18 Oct 07
Inside, you're aware of a wide and roomy cabin, although the C5 isn't quite as broad as the Mondeo, reckoned by some to be a girth too far. There's a lot of soft-touch paint on the mouldings and the fascia and door-tops are expensively padded. The door-pulls are particularly flamboyant; they curve down and back from the hand-grip and loop up and forward again to trace an almond shape. The fascia is also an unusual shape, narrowing as it heads across from driver to passenger. The rear seats can be folded down for extra load space.
The Citroen techno-signature lives on in the steering wheel, which has an improved version of the C4's fixed hub containing switchgear for the stereo, trip computer and speed/cruise-control functions. This time it's covered with a membrane that makes the switches feel smoother to touch and to use. The C5 doesn't have the C4's central LCD digital speedo display, though; instead it has conventional analogue instruments ahead of the driver, with needles visible only on the peripheral scales and their central pivots hidden, Mercedes-fashion.
C5s with 'Hydractive 3 Plus' suspension have an electric parking brake, steel-sprung versions have a conventional handbrake on the centre tunnel's left side - a position that won't change for right-hand drive cars. Posher versions with electric seat adjustment can move the upper part of the front seats' backrests separately from the lower part, altering the curve of the seat as needed. They can have a massage function, too. Two seat shapes are offered: Caractere, with firm side bolsters and aimed at keen drivers; and Harmonie, which is softer and more traditionally Citroen.
Chrome accents abound as part of the 'premium-ness' kick (but no wood, thank goodness) and, inevitably, the C5 is full of electronic gadgetry as already seen on other Citroens. This includes the options of a lane-departure warning system, Navidrive sat nav and telematics and a device for assessing roadside parking spaces for their chance of accommodating the C5's length. Seven airbags, including a driver's knee-bag, are standard, with an extra pair of curtain 'bags optional for rear passengers. Headlights are directional, either using fixed additional lights to shine into corners or by swivelling units, depending on whether halogen or xenon gas-discharge bulbs are fitted.
