Citroen C3 Aircross review - Interior & comfort

Citroen has gone somewhat retro with the styling of its recent models, giving the C3 Aircross a boxy look that’s inspired by the Citroen Oli concept shown off in 2022. If you’re wondering how it compares to the standard C3, it’s essentially a beefed-up version, with unique bumpers, roof rails and cladding to give it a more SUV-like aesthetic.

Unlike most brands, Citroen has also gone after the look and feel of a living room inside, most noticeably with its Advanced Comfort seats. These have been upgraded with 10 to 15mm of memory foam, and they do feel noticeably softer than the seats in most rivals – a potentially important consideration if you often take longer trips or suffer from a bad back. You also sit pretty high up, with a good view of the road ahead.

The fabric trim adorning the dashboard and touches of light material get a thumbs up, helping to give the C3 Aircross a more inviting ambiance. Let your eyes wander and it’s easy to spot plenty of black plastic, but that’s hardly a surprise given the car’s appealing starting price. While the Citroen shares a lot with the Vauxhall Frontera, there are some quirky touches like Eiffel Tower and rooster emblems in the windows. 

Is the Citroen C3 Aircross infotainment and sat-nav system easy to use?

A slim head-up display replaces a traditional set of gauges, so you look over the steering wheel instead of through it, rather like Peugeot’s i-Cockpit models. Here, though, we never found the oblong-shaped wheel got in the way of the readout. 

Infotainment is taken care of by a 10.25-inch screen that’s got a simple, intuitive software layout, but can be slightly laggy at times. It also comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, and we appreciate that it’s slightly angled towards the driver.

Is the Citroen C3 Aircross well equipped?

Choosing a trim will be pretty straightforward, because only Plus and Max versions are available from launch. Plus gets most of the features a family should need, including 17-inch alloy wheels, roof rails, LED lighting and air conditioning. Max adds some nice features like all-round parking sensors, heated seats, a heated windscreen, a heated steering wheel and wireless smartphone charging, so it will be a welcome addition on wintry days.

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What options should you choose on the Citroen C3 Aircross?

There aren’t all that many options for the C3 Aircross, but some are quite important. For example, for around £800 you can add the seven-seat option to Max trims, making it possible to carry two extra kids or even adults for short trips.

Then there are quite a few styling options, including your choice of colour or even a bi-tone look for around £1,000. Citroen will even sell you various coloured ‘clips’ which snap onto the front bumper and C pillar to help personalise it to your taste.