1994 Citroen AX Debut from UK and Ireland - Comments

Clutch completely collapsed at around 91000 miles, this was replaced and no further problems have arisen.

Slight grinding occurs when attempting to engage second gear at around 20 mph.

Handbrake is poor, and struggles to hold the car on any type of incline.

The 954cc engine is surprisingly nippy and pulls away from the lights rapidly. However the gearing is a little dodgy. 1st gear will take you up to around 20 mph quite comfortably, 2nd to around 30 mph. After this point, the remaining two gears are pretty useless. You are then left with the challenge of experimenting with 3rd and 4th to get the power needed for over-taking etc.

This car is designed for town use, and hence is not suitable for motorway driving. The lack of a 5th gear means the car is "screaming" at around 60 mph, don't expect to venture out of the slow lane!

Fuel economy is excellent, even though I push this car to the limits on a day to day basis, I still get around 55mpg! With a more forgiving right-foot, figures of 65mpg can be achieved regularly.

My only real problem is the body role when turning corners at any more than 15mph! The can dives violently and this makes for an uncomfortable ride for front passengers.

Grip is another issue with the AX. When navigating tight bends, the front end of the car dives and the front wheels fight for grip. The lightweight of the car also means wheel spins are quite regular in wet weather!

I agree about the cornering. My friend has one and the view the passengers on the outside of the bend get is quite unnerving under hard cornering. Never seems to under steer though, even at high speeds on roundabouts. I've driven it a little bit, but the pedals seem to be in the wrong place.

Don't know about the small engined petrol models, but I owned an AX diesel for ten years driving 70 miles a day commuting along motorways, and found it excellent and of course very economical (approx 60mpg). Also very firm footed in corners - maybe the diesel engine weighs the car down more than the equivalent petrol engine??