Seat Citigo
09-26-2013, 02:04 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Seat Citigo
There's been a few times when members have been considering a 'sensible' little vehicle to add to their fleet so I thought I would post a review of the Old Dear's Skoda Citigo which has just had its first birthday.
The car was bought new and has just over 6000 miles on it (650 or so were added yesterday, but more about that later...) and aside from the coolant level warning light which illuminated once for some inexplicable reason, the car has been otherwise faultless.
The VW Up!, SEAT Mii and Skoda Citigo have had some pretty impressive critic's reviews and it's easy to see why; it's relatively cheap, roomy, nippy, good looking and I would suspect for people who require no more than 4 seats, will do 99% of what 99% of owners require of it.
The Old Dear's has the Elegance trim which has has the semi-integrated navigation, heated seats, A/C, cruise control and a few other bits 'n' bobs, together with a nice panoramic sunroof, privacy glass and an auto-braking system at speeds below 19 mph, which employs a windscreen mounted laser and detector.
GIven that the car is pretty light by modern standards, it is really quite refined. The three cylinder 1.0 litre petrol engine (in 75 bhp guise) has quite a nice note (albeit quite subdued most of the time) and does a really good job of hauling the car around, even 4-up. The seats are pretty comfortable in the front and the rears are not too bad given that there is not a lot to them. This does mean the car has a reasonable luggage area too.
My Old Dear's is equipped with the ASG (Automated Sequential (manual) Gearbox) and whilst not a patch on a good 'proper' auto' or CVT, it is much better than that of the Smart. It does noticeably adapt to one's driving style (e.g. hanging on to a lower gear when going downhill on trailing throttle or staying in an intermediate gear if it is being hustled along) and it's blipping of the throttle on down-shifts is quite amusing. A quick getaway is quite jerky as it shifts-up but this is not what it's about; in normal driving it is acceptably smooth and as it is inevitably in the correct gear for any given circumstances, the car returns a really respectable 54 -55 mpg in the Old Dear's hands.
Yesterday I made a university run from home to Bristol and back. Alas my car, and my wife's, have little usable space for what was required to be transported and so the Old Dear kindly loaned me her Citigo. The car was rammed with all of my daughter's 'essentials' and me (daughter had chosen to fly down two days earlier...). Covering some 664 miles in 12 or so hours does give one the opportunity to consider one's surroundings.
After parking it up yesterday evening after a very long stint behind the wheel I am pretty impressed with the VW group's smallest car. I was still able to walk which is a big plus-point. The navigation system was great, as was the air conditioning, which made the journey hassle-free and comfortable.
The car is no Ball-of-fire and one had to aware of this, especially whilst on the motorway and when punching-it to get from behind a middle-lane hog and into the fast moving overtaking traffic. The down-shift could be a tad lethargic depending upon the speed at which one was cruising. When the engine was spinning over 3,500 RPM it did posses and a quicker response and I suspect if used on faster and less congested European autoroutes it would be a different experience. Having said that, sitting at 70 mph with the cruise on, the engine was very quiet and did return pretty impressive MPG.
The only real niggle with car is the cruise control. The Set/Resume/+/- rocker on the end of the indicator control stalk is fine, but the main On/Off and Cancel control is a ridiculously small switch atop the same stalk. Pushing Cancel had to be done with care as it could involved activating the lane change function on the indicators.
The handling is good for a small FWD car. It has a firm ride which does border on being jiggly, but when loaded it improves noticeably. A very common and difficult issue to address in small cars given what the relative difference the laden weight is to the overall vehicle's weight.
If I were in the market for a small car, until Gordon Murray's T.25 hits the street, I wouldn't go past a Citigo/Up!/Mii. They're a class-act.
The car was bought new and has just over 6000 miles on it (650 or so were added yesterday, but more about that later...) and aside from the coolant level warning light which illuminated once for some inexplicable reason, the car has been otherwise faultless.
The VW Up!, SEAT Mii and Skoda Citigo have had some pretty impressive critic's reviews and it's easy to see why; it's relatively cheap, roomy, nippy, good looking and I would suspect for people who require no more than 4 seats, will do 99% of what 99% of owners require of it.
The Old Dear's has the Elegance trim which has has the semi-integrated navigation, heated seats, A/C, cruise control and a few other bits 'n' bobs, together with a nice panoramic sunroof, privacy glass and an auto-braking system at speeds below 19 mph, which employs a windscreen mounted laser and detector.
GIven that the car is pretty light by modern standards, it is really quite refined. The three cylinder 1.0 litre petrol engine (in 75 bhp guise) has quite a nice note (albeit quite subdued most of the time) and does a really good job of hauling the car around, even 4-up. The seats are pretty comfortable in the front and the rears are not too bad given that there is not a lot to them. This does mean the car has a reasonable luggage area too.
My Old Dear's is equipped with the ASG (Automated Sequential (manual) Gearbox) and whilst not a patch on a good 'proper' auto' or CVT, it is much better than that of the Smart. It does noticeably adapt to one's driving style (e.g. hanging on to a lower gear when going downhill on trailing throttle or staying in an intermediate gear if it is being hustled along) and it's blipping of the throttle on down-shifts is quite amusing. A quick getaway is quite jerky as it shifts-up but this is not what it's about; in normal driving it is acceptably smooth and as it is inevitably in the correct gear for any given circumstances, the car returns a really respectable 54 -55 mpg in the Old Dear's hands.
Yesterday I made a university run from home to Bristol and back. Alas my car, and my wife's, have little usable space for what was required to be transported and so the Old Dear kindly loaned me her Citigo. The car was rammed with all of my daughter's 'essentials' and me (daughter had chosen to fly down two days earlier...). Covering some 664 miles in 12 or so hours does give one the opportunity to consider one's surroundings.
After parking it up yesterday evening after a very long stint behind the wheel I am pretty impressed with the VW group's smallest car. I was still able to walk which is a big plus-point. The navigation system was great, as was the air conditioning, which made the journey hassle-free and comfortable.
The car is no Ball-of-fire and one had to aware of this, especially whilst on the motorway and when punching-it to get from behind a middle-lane hog and into the fast moving overtaking traffic. The down-shift could be a tad lethargic depending upon the speed at which one was cruising. When the engine was spinning over 3,500 RPM it did posses and a quicker response and I suspect if used on faster and less congested European autoroutes it would be a different experience. Having said that, sitting at 70 mph with the cruise on, the engine was very quiet and did return pretty impressive MPG.
The only real niggle with car is the cruise control. The Set/Resume/+/- rocker on the end of the indicator control stalk is fine, but the main On/Off and Cancel control is a ridiculously small switch atop the same stalk. Pushing Cancel had to be done with care as it could involved activating the lane change function on the indicators.
The handling is good for a small FWD car. It has a firm ride which does border on being jiggly, but when loaded it improves noticeably. A very common and difficult issue to address in small cars given what the relative difference the laden weight is to the overall vehicle's weight.
If I were in the market for a small car, until Gordon Murray's T.25 hits the street, I wouldn't go past a Citigo/Up!/Mii. They're a class-act.
09-26-2013, 02:18 AM
#2
Good report - they & the Polo do seem to be good little cars. And suffer fewer of the German Leyland issues of the over-complex ones.
For what it costs to lease, it's a no-brainer. You can throw in 3 years' maintenance for nothing really and tax is what, £30?
I was gonna say the easiest way to cancel cruise (I know their ergonomics are usually dubious in places) is to tap the clutch pedal. I has the adjust the switch on the 86 as it was insufficiently sensitive. But I can see the problem with that argument!
OK, left foot on the brake (carefully!). I did wonder why cars occasionally 'blink' their brake lights on a straight m-way and now I know why...
For what it costs to lease, it's a no-brainer. You can throw in 3 years' maintenance for nothing really and tax is what, £30?
I was gonna say the easiest way to cancel cruise (I know their ergonomics are usually dubious in places) is to tap the clutch pedal. I has the adjust the switch on the 86 as it was insufficiently sensitive. But I can see the problem with that argument!
OK, left foot on the brake (carefully!). I did wonder why cars occasionally 'blink' their brake lights on a straight m-way and now I know why...
09-26-2013, 02:35 AM
#3
Thread Starter
The cruise control 'control' on my Prius was about the best I have used; a dedicated small stalk on the steering wheel with a button on the end to switch on or off. Move it up for + or resume, move it down for set or - and pull towards for cancel.
I kinda fancy trying a Lexus with the adaptive cruise, but given that I saw every kind of walnut-sized brain driver antics yesterday I doubt I could really put faith in it!
It will be interesting to see how Mercedes recently announced 2020 MY autonomous S-class will cope with British drivers...
BTW Are you aware the performance version of the GT86 is to be a hybrid?!
I kinda fancy trying a Lexus with the adaptive cruise, but given that I saw every kind of walnut-sized brain driver antics yesterday I doubt I could really put faith in it!
It will be interesting to see how Mercedes recently announced 2020 MY autonomous S-class will cope with British drivers...
BTW Are you aware the performance version of the GT86 is to be a hybrid?!
09-26-2013, 03:30 AM
#4
UK Moderator
09-26-2013, 04:33 AM
#5
good write up
i dont commute a distance now otherwise i'd do man maths to see if this were worthwhile but i'm hoping to stay away from mega miles now
the CC on my BM is excellent, little stalk, fwd to activate, fwd to speed up, back to slow down. simples. why people still dont realise simple is great for this stuff is beyond me.
i dont commute a distance now otherwise i'd do man maths to see if this were worthwhile but i'm hoping to stay away from mega miles now
the CC on my BM is excellent, little stalk, fwd to activate, fwd to speed up, back to slow down. simples. why people still dont realise simple is great for this stuff is beyond me.
09-26-2013, 04:59 AM
#6
Thread Starter
09-26-2013, 08:28 AM
#7
The cruise control 'control' on my Prius was about the best I have used; a dedicated small stalk on the steering wheel with a button on the end to switch on or off. Move it up for + or resume, move it down for set or - and pull towards for cancel.
I kinda fancy trying a Lexus with the adaptive cruise, but given that I saw every kind of walnut-sized brain driver antics yesterday I doubt I could really put faith in it!
It will be interesting to see how Mercedes recently announced 2020 MY autonomous S-class will cope with British drivers...
BTW Are you aware the performance version of the GT86 is to be a hybrid?!
I kinda fancy trying a Lexus with the adaptive cruise, but given that I saw every kind of walnut-sized brain driver antics yesterday I doubt I could really put faith in it!
It will be interesting to see how Mercedes recently announced 2020 MY autonomous S-class will cope with British drivers...
BTW Are you aware the performance version of the GT86 is to be a hybrid?!
There are a lot of rumours that the 86 will go hybrid instead of FI. Tada-san said they were "considering it". There could be both...
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09-26-2013, 10:55 AM
#8
Registered User
We considered one of these, but decided we needed something slightly bigger to accommodate the large mutt.
Got a 1.4 Jazz in the end and so far so good.
The thing is like a tardis inside and very flexible with the fancy rear seats.
It's returning 53 mpg too which is nice.
Got a 1.4 Jazz in the end and so far so good.
The thing is like a tardis inside and very flexible with the fancy rear seats.
It's returning 53 mpg too which is nice.
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