Looking to Buy Citroen Basalt: Here Are Its 5 Key Features You Need to Know

Key Features of Basalt: The compact SUV segment is popular among buyers because of the space in the cabin, features, and multiple powertrain options to choose from. In this segment, the Citroen Basalt is an underrated option in the market. Basalt is a coupe-styled SUV, having comfortable cabin space, decent features, and a frugal petrol engine. It has features like a digital instrument cluster, a wireless charger, multiple cup and bottle holders, and more. Talking about safety, it scored a four-star safety rating in the Bharat NCAP.

Recently, we drove the Citroen Basalt for more than 600 km in the city and on the highway and tested the comfort,  performance, fuel efficiency and other features of it.

Here is our experience of the Citroen Basalt, which will help you to make a better choice:

Let’s get started!!!

Ride Quality

The first talking point of the Citroen Basalt is the ride quality. After driving it for more than 600 km, on bad roads, highways, and under construction highways, the suspensions of the Basalt are tuned on the softer side, which resulted in giving a comfortable experience in the rear seats. 

The suspensions absorbed the bumps effortlessly and provided a smooth experience. However, on triple-digit speeds, the ride quality became a bit bouncy and suspension noise does filter inside the cabin. 

The body roll is very well present, and on hard cornering, there is some understeer and some movement as well. Since it is equipped with 235/55/R16-inch alloy wheels, it offers good grip levels on corners.

Features

One factor where the Citroen Basalt lacks behind in the segment is the feature list. The Basalt has a 10.25-inch infotainment screen with wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a chilling single-zone automatic climate control, a wireless charger, and others.

The touch screen had decent feedback, and the reverse parking camera could have been improved. Talking about the segment, it could have been offered with a lot more features like the front ventilated seats, driving modes, ambient lighting, a sunroof, and others.

Citroen has taken care for the rear seat passengers as well. The Basalt offers under-thigh support adjustment, which Citroen claims enhances the rear seat experience. However, our test variant was not equipped with this feature so we could not experience that. 

Other than that, there are rear AC vents, charging ports, and rear centre armrest for a better cabin experience.

Talking about safety, Basalt scored a four-star safety rating in the Bharat NCAP crash test safety rating. It comes with six airbags, ABS, EBD, and other safety features. 

Further, it has a direct high-line tyre-pressure monitoring system as well, which tells which tyre has low air pressure. The projector LED headlamps have a good throw and do not feel cheap during a night drive.

Performance

The third highlight of the Citroen Basalt, which we felt was an important factor, is the engine performance. The Citroen Basalt is equipped with a 1.2L inline three-cylinder naturally aspirated petrol engine, and a turbo petrol engine, making 120 bhp and 190 Nm of peak torque, paired to a six-speed manual gearbox.

The performance from the engine is great. There is some lag at the lower end, and you have to downshift. But once it crosses 2,000 RPM, there is torque rush and the car picks up pace quickly. The gear shifts are smooth and the clutch has a slightly longer travel. However, once used to it, it becomes easy to manueveur in the traffic conditions.

Since it is a turbo petrol engine, you may be concerned about the fuel efficiency of the Basalt. During our test of 600 km, driving it in city and on highways extensively, it returned us a fuel efficiency of 15.2 km/l. Since it depends on your driving style, on driving it sedatelty, you can achieve more fuel efficiency.

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Practicality and Comfort

The Citroen Basalt is a practical coupe-SUV in the compact SUV segment. There are multiple cup holders and bottle holders on the doors and centre console respectively. However, there are ample of hard plastics inside the cabin, which are a bit scratchy as well.

The seats have a semi-leatherette upholstery. Regarding the comfort of the seats, they are well cushioned and offer a good, comfortable ride experience on long trips. The cushioning is on point, and since it uses light colour upholstery inside the cabin, it becomes quite difficult to manage from getting it dirty. However, one good thing is that under direct sunlight, the seats do not heat up because of the light colour fabric material. The rear seat headrests have extra support for your head, which enhances the overall experience.

Price

Now, one of the major aspects of the Citroen Basalt is the price at which it is offered in the market. The price of the Basalt starts at ₹9.44 lakh (on-road, Noida) for the base Pure MT variant, and the price of the top-spec Max 1.2 Turbo Petrol MT variant is ₹14.83 lakh (on-road, Noida) for the Dark Edition.

Buyers looking for a comfortable SUV having a punchy engine and who can compromise on some features, can check out the Citroen Basalt. It is an underrated option in the segment, and the service centre network can be a bit of a problem as the dealership and service stations are quite low compared to other auto makers. 

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