1998 Citroen Xsara VTS from UK and Ireland - Comments

I haven't had the car long, but nothing whatsoever has gone wrong with the car during my ownership.

However the car came in the following condition, which I am sure isn't common with the Xsara, but this is present on my vehicle.

Drivers bucket seat worn to stage of foam coming out (previous owner was a bodybuilder, probably too big for it).

Also drivers seat doesn't feel very stable, a little loose and will need tightening.

Like I said this is probably just my car and not a common fault with the Xsara VTS.

My car is a 1998 S Reg Citroen Xsara VTS 2.0i 16v in Gold.

The car has done 67,000 miles with only basic maintenance.

Everything on the car just seams to work, brakes are excellent, steering is precise, handles the road very well, although in the wet you can get some under-steer if your giving it some as the front wheels struggle for grip under power.

Performance from the 2.0i 16v unit is very good and healthy, the car can be driven sedate, or if you want to drive at speed the car doesn't let you down, the car gives a really nice rasp from the air induction.

The car does 0-60 in 7 seconds, 137mph and develops 167bhp which sounds like a lot and it is, that's the same as a Nissan 200SX Turbo! but the way it delivers its power isn't in an aggressive throw you back style, its delivered in a nice, smooth wave of torque, you wouldn't want it any more violent as it wouldn't be a pleasure to drive then.

My last car was a Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo Auto, they have 280bhp and 0-60 on the Auto was 7.1 seconds, there is no doubt in my mind that the Xsara VTS is equally as quick if not quicker.

Insurance for this car is a group 16, I highly recommend www.bell.co.uk for insurance quotes as they prove time and time again to be the cheapest on the World Wide Web, and lets not forget, this car is quicker than the Peugeot 205 1.9i GTi I had, and faster than the Astra GTE 16v I had too.

Obviously the car has more to offer than sheer performance, the cockpit offers generous levels of equipment, the stereo controls on the steering wheel are easy to use while keeping your eye on the road, the cabin is roomy and offering lots of room in the back for adults (mines 2 door and lots of space) and the clocks light up very nice at night.

Security wise, the car comes alarmed and immobilised as standard, saves me buying an after-market alarm, same with the radio situation too, Citroen provide you with a very nice radio as standard with a 6 CD changer in the boot, thank you Citroen :)

Safety compromises of passenger airbag, drivers airbag and side airbags.

Gearbox, brakes, engine, cabin, controls and the whole driving experience of the Xsara I would have to give 10 outta 10 :)

MPG I have tested and its coming back at 150 miles for £20 of petrol, that's about 34mpg with a mixture of 5th gear cruising and round town, with occasional 3rd gear at the limiter ;)

These cars are cheap now on the open market, I paid £1,500 for mine, what else can you buy that offers these levels of comfort, performance and reliability?

My only grip is that there isn't a Internet website or chat forum on the WWW to chat about the Xsara VTS, if anyone knows of a place to discuss this car, please add a comment to this post.

What are you waiting for, Citroen Xsara VTS 2.0i 16v... Buy one, today :)

Hi. Since writing this review I have managed to find a online forum relating to the Xsara which is : http://www.xsarasportsclub.com I hope you will come along and join in, my name in there is Xsara_VTS, cheers, Matt.

Nissans are miles ahead of citreons. There is no comparison between a 300zx and an xsara.

The Xsara is a perfect car, especially with the VTS engine. My Xsara is 1.9 diesel, but it is fast. It goes 160km/h, which for car with 70hp diesel is excellent.

My friends often chat about which car is the best, but compared with their Puntos and Astras, my Xsara is far away.

I love this car and often when I see it on Internet with that spoilers, rims, paint. I say wahooo and I hope that one day soon I will have that one.

Big cao from Macedonia.

They are cheap for a reason know one want them, there the blandest most boring hatchback on the market proven many a times in surveys etc.

This car is slow, it can't do 0-60mph in 7.1, its more like 8.7sec. Pathetic build quality also.

I too went from a 300zx Twin Turbo to a Xsara VTS and agree with everything the reviewer said.

The xsara vts is probably the most under rated sports hatch ever, the car is so fast I find it embarassing, when you are seeing off boxsters, honda s2000's etc. I am sure it is quicker than as the manufacturer says: 0-60 8 seconds. compare it with the 306 gti-6, which is same engine and heavier although it has 6 gears, peugeot claim 0-60 6.9 seconds.

I have heard sometimes manufactures lie about the 0-60 times so insurance will not be too high, maybe that is the case.

Who knows? anyway, I like my cars surprise factor!!

I have to agree with what the reviewer is saying about this car, I've only just got mine this weekend and it is very fast becoming one of they best cars I've had,

I've owned every thing from the Pug GTI 6 Subrau WRX, Seat Ibiza GTI Cupra Sports, FTO and Bravo HGT, also both the 1.6 and the 2.0 Megan Coupe.

I have to say the specs on paper for the 2.0Li VTS have to be about as wrong as they can be, When I picked mine up I was taking down in my cuzins WRX with its 2.0l Turbo engine kicking out 350BHP and like any one who had 15 miles of open road we gave them some kicking on the way back and I'm sorry, but yes the WRX was quicker on the off take, but it was not long before we where both doing 120mph and running rather close together down the road, This car is a lot faster then a lot of cars I have stated above, Other than very top end where you cap out and the others would keep on going, Its 1/4 Mile times or very impressive and its nice to be sitting in the car and have some thing nice pull along side you and put your foot down and see the car move.

169BHP as Standard when I got the car on Saturday night of this week its now Tuesday and my car has just done its roling road test kicking out 207bhp and that was with very little done to engine and other small mods. Imaging what it could do if I actualy spent some money on it.

Ooooh yer there really cheap to buy now mine is ex company car covering mainly motorway miles with extensive server history 80,102 on the clock and in perfect condition and I mean perfect. £750 with 12 months MOT and 12 Months Tax the bargin of the year if you ask me.

Sorry mates, but talking numbers in the 6 to 7 sec region 0-60mph for the VTS is pure fantasy. It's in the 8.1 to 8.3 sec region depending on source. And manufacturers do not understate 0-60 figures, it's rather the opposite. 0-60 stated by manufacturers are ideal figures that most won't be able to replicate. Even by modding these cars you can't go in the lower sevens. That's because Citroen already has squeezed this engine quite far. KN filters, Borla exhausts and remapping brings this engine to about 183 to 185 hp max.

Even with 167 hp this car torque steers badly and with an even hotter engine it's even worse. It's also difficult to get all those hp into the ground since it's fwd and light (like any other similar car, you can't defy the laws of physics even in a VTS).

But I would still recommend the VTS as an entry hot hatch if you can find one that's not abused too badly. You can seat 4 and still keep up with most Audis and lower end beamers all for under 2000 quids. It's just a laugh to blast past a beamer knowing he just paid 25.000 for that thing.

But beware of electrics and electronics issues on these Citroens, this can be a nightmare. There's no free lunches you know. There's a reason why these cars are so cheap.

I agree with the comment about performance. 6s and 7s need huge power increases which just arnt worth it. the xsara offers 'old school' handling which is its real charm. if you want a fun FWD trackday car you can't do it cheaper. its rear end is alive helping it to track forward instead of just understeer. it can be unsettling at first, but once you get the hang of it its great.

I've also got a bike engined lotus 7 rep which has 126bhp

Around croft circuit the xsara is 12 seconds a lap slower

it will hang on to all the latest hot hatches excpt the 220 plus bigade

a well driven 300zx will have the better of the xsara, but its superior handling will keep it in touch, if its wet then the nissan will disappear in its rear view mirror. all the heavy rwd cars do

even the kit cars are fodder in the wet

so if its dry I go porsche eating in the locoblade, or of its wet, I go porsche eating in the xsara :)

Some of these people are talking a load of tosh!!! my rover 214i 16v did 0-60 in 8.3 seconds so I believe a xsara could crack 8 sec easily, as for being quicker than a 300zx that sounds a bit far fetched.

Hi there I agree I just got my xsara and it tapps like hell and has a blowing exhaust, but feels way faster than my mr2 mk2 and punto gt running 185bhp. don't get me wrong you don't notice the power until you look at the speedo. good car, but can have some problems.

A s2000 would smoke its boots, no way can a xsara vts keep up with a s2000, we are talking 240bhp vs 167bhp, s2000 is in a completely different league.

I would just like to go back a few comments to someone who seems to think that Peugeot are claiming 6.9 for the 306 GTi. On every site I've looked on they claim 8.4.

Evo magazine timed the 306 Rallye at 6.9 and the GTI-6 at 7.4. Official figure is 8.4 (with luggage and four passengers) to keep insurance at groups 16 and 15 respectively. The Xsara is slightly quicker to 60 than the GTI-6 due to its 5 speed gearbox rather the the 6 in the GTI-6 so 7.2 is a realistic time with just the driver on board, this is because the ratios are closer together. The three cars mentioned above are way off a S2000 obviously.