TopGear has just got off the new Citroën C5 X. In the May issue of TopGear Magazine (in the store at the end of April) you can read our full test report, here are the highlights.
Test object: Citroen C5 X
Performance: Hybrid 115 EATB Business Plus
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Weather conditions: cloudy, 14 degrees – not really spring yet
Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
Well no, so it’s the new big Citroen. But we understand the confusion. According to Citroën you are looking at a cross between a sedan, a station wagon and an SUV. Which is amazing to say the least, because it doesn’t have a separate trunk, a luggage space that’s not nearly as big as that of a station, and it also lacks four-wheel drive or a really high seat. So what is the Citroën C5 X: a lot of everything or a lot of nothing?
Well?
John, no idea really. In any case, it is something different, and with that he does claim the title ‘a real Citroën’. After all, they are always a little different. And that makes us happy anyway. We have more than enough gray mice, and we can also imagine that there are people who are a bit tired of all those SUVs. They have an alternative to the Citroën C5 X that literally looks nothing like it. Hope to say, right?
I can’t quite determine whether I like that Citroën C5 X…
Crazy isn’t it – neither are we. As far as we are concerned, the front is beautiful – recognizable and special without going over the top. The silhouette is also fine, until after the C-pillar. That huge rear spoiler in particular doesn’t seem to fit into the whole. But hey, to each his own, make up your own mind.
And inside?
Fine in itself. The fully digital instrumentation (possibly with a nice head-up display) is friendly on the retina and is usually very easy to operate. We’ve looked for some things that we never found, but we’re experiencing that more. It helps anyway that you can control the climate with normal buttons and that not everything is hidden in the touchscreen.
The finish is nice, but again not of Audi quality. Not bad, because for the ‘primijum feeling’ Citroën has simply created DS. The space is spacious, in almost every way. The only exceptions are the headroom in the back (good, but not excessive) and the luggage space. That is fine in itself, but in an average D-segment station wagon you have more, and hybrid drivers deliver 60 liters under the floor for the batteries.
How does the Citroën C5 X drive?
As you can expect from a Citroën, and we mean that as a compliment. Here COMFORT is spelled with capital letters. The hybrid version has all the chassis technology called to the rescue to achieve that. Not only adjustable dampers, but also the ‘dampers on the dampers’ to filter out that last bit of misery.
It does not miss its effect: we know few cars that float over the road like this one. Which, incidentally, does not immediately mean that you hang on to one ear at every bend. He can do it well, only it appears from everything that it is not his thing. It’s a bit of a yoga car: why bother when everything is one notch less stressed and so much nicer? Also here: there is something to be said for it.
So what do we think of that Citroën C5 X?
It’s a bit of a schizophrenic thing. On the one hand he tries to be everything, on the other he lets you know in every possible way that there is one thing he does great, and that he would love it if you thought so too. And you probably think so, because otherwise you wouldn’t have bought it. So if you’re looking for a car that is different, yet averse to the issues of the day, and that you especially want to relax: this is it. Looking for something else, this isn’t it.
#Citroën #lot #lot