Car Test
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R0236 | |
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See also
R0153
May 2002 |
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| Citroën C5 Estate | ||
| Printer Friendly Page | Featured model: 2.2HDi SX | |
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This latest Citroën just asked to be an estate car. It’s special suspension means that it will always ride and corner the same, irrespective of how much (or little) is on board.
Then there’s the physical nature of the gas and oil springs that make it easy to achieve a uniformly wide load platform, with no wheelarch intrusion. Citroën has taken things one stage further with the C5, however, by providing a button-controlled variable static height adjuster; the virtually flat and metal-clad, load sill is raised (or lowered) from the norm, over a range of 16cm, to suit the task in hand. Inside, load length is enhanced by the estate’s extra 14cm external length, but load height beneath the roller-blind cover isn’t as good as the hatchback’s. In other vertical respects, however (tailgate aperture height, rear headroom), the estate has the advantage- again, because it’s 4cm taller. The SX costs about £1000 more than the still well-kitted LX- the same premium as that levied on the estate bodywork, compared with the hatch. However, you get some useful additions in the SX. For example, there are roof bars, a reversible load deck mat (carpet one side, washable plastic on the other) plus a two-location vertical safety net/screen, which will deter a sliding load or a dog from reaching you upfront. In the cabin a simple air-con button is upgraded to sophisticated climate control with side to side temperature variation; this part worked, but we were disappointed with the system’s vagaries in other respects- stuffiness or cold feet just about sums it up. The 2.2-litre diesel is a four-cylinder-largish for the purpose of retaining mechanical refinement. It just about gets away with it by incorporating balancer shafts in the crankcase; certainly, 1200rpm is O.K. when trundling along in the lower gears, but there’s a coarser patch around 1400 rpm that, when accelerating through it, set our facia in a tizzy. It’s a lovely higher-speed cruiser, however, and the gear change is a pleasant device, if you decide to use it to keep things smooth. Note how well the engine pulls to overtake in third, however. The SX has a second button to adjust the suspension’s dynamic ride height but, wheel changing and wading apart, it’s best to leave things in normal mode. At the helm, we enjoyed the C5’s dynamic flair- it’s still different from the norm, with a more remote feel of the road that comes with its super-absorbency. Some keener drivers may feel it’s a level of insulation that amounts to disconnection, however. We found irritating details in control- the way the wipers have to be switched off and on again after starting up, the fussy cruise control, the lack of seat spinal support and no auto-mode air conditioning without the (power-consuming) compressor. |
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