Category: Large Family 
Price Range: No data available
Good-looking, well-equipped, improved handling, option of conventional steel-spring suspension, quiet and comfortable ride.
Technically complex, poor reliability record of last C5.
A much more appealing proposition than its predecessor.
Citroen's new-generation C5 (launched spring 2008) has been substantially improved compared to the model it replaces. It's much more elegant-looking (in both saloon and Tourer estate body style), seems more solidly built and is finished with much-improved attention to detail.
It's not quite as Teutonic as Citroen's incomprehensible ads suggest, but it does feel like a better-quality product than its predecessor.
Citroen die-hards may not be impressed, but entry-level models are now available with conventional steel-spring suspension, similar to that of the closely-related Peugeot 407. The Hydractive oleopneumatic self-levelling set-up is still fitted to models higher up the range, however, in conjunction with a button to raise or lower the ride height, which is useful for towing, or when loading heavy items into the large boot.
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. Specification levels are badged SX, VTR+ and Exclusive.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Citroen C5 Estate
wrote on 26 09 2008