figure of 9.0L/100km – a fair bit more than Kia’s claim.
The GT emits 157g/km of CO2 (official combined).
Citroen C3
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.
Driving
Kia Cerato
The 1.6-litre turbo engine is a ripper and it’s been put to good use in Hyundai’s i30 N-Line and Veloster Turbo.
It’s just as willing and responsive under the bonnet of the Cerato GT, but they each perform quite differently.
Accelerating from a standing start, there’s mild turbo lag in the Cerato, and some torque steer when accelerating hard.
Once up and running it’s quick, and the seven-speed dual clutch snaps through the gears smoothly while still allowing it to rev freely.
It’s the type of powertrain that is utterly unbothered by things like steep ascents. The Cerato GT just keeps pushing on, without losing momentum.
The downside of that is that the engine is super noisy when pushed and the Kia just doesn’t have sufficient noise suppression materials to counter that. Because of this, it lacks the refinement of its i30 N-Line cousin and the Mazda3.
Steering is weighted on the heavier side but it’s direct and the car goes where you point it.
Like many Kia models, the Cerato GT benefits from an Australian-specific steering and suspension tune. Kia doesn’t have a full performance hot hatch to line up with the i30 N, but the engineers seem to have tuned the suspension to be just as capable as the full-fat i30 N.
That certainly aids dynamic driving in the Cerato GT. It hugs corners and grips the road, avoiding any skipping and with only a hint of body roll.
However, we think Kia’s engineers have made the damper settings too firm, because the Cerato GT’s ride is harsh in virtually all driving environments.
Read more on the Cerato
A new, freshly laid road surface in an urban area without any speed bumps was the only time the ride was comfortable during our week with the car.
It crashes over potholes and it’s loud and jarring when you unexpectedly encounter a sharp rut. There’s a bit of vibration through the steering wheel too.
This is disappointing, especially when you consider that the i30 N-Line has a much more supple ride and is the sort of warmed-up hatch or sedan you could easily live with day to day.
We briefly drove the i30 N hot hatch just before we got into the Cerato GT and even that has a more tolerable ride quality than the Kia.
Citroen C3
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.
Safety
Kia Cerato
The Cerato GT achieved a five-star ANCAP crash safety rating in 2019 and it applies to all Cerato variants built after June 2021, except the S and Sport which have four stars because the autonomous emergency braking system offered as standard in those grades can’t detect vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists.
Standard safety for the GT includes auto emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, forward collision warning, rear occupant alert, driver attention assist, rear cross-traffic alert with collision avoidance, blind spot detection and collision avoidance assist, adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist with lane follow assist steering, safe exit warning, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera.
At one point, the AEB kicked in pulling out of a parallel street parking spot because it detected a vehicle that had already driven past the car and was several metres ahead.
Kia’s lane keep assist system is generally impressive and functions without issue, but it pulls on the wheel a little. It’s not jolty like systems offered by some other brands.
When lane keep and follow assist are active, it can be fiddly to switch them both off. If you hold the steering wheel-mounted button down, the follow assist stays on but the lane keeping deactivates, so you just have to keep holding the button down until the lane and steering wheel icons in the digital display eventually disappear.
Citroen C3
The Citroen C3 scores four out of five ANCAP stars courtesy of testing dating back to 2017.
The sticking point was a sub-par result in Pedestrian Protection, one of the independent safety body’s four main assessment areas (beside Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, and Safety Assist).
Specifically, potential pedestrian head injuries resulting from contact with the base of the windscreen and “stiff” windscreen pillars.
But Citroen hasn’t left the C3 standing still with active (crash-avoidance) tech fitted to the current model including the usual suspects like stability and traction controls as well as more sophisticated systems like ‘Autonomous Emergency Braking’ (AEB), forward collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, lane departure warning, ‘Driver Attention Alert’, a reversing camera (with zoom function), and tyre pressure monitoring.
That said, although there are parking sensors front and rear, there’s no cross-traffic alert (front or rear), no adaptive functionality on the cruise control, and no lane change assist. Arguably unrealistic to suggest all of these should be included at this price point but it’s worth noting not all boxes are ticked.
If a crash is unavoidable there are six airbags on-board (driver and front passenger front and side, plus full-length side curtain). The hazard lights automatically activate when emergency braking force is applied, but multi-collision brake, which reduces the chances of further impacts after an initial crash, is missing-in-action.
There are three top tethers for child seats or baby capsules across the back seat, with ISOFIX anchor points in the two outer rear positions.
Ownership
Kia Cerato
The Cerato, like all Kia models, is offered with a seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, and one-year free roadside assist which extends year by year if you service with Kia (up to eight years).
It also comes with a seven-year capped-price servicing plan that costs approximately $3234 over the seven-year period.
Servicing intervals for the Cerato GT are every year or 10,000km, whichever comes first.
Citroen C3
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!