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Take four adult passengers, a pile of luggage, a Citroen C5 and two weeks travelling New Zealand’s North Island and you have a recipe designed to test the limits of the French makers premier touring sedan. The key elements were the basics of motoring: luggage space, passenger comfort, economy and performance for passing vehicles and tackling NZ’s hilly terrain.
We covered more than 2500 kilometres in the C5 Exclusive HDi , fitted with the new 2.0 litre turbo-diesel linked to a six speed auto transmission. This is the first Australian road test and review of this C5 variant. The C5 had the job in front of it: the boot was packed to the limit and none of the passengers suffer from anorexia. The C5 is a large car in a similar ballpark to Camry/Aurion, Commodore and Falcon. It is chock full of typical Citroen technology with the expected dash of French flavour, all of it good.
The C5 Exclusive sits midstream in the C5 sedan range at $57,990, above the entry-level Comfort 2.0 HDi ($46,990) and below the range-topping 3.0 V6 twin-turbo Exclusive ($69,990). Pricing does not include statutory charges and delivery costs for the midstream and range-topping models, but the entry level pricing is driveaway.
BODY STYLE
The C5 is an impressive looking vehicle with a long, sleek body and fine sculpted lines. It stands out in a crowd. We like the use of chrome to highlight not just the grille, but also the body lines including the high waist-line. Long headlamps and big air-intakes flank the distinctive Citroen chevron grille. As noted above the C5 comes in two trim levels, Comfort and Exclusive. The Exclusive has leather upholstery while the Comfort has a combination of cloth and leather. The Exclusive gains more chrome and lighting features which push the car into the luxury arena. Sat/Nav is an option on the C5 Exclusive, but our test car was not fitted with it. It would have been useful, particularly around the Auckland CBD and suburbs. But, with Sat/Nav these days so cheap and accessible - not to mention mobile - the idea to keep this item optional is not a bad one. Factory-fitted Sat/Nav does not come not cheap.
POWERTRAIN/PERFORMANCE
The concept of having a 2.0 litre engine powering a large family sedan in Australian or Kiwi conditions not that long ago would have raised eyebrows. How things have changed. This new technology turbo-diesel from Citroen eats highways, has no trouble climbing mountains and to cap it off returns economy figures at or below what Citroen claim. When that figure is 6.8 litres/100 km and you return 6.7 litres/100 km with the car weighed down with passengers and luggage over a significant distance and mountainous terrain, the argument for diesel is compelling. Citroen introduced this engine late last year and although it has the same dimensions as the engine it replaced only one component was carried over - the crankshaft. This engine inducts 13 per cent more air and has new pistons and combustion chambers to deal with the new 200 bar high-pressure injection system.
SAFETY
Five star EuroNCAP says it all. No less than eight airbags and all those mind-boggling technologies we reduce to capitals: ABS, EBA, EBD, ESP, and ASR. The only passenger complaint we had was due to the weight of the doors. The Exclusive has the side windows laminated and with significant side impact protection, yes, the doors are a little heavy to open from the inside. The C5 Exclusive comes with a raft of other safety features including auto hazard lights that come on when the Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) is triggered. There’s also tyre pressure sensors, auto electric park brake, auto door unlocking in the case of a crash, fuel cut off, and electric child locks.
DESIGN AND FUNCTION
The interior is well laid out and a good place to be for all passengers. The interior is refined and even on long day trips we had no complaints about seat comfort. Exclusive comes with front heated seats and a nice touch for the driver - a lower back massager to ease long spells at the wheel. Citroen have done well with the C5 in the balance between boot space and rear leg room. There’s also plenty of head room for rear seat passengers. Large Citroens are legendary when it comes to passenger comfort and the C5 is no exception. On top of the seats having excellent support as well as give, the air suspension absorbs all but the most aggressive of road bumps. Apart from at idle the engine is whisper quiet and impossible to detect as a diesel. Road noise is also insignificant thanks to multiple door seals and the laminated glass used in the door windows. One of our priorities was luggage space and the C5‘s 439 litre boot swallowed the lot - two medium/large suitcases with a bevy of smaller hand luggage. For the driver the layout of dials and switches are in logical sites and the second-generation fixed-hub steering wheel places many of the car’s functions in the one convenient place including cruise control, audio and telephone. The only function we did not really appreciate was the two small buttons to activate the horn which might take a split second too long to locate in an emergency. The air suspension automatically adjusts according to the load on board which meant we gave it plenty of work to do.
DRIVING IMPRESSIONS
For reasons already well documented cars are changing, not so much in size, but in engine size and type and there’s a strong movement to smaller, more efficient engines that give little away in performance. This 2.0 litre turbo-diesel easily hauls the 1658 kg C5 in all types of terrain. It’s not the fastest car around nor does it need to be. For the typical job of being a family sedan used for work and motoring holidays it is simply ideal. There’s 340 Nm of torque on tap at 2000 rpm while the new engine has 120 kW of power, up from 100 kW. The 0-100 km/h sprint now takes 10 seconds flat while the top speed is 210 km/h. The six-speed auto transmission is superbly smooth and with a manual shifter is excellent for engine braking on NZ’s steep descents. The C5 rides on air suspension that can be adjusted manually. The vehicle corners extremely well with just a hint or tyre sqeal on sharp bends - with a snippet of understeer. Perhaps the over-riding impression though is that at the end of our several long day trips the car’s ease of use, along with high comfort levels, leaves the passengers fresh as you could be after six or seven hours on the road.
MODEL RANGE AND PRICING
Saloon/Wagon
C5 HDi 2.0 Comfort $46,990/$49,990 (Driveaway Price)
C5 HDi 2.0 Exclusive $57,990/$60,990*
C5 HDi 2.7 V6 Exclusive $69,990/$72,990*
(*Pricing does not include statutory and dealer charges)
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard
Air Conditioning: Standard
Automatic Transmission: Standard
CD Player: Standard
Central Locking: Standard
Cruise Control: Standard
Dual Front Airbags: Standard
Front Side Airbags: Standard
Stability Control: Standard
Traction Control: Standard
SPECIFICATIONS C5 2.0 HDi
ENGINE:
Capacity: 1,997 litres
Configuration: In line 4 cyl/16 valves
Compression Ratio: 16:1
Bore/Stroke: 85.00 mm x 88.00 mm
Maximum Power: 110 kW @ 3750 rpm
Maximum Torque: 340 Nm @ 2000 rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Front
Manual Transmission: N/A
Automatic Transmission: 6 speed automatic
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4779 mm
Wheelbase: 2815 mm
Width: 2096 mm (with mirrors)
Height: 1451 mm
Turning Circle: 11.70 metres
Kerb Mass: 1658 kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 71 litres
Towing Ability: kg (kg with braked trailer)
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: Drop link double wishbone
Rear Suspension: Multi link
Front Brakes: Ventilated Disc
Rear Brakes: Ventilated Disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 10 seconds
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Type: Diesel
Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01): 6.8 L/100km
GREEN VEHICLE GUIDE RATINGS:
Greenhouse Rating: /10
Air Pollution Rating: /10
STANDARD WARRANTY:
3 years/ 100,000 km |
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