08/12/08

• Price11,395
• We like...Its looks; useful tailgate
• We don't...Jumpy transmission

City hatch that stops its engine whenever it's halted promises major fuel savings. But how well can it deliver? There’s been a rush of cars introduced using stop-start gizmos. Each turns itself off when you halt and jumps back into life when you need to go. And it’s all good stuff when you think that city-bound cars spend up to a third of their journeys standing still in traffic.

Citrn was one of the first into the ring, having brought its own version of the technology to car buyers back in 2006. Since stop-start appears to be the fad of the moment, let’s see how the make’s C2 fares against more come-lately rivals.

The little city-hatch is ageing but it’s had a freshen-up in the cabin and around the nose. Even so, its raked, sharply-cut lines stand out when parked beside the flowing curves of more recent designs. It’s strictly a four-seater and has a tiny boot, although its two-piece tailgate is unusual on a small car and a useful place to perch while, say, changing shs.

On to the Stop & Start. This is linked to the car’s SensoDrive transmission, which is essentially a clutchless manual. You can swap gears by nudging the gear stick between the front seats forward or back whenever you wish to swap up or down. Or there’s two levers sitting just below the steering wheel rim that allow you to flip through the gears without lifting more than a finger off the steering. Otherwise, you can just leave the main gearshift in ‘auto’ and leave the transmission to do the gear-picking.

And, if that’s not enough, you can switch between one gearchange routine and the next, at a whim.

Whichever you prefer, the car will turn itself off, once warmed, whenever it reaches a halt, and restart as soon as you step off the brake pedal. In traffic, this forces the choice between saving the planet and dazzling the driver behind with your brake lights. For us, good driving and good manners suggest you should apply the hand brake and come off the foot pedal if stopped for more than a few seconds. But the Stop-Start system won’t tolerate this. You can, however, turn off the system whenever you wish.

A 1.4-litre engine producing 90bhp should make a little car like this zip along. But the transmission’s reluctant nature discourages quick progress, and the start-stop dsn’t help, either.It's 14.2secs needed to complete the 0-60mph dash is way too slow, givern the power on tap.

And, approaching a roundabout, the engine stops then hiccoughs back into life, and then the transmission may decide it’s time for a gearchange just as you need to gun the C2 through a gap in traffic. The result may be a knuckle-whitening moment until the car sorts itself.

The big question is whether this car can be careful enough with fuel to justify such drawbacks. And it would need to be frugal to justify its high asking price. For us, it couldn’t. Its official best overall economy figure is 50.4mpg. Enough diesel-engined superminis at the same money will better that and, anyway, we couldn’t get near that figure, despite an economy-flattering motorway trip.

We’ve driven other models from the C2 line-up and while they’re not as smooth or refined as the best of their competitors, they are fun. But for us, the Stop & Start misses the mark. It’s not that economical, nor is it enjoyable enough to drive.

• Engines1.4 petrol
• Power90bhp
• 0-60 mph14.2secs
• Economy50.4mpg
• CO2g/km133g/km
• Insurance groups4E
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags4
• Seats4

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