on the way to order the ds3....but

[kml]

hi, i m new here and new to citroen too.

i was looking at the mini cooper for over a year but did not shoot the gun and now i see the ds3 ... very nice looking car and much more practical than the mini as the back seat can be better utilized.

anyway, in my market here, the 1.6 petrol with 4 speed auto is available for booking alongwith the 1.6 petrol thp manual. No diesels.

i cannot go manual as the traffic here is really bad. So auto is the option.

how reliable is the citroen's 4 speed auto ?

as the 1.6 thp engine pumps out more power , it is a better drive. But, will it be launched with a auto transmission soon in the future? if this is available i am sold.

pls advise

tia,:cool:

[SiM22]

hi Tia,

As far as I am aware the THP is brilliant, I test drove it and was sold even though I ended up buying the diesel.

I think the best person to answer the question about the Auto gearbox would be Bigfeet, as he has more exposure to all the Styles.

Just wondering what country your in, as you mentioned a "market"....let us know

[kml]

thanks sim22 for your reply
btw, i am in thailand. <just added it to my profile>
it is a land where cars are pretty expensive here as you pay the govt. one third of the car price in taxes.

[Bigfeet]

The auto boxes are fine, if a little slow through the gears. This will be the only auto version available on the DS3 as there are no plans to introduce the EGS to the DS3 range.

[SiM22]

Jeez, we now have a member from Thailand :-0 . Loving the way this forum is growing

[kml]

thanks Bigfeet..

a shame that this model will not have the 6 speed auto option.

All the competition is then far ahead ( coopers and vw ) .

[gar074]

a shame that this model will not have the 6 speed auto option. All the competition is then far ahead ( coopers and vw ) .

That may or may not be so, but don't fixate on the gearbox at the expense of the whole package. Dare to be different!

[kml]

ya, i know. I still have to wait till sometime in feb'11 for the next lot of cars to come in so that a test drive can be done.

[Bigfeet]

If you can't get a go in a DS3 Auto try and see if yo can find a C3 Auto instead, it's the same engine and gearbox so should give you a good enough idea of how the car is to drive.

[kml]

the 4 speeder auto seems to be the old AL4 carried over from the older models. I have been reading about it on the french forums (translated). It seems to be an average performer ... engine sounds loud on the highway like wanting one higher gear, fuel consumption is about 10L to 100km, good for comfort driving and not for the fast car driver as kickdown responses are slow. I do not know whether this AL4 still jerks a bit like the old ones. The AL4 has it's own maintenance issues. There is rumour of a six speeder auto but it will be for the ds4 range and whether it comes to Ds3 is still to be seen as it is too early to tell.

So , looks like i am not liking what i am reading thru the forums. I , once had my friend who bought a peugeot 405 with this same AL4 transmission some years back and returned it after 1 day citing the gearbox being jerky. Good for him as he got a full refund.