Year of Citroen Saxo

The Citroën Saxo is a supermini produced by the French manufacturer Citroën (PSA) from 1996 to 2003. It was also sold in Japan as the Citroën Chanson.

All engines were from the TU series that powered the Peugeot 205 and the Citroën AX, and had their roots before that with various other Citroens, such as the Visa. The range included five petrol engines and one diesel engine, all naturally-aspirated.

Although the power outputs seem low in modern terms, even the range-topping VTS had a kerb weight of just 965kg (2,127lb), giving all models quite a 'nippy' feel around town.

The 1.0 was however quite underpowered, although the 1.1 was much better since it was actually nearly 200 cc larger, had a five speed gearbox in place of the 1.0's 4 speed, and nearly 30% more torque.

• 1.0L (954cc) TU9 I4, 50PS (49hp/ 36kW) and 54ft·lbf (73N·m)

• 1.1L (1124cc) TU1 I4, 60PS (59hp/ 44kW) and 69ft·lbf (89N·m)

• 1.4L (1360cc) TU3 I4, 75PS (74hp/ 55kW) and 89ft·lbf (121N·m)

• 1.5L (1527cc) TUD5 diesel I4, 58PS (57hp/ 42kW) and 86ft·lbf (117N·m)

• 1.6L (1587cc) TU5 I4, 90PS (89hp/ 66kW) and 95ft·lbf (135N·m)

• 1.6L (1587cc) TU5 I4, 96PS (98hp/ 70kW) and 97ft·lbf (135N·m) (Later VTR Models)

• 1.6L (1587cc) TU5 I4, 120PS (118bhphp/ 88kW) and 107ft·lbf (145N·m)

Although the interior seemed reasonably plush at the time, the low-end models did have areas of visible metal work on the doors and a generally more sparse interior.

The two sports models had better seats and fabrics, leather was an extra option costing nearly £1000 factory fitted.

Air-conditioning was never an option on right-hand-drive Saxo's because the blower motor was mounted in the bulk-head on the drivers side. As a result, there was insufficient space available to accommodate the evaporator, except by first ducting the air flow to the passenger side and then at the expense of the glove-box. Although an after-market kit was available that did exactly this, the resultant pressure loss made the system noisy and ineffective. The blower motor could also not be easily relocated, since the windscreen wiper motor was mounted in the passenger side space.

As with many other small cars of the time, the standard stereo system included 5.25" drivers mounted low in the front doors and 4" drivers mounted in the rear quarter panels. This set-up could be easily improved upon by mounting separate tweeters in the A-panel trims, similar to many VW models of the time. The very thin door cards and metalwork did however leave the system very 'thin' sounding, with very poor output in the upper-bass ranges.