Photo: DS Brand
The Abarth road rocket is an entirely different story, but I've always thought the Citroen DS3 is a whole lot cooler than the Fiat 500. For one thing, it's not designed like a polyester skirt and may even be driven by men.
I know we're not supposed to call it a Citroen, but those engineers, designers and assemblers didn't just come out from nowhere. They were originally working for Citroen, right? In any case, the DS3 belonged to the double-chevron brand when it came out way back in 2009.
In 2015, it got new headlights, now joined by a redesigned grille and some other cool features. A few years ago, Citroen engineers were desperate for a fight with the Renault Clio RS and Fiat 500 Abarth. They were allowed to make something called a DS3 Racing. After a while, a convertible version also came along, and they said, "We are only going to make a few of these, it's a limited production car."
However, 2016 brings yet another batch of hot DS3 Cabrio. It's called "Performance" now and looks so good that I want to have an adulterous affair with it.
Although it's fast, this isn't a true hot hatch. It won't compete with the MINI John Cooper Works or participate in drag races against the Clio RS 220 Trophy. Instead, it's more of a fashion statement, like one of those snug-fitting shirts for buff men that moisturize and pluck their eyebrows.
The engine is still a 1.6-liter turbo. Output has jumped slightly to 208 PS and a very respectable 300 Nm (221 lb-ft). But the really cool part is that it comes fitted with a Torsen limited-slip differential in standard, along with a six-speed manual transmission with shorter gear ratios. So it's basically the same powertrain as in the Peugeot 208 GTi 30th Anniversary Edition.
These details were never officially discussed in a press release, but the configurator was launched earlier this week and let us play with the DS3 Performance. In France, you can have it as a coupe from €27,950. Meanwhile, the Cabrio Performance is... a little more, €30,450.
In 2015, it got new headlights, now joined by a redesigned grille and some other cool features. A few years ago, Citroen engineers were desperate for a fight with the Renault Clio RS and Fiat 500 Abarth. They were allowed to make something called a DS3 Racing. After a while, a convertible version also came along, and they said, "We are only going to make a few of these, it's a limited production car."
However, 2016 brings yet another batch of hot DS3 Cabrio. It's called "Performance" now and looks so good that I want to have an adulterous affair with it.
Although it's fast, this isn't a true hot hatch. It won't compete with the MINI John Cooper Works or participate in drag races against the Clio RS 220 Trophy. Instead, it's more of a fashion statement, like one of those snug-fitting shirts for buff men that moisturize and pluck their eyebrows.
The engine is still a 1.6-liter turbo. Output has jumped slightly to 208 PS and a very respectable 300 Nm (221 lb-ft). But the really cool part is that it comes fitted with a Torsen limited-slip differential in standard, along with a six-speed manual transmission with shorter gear ratios. So it's basically the same powertrain as in the Peugeot 208 GTi 30th Anniversary Edition.
These details were never officially discussed in a press release, but the configurator was launched earlier this week and let us play with the DS3 Performance. In France, you can have it as a coupe from €27,950. Meanwhile, the Cabrio Performance is... a little more, €30,450.
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