Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Not only that they both belong to the micro car segment and utilize the same 3-door hatchback body style, they are even powered by the same Daihatsu-developed petrol engine! There is not much there to point us towards one vehicle or the other. Or is it?

A starting point here would be to take a look at the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests which were performed on both of the cars, with the Citroen being a slightly better choice apparently. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the micro car segment, which is generally a misfortune safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the Japanese car offers a marginal difference of 2% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Toyota does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of Citroen with an average rating of 4.1, and models under the Toyota badge with 4.6 out of 5. The same official information place C1 41% above average, and Aygo 6% below the first one. Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as these two vehicles rank it on average as 1.8 out of 5.

Citroen is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.2 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 160 kilometers per hour, exactly the same as the other car does. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 3.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (76 mpg), in combined cycle.

Citroen appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the French car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Citroen being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. Fuel consumption is more or less the same. I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the Citroen. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.