Love For Cars

Love For Cars

This new C5 is Citroen's attempt to get it right. The previous one could hardly have been more wrong, a car doomed at birth by its frumpy, slab-sided styling and instant, image-trashing discounting. This time the C5 plays the premium-wannabe game, like the Ford Mondeo and Renault Laguna but, judging by styling that brings back an almost-forgotten notion of beauty in cars, more convincingly than either. The C5 now comes in saloon or Tourer estate form. The saloon is a proper separately booted four-door, rather than a hatchback in visual denial, and from behind its concave rear window echoes those of the C6 and large Citroens of old. The Tourer (on sale in June/July 2008) has wraparound taillights with an unusual 'bite' out of their lower edge. The tall doors of both versions give the effect of a high waistline and solidity, working well with the elegant roofline. All in all, it's a much better-looking car than the dumpy, frumpy old C5.

The C5 shares the rear-end underpinnings and fuel tank layout with the larger C6 and also has much in common with the Peugeot 407 - all three cars share the same basic front and rear suspension layout, for example. In a departure for Citroen, however, the self-levelling oleopneumatic suspension (Hydractive 3 Plus) has been dropped from the entry-level versions, which will be offered with 'normal' steel coil springs instead. Engines for the range are 110bhp 1.6 HDI, 138bhp 2.0 HDI, 173bhp 2.2 HDI and 208bhp 2.7 HDI diesels, or 1.8i (127bhp) and 2.0i (143bhp) petrols. The 2001-2008 C5 scored very poorly - near-bottom - in a number of reliability and customer satisfaction surveys, and seems to have suffered a wide variety of problems and glitches. These include faults and failures of both manual and automatic gearboxes, the self-levelling suspension, brakes and clutches, locking systems, particulate filters in the diesels plus a myriad of electronic and electrical issues.

It also feels finished to a higher standard, with better attention to detail in the cabin and with its fixtures and fittings, although one C5 tested did have a creaky dash and rattling seat structure. The softer-touch plastics and the upholstery are improved, too. We like the view presented to the driver: there are Mercedes-like instrument dials, with needles at the periphery and information displays in the inner circle, and Citroen's steering wheel with a central hub, as in the C4. The driving position is good, with most versions having electrically adjustable front seats (squashy or sportily-bolstered, depending on the trim level chosen). Entry-level SX versions have a conventional handbrake - arguably preferable to the automatically releasing electronic parking brake in upper-spec models. Hydractive 3 float-on-fluid set-up. Cars with this are prone to undulating and vaguer steering, even in Sport mode. The V6 diesel engine (208bhp, 325lb-ft of torque) is predictably quick, as well as being ultra-smooth and refined - this engine is also supplied to Jaguar, so it's suitably sophisticated. It's fitted in combination with a six-speed automatic gearbox (not the quickest-acting, but responsive enough for calm cruising) and the entire package is impressively quiet and upmarket.

The thing is, who wants to spend nearly 拢25,000 on a C5? The twin-turbo 2.2 HDI (173bhp, 273lb ft) is more real-world, but in truth, the familiar 138bhp 2.0 HDI is absolutely adequate and there's no need to spend more on any other version. It's available with the steel-spring suspension, too. The new C5 has scored the full five stars for overall adult occupant protection in the Euro NCAP crash tests, with four stars for child protection and two for pedestrian protection. A pretty good score. Stability control is standard, along with adaptive cornering-beam headlights and seven airbags (including a driver's knee-protecting airbag). Citroen also points out that thanks to the fixed central steering hub, the driver's front airbag is always deployed from the same optimum position. There's also Isofix child seat anchoring points for up to three child seats and two further rear side airbags are optional. Further options include front and rear parking sensors (very useful), xenon headlights (also worth having) and lane-departure warning (potentially very irritating: specify only if you drive very long distances and worry about falling asleep at the wheel).

Security-wise, there are deadlocks. Servicing requirements are low, with visits needed no more than annually or every 10,000 miles and, with an eye to the fleet market and insurance costs, Citroen has made the C5 cheap to repair after an accident. The diesel engines - which are the ones Citroen boasts about - are economical, too, with 149g/km emitted on average by the 1.6 HDI and 157g/km by the 2.0 HDI manual, which both bear an 'Airdream' eco-label. Like all big Citroens, the C5 scores well here. The well-trimmed cabin sets the right tone and noise levels are low, even at speed or over rough surfaces; Exclusive models have extra-laminated side glass which takes noise down even further. It's also spacious, a little larger than its predecessor if not quite as broad as the (very wide) new Mondeo. The seats are supportive and the ride relaxed. The rear seats fold down properly to extend luggage space, the cushions flipping forward and the backrests folding flat into the vacated spaces.