1 Jan 2004
WHEN the Citroen C2 arrived in Australia in 2004 as a premium, two-door light hatch, it promised an abundance of French style and features to appeal to the gathering force of user-choosers keen to avoid mundane Japanese or Korean offerings.
Available in VTR guise only, performance came from a 1.6-litre 80kW/150Nm four-cylinder engine, mated to SensoDrive, Citroen’s sequential manual gearbox.
Suspension was via a straight-forward MacPherson strut and transverse beam set-up, steering by variable assist rack and pinion, with all this connected to the road via 16-inch alloy wheels and 195/45 R16 tyres.
Innovative design included a split tailgate/opening rear window/rear hatch design, which was unique in its class.
Inside there were strong colours and two sliding, independent rear seats, designed to fold down easily.
Equipment available with C2 included variable assistance electric power steering, air-conditioning with automatic temperature control, electronic parking assistance, cruise control, ESP, ABS, emergency braking assistance and six airbags.
Then, in late 2005, Citroen released the MY06 update C2 VTR that brought changes to the SensoDrive paddle shifters, gearlever design and gearbox software, plus a new instrument cluster, audio system, column stalks and myriad mostly cosmetic changes such as new alloy wheel design and new taillight treatment.
The MY06 model also began the slippery slide on the C2’s abundant standard features in the name of cost saving. First, the tailgate storage lid was lost, and later in 2006, climate control (replaced by rotary dial ventilation with air-conditioning), auto wipers and auto headlights.
Mid-2006 saw the addition of the manual VTS variant, packing 10kW more power (but slightly less torque) compared with the VTR, with the result being a reduced 0-100km/h sprint time from 10.9 to 8.3 seconds.
