Category: Executive 
Price Range: £26,995 to £35,195
Distinctive exterior styling, Citroen heritage, quiet and smooth ride, very French feel
Very expensive for a Citroen; dull cabin design, some quality shortcuts, overlight steering, wallowing suspension. If you're determined not to buy German, the Lexus GS and Jaguar S-Type are similarly priced.
It's not a keen driver's car by any stretch of the imagination, with fit and finish some way off the class leaders: but the C6 has both charm and character. You're going to have to really fall in love with it to justify such an investment, however.
The C6 is Citroen's re-entry into the large car market; a spacious four-door, it's built on a stretched version of the C5/Peugeot 407 platform.
Citroen hopes it will appeal as an alternative to the usual German-brand cars in this sector - and it's certainly very different. More striking in its styling than the closely-related Peugeot 607, it has retro nods to the DS, SM and CX, yet retains a clear family resemblance to the bold new C4, C5 and the latest smaller Citroens.
Unlike the big German models, the C6 is focused more towards ride comfort than to ultra-sharp driving dynamics: it's a car to gently cruise in, or better still, in which to be driven. It's in the great tradition of the comfy French saloon and is complete with the latest iteration of Citroen's self-levelling hydraulic suspension system, these days with electronically-controlled 'active' springs and dampers.
Three engines are offered; with two V6s - a 3.0-litre (215bhp) petrol unit and the engine expected to account for 80% of C6 sales, the PSA-Ford 2.7-litre (208bhp) diesel - as used in the Jaguar S-Type and XJ, and the entry-level 2.2 HDI diesel. Both the V6s come with a six-speed automatic gearbox only.
There are no plans, as yet, for any other body-styles, though a large estate or even crossover-style vehicle - perhaps reviving the popular Safari name - may not be completely out of the question at a later date.
It's far from a modern embodiment of the revolutionary DS - a car assembled from the PSA parts bin can never match up to such a ground-breaker - but the C6 should satisfy those that go misty-eyed at the mere mention of classic Citroens.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Citroen C6
wrote on 03 01 2008