Test drive Citroen C5 Estate 2001 - 2004 station wagon

Asterix and Obelix fight each other

These two are the famous heroes of French fairy tales. Funny and foolish in appearance, however, they are formidable warriors: either Caesar will show Kuzkin’s mother, then they will take the German barbarians. But what if once Asterix and Obelix decided to find out which of them two are the most.
Change of world view
It seems that automobile francophobia in Russia is over. Sales of Peugeot, Renault and Citroen grow like yeast. It is interesting that not only the super-B category B and the Accelerates of the Golf Class, but also more prestigious models find their buyers. It turns out - who would have thought about this three or four years ago! -The French are able not only to pickle frog legs, but also to create excellent class D sedans. Moreover, in Reno-Lagun-II and Citroen-S5 there is something in common with the very invincible fairy-tale galls. A non -standard appearance, a perirable character, the ability to cope with difficulties and, of course, truly French charm.
People's Choice Award
First of all, it must be noted - both of our duilers of personality are quite held. The second -generation lagoon only for the first full year of sales in Europe was able to get to third place in its class. There is only an icon ahead - a treshka BMW, and a snob -conservator Passat. Citroen, originally designed for smaller circulation, is also worthy of the title of drummer of capitalist labor. At least the double chevron had to force C5 production. There is nothing to be surprised here - Europeans fell in love with the exclusivity of French delicacies not today and not yesterday. The line is behind us.
However, in Russia there are abundance gourmons. On the streets of Moscow, more and more chain, and, I am sure, there would be even more if it were not for our fixation in black and silver colors. I'll explain now.
 
In the solemn black tailcoat, Citroen -s5 seems a little heavy - a spilled obelix, not a fool to drink and a big fan of biting. The silver C5 looks better, but the thin game of lines is lost in sunlight, leveling the most difficult architecture of the body. But the cherry -fifth cherry - in PSA terminology, this color is romantically called red Lucifer - a completely different car! And where did the sadness go? As a financial pyramid, accusations of an inexpressively executed stern and a fascinated fire scattered. The impression is that the car was washed with living water, younger, built, rose. Something even in it appeared athletic and gourmet: without five minutes a compartment, without twenty-a racing silhouette. And then, it’s so great when the car looks different because of the color alone. Is this that every self -respecting selfish dreams about that?
     
You can make claims for the readability of the dash panels of both cars: Citroen (photo on the left) is not very conveniently located a small tachometer in diameter, in the lagoon in the eyes in the eyes from too frequent marking of the speedometer
 
Not to lose silver
The lagoon has a favorite color-it is silver and all of the palette stationed next door: from milky white to dirty gray. But it is in silver that Renault looks one hundred percent with a tail! In the peak of Citroen, the lines of this sedan, the bright enamel only emphasizes. The metallicular shimmers in the sun, like a firebird.
No wonder at all presentations, car dealerships, press releases the second generation of the lagoon appears exclusively in silver. Well, I have nothing against it, because Renault is wonderful beautiful. True, if the C5 is at times reminiscent of a picture of the echoing guards, Laguna-II belongs to the artist-fluorist rather. In the sedan lines are more from an airplane or even a spaceship than from a car. Agree, the aggressive cladding of the radiator really resembles the nasal part of the jet fighter - a mirage, and maybe an euro -fiber. And the most difficult geometry of the headlights that the cunning squint of the funchak Asterix.
Personally, the silver air of the lagoon takes me by the soul no less than the unique eclecticism of the chain. To give someone preference in this dispute of magnificent design schools, right, a hand does not rise.
   
Climate control of Citroen is more elegant, and Renault has a more convenient
 
At work and at home
Both Frenchmen are non -trivial both outside and inside. Finding yourself in the Sitroen salon, you think that you got into a sweater connected by my grandmother: so soft, warm and incredibly home. The interior C5 is by no means a banal combination of seats, panels, switches and dials. This is a cozy and very human world, from which, honestly, I do not want to go out at all. The eye is delighted and lovingly executed seats, and the absence of straight lines in the torpedo.
And if you set aside emotions and judge soberly? Well, the programs could switch honestly, and the control of climate control is still a little randomly. And in terms of visibility C5, not an example to follow. But it’s hard not to evaluate a very spacious salon. Perhaps the back of the three will not be too comfortable - it is painfully frankly dividing the pillow into only a couple of places. But this very couple will certainly feel like especially important persons. About the trunk of C5 we can say that he is one of the largest in the classroom, and the rear seats are made completely removable. And yet, I repeat, the main thing in the spacious salon of Citroen is a home comfort, for which C5 with a light heart you forgive and cheap plastics and individual ergonomics misses.
   
The spacious, cozy and home interior C5 has practically no weaknesses and has both short trips and long travels
      
Laguna salon is more perfect in small things, but tall inhabitants of the back row of seats hardly like a limited space for the head

In terms of merits, the inner world of the second generation lagoon seems to be inferior to Citroen in only one fundamental component - the spaciousness for those sitting behind. With my 185, on the sofa of Renault, I invariably rested my head against the ceiling upholstery - the reckoning for the spectacular flow of the roof line. It's a shame, because the rest is quite spacious.
In addition, Renault has a clearer lever of gearboxes, clutch that does not require addiction, and adjusting the seats, access to which, unlike Citroen, is not difficult to side pockets of the doors. But these are all the details - the main thing, the lagoon salon is high -tech and colder.
There is no home comfort of C5 at all - the business atmosphere of the ultra -modern office reigns here. And the smallest details work for her. The mouse-gray interior does not interfere, but rather stimulates the workflow. Boxes for trifles in a business Renault, as if in an organizer on the desktop, are much more than in Citroen. Unlike C5, the lagoon has a children's rear door lock is at the hand of the driver - at the unit control unit. Visual round climate control handles are noticeably more conveniently more convenient for the z-fifth buttons. But the main magnet in the Renault salon is no doubt the engine starting system.
     
 
Citroen mirrors successfully compensate for by no means ideal in the sense of visibility of the body structure

You can adjust the pillows in height with a lever-pump. It is a pity that access to it is limited by door pockets
 
    
Auto inscription on the right steering wheel lever implies the presence of a rain sensor

The aluminum knob of the gearbox lever is very beautiful, it is a pity that switching lacks clarity

  There is contact!
In the Renault, the ignition key was taken by an electronic card in size slightly smaller than a pack of cigarettes. Of course, the idea is far from new, but perhaps for the first time it was used in a middle -class car. The card has free hands, namely, that’s what it is called in Renault, a dual purpose: the start of the engine and access to the salon.
The card can be used as a conventional keyen - in its upper part there are buttons of opening and closing the locks, but you can do more cunning. Having activated Auto, it is easy to feel like a real wizard: they moved from the car three meters, and, blinking goodbye to the dimensions, the lagoon clicked the locks. They took up the handle of any of the doors, and the sensor, identifying the voice of the card, calmly lying in the pocket of the jacket, would take the car. Great! It is only a pity that the electronic genie, locking the car, does not know how to raise glass. There is a special button on Citroen's key fober, for this, for this.
As for the start of the engine of the hmm on the one hand - great, there are no words. I inserted the card into a special nest in the lower part of the central console and click on the start. Effective: the girls screech with delight, friends nod approvingly. On the other hand, isn't it all you don’t care how to run the motor with a key or a button? Moreover, the number of tactical and technical actions does not decrease, but, on the contrary, increases. And what will happen if you step on the card or drop it? Renault employees, however, say - the smart card is no worse than the key in terms of reliability.
Nevertheless, a piece of plastic stuffed with electronics is a toy for lovers of external effects. Yes, quite definitely. But for some reason, transplanting from Renault to Citroen, I instinctively searched for a smart card slot
  Fast and quiet
Unfortunately, the basic execution of the C5 model with a 1.8-liter 115-horsepower engine is not officially delivered to Russia. Therefore, we willy-nilly had to choose a 2-liter version. Despite the fact that the volume of the engine of the lagoon is 200 cubes smaller, and in terms of power it loses to the chain five as many as 20 liters. with., their dispute seemed to us quite honest. In the end, the 136 -horsepower Citroen motor has passed for the seventh year - soon retirement, while Renault’s power unit is not a fresh example.
And for sure, after the first city kilometers, the age difference becomes obvious. C-fifth votes will be. So much so that after 3.5 thousand on the tachometer there is a desire to switch upstairs or make music louder - music, by the way, is very good: JBL does not knit brooms! At the same time, the city does not give special advantages a more powerful C5 engine. Unless a set of revolutions of the lagoon is noticeably even, while the Citroen motor is pleasing to three and a half thousand. Not that it pressed in the back of the chair, but still very decent. Therefore, do not believe the factory data, claiming that both cars are dispersed the same to hundreds. C-five is not much, but quickly.
     
What's how much
Another plus of both French cars is a generous basic equipment. For a 2-liter Citroen-C5, dealers are asked from $ 21,500. And this is a very tempting offer. For this money, you are guaranteed to get a lot of minced meat - ABS, a power steering, a full electric package, rain sensor, heating seats and mirrors, air conditioning. In a word, only those who cannot live without an electric lover in the roof, leather, alcantara and electric seats, as well as even more sophisticated music from JBL, are in a word. Prices for super-, mega-, an ultra-spacial station wagon C5-Brick begins at $ 23,490.
A 1.8-liter lagoon is also quite affordable-only $ 20,500, for a 2-liter version they ask for an extra thousand. And the equipment-lick your fingers: six airbags, ABS, a hydraulic power pillow, a full electric package, CD-resort, climate control with separate control, fog lights and, of course, a free hand card. The station wagon is more expensive than a sedan by $ 1000, but only on it you can install a system of dynamic ESP movement stabilization.
In the end, we recall that a three -year -old general guarantee applies to the lagoon, as well as to C5. Moreover, Citroen assures and confirms this with a special guarantee that troubles with a proprietary hydropneumatic suspension will not occur in five years or 250 thousand kilometers.
More gas - less pits
Despite the loud statements of the creators of Renault, I did not experience any driver’s nirvana in the lagoon. The modern front -wheel drive car is no less, but, alas, no more. The lagoon reacts to the sharp rebuilding with the lazy, the steering serviller during rapid maneuvering is a little lack of performance, and the sedan responds to the discharge of gas in a quick turn too sharply inward. However, possibly, a little, honed under European routes, the character of Renault spoiled the adaptation to the bad (read: Russian) roads? And Citroen, with its large overhangs and non -childish mass, is also no longer distinguished by acute sporting controllability. However, the chain of the lagoon has a fundamental advantage - the hydropneumatic suspension does not need Russian adaptation. The last generation Idractive pneumatic is more sharpened than ever for sled characteristics. Moreover, the whole charm of hydropneumatics is revealed not on a winding highway, but on a suburban highway.
Even at a speed of 200 km/h, the cap-five is absolutely indifferent to the flaws of the road surface. Excited areas, wide cracks, uneven asphalt - all this for Citroen toys. The car goes on rails, and sweat on the palms only from fear of falling to the hook to the inspector with the radar.
For the time being, it holds the road and Renault perfectly. But at the mark of 160 km/h, the Russian adaptation of the car again makes itself felt. The body begins to unpleasantly dance on gentle waves, forcing to instinctively lose the gas. Maybe it is for the better? After all, riding at such speeds is not recommended by traffic inspectments of most countries.
      
 
The children's blocking of the rear doors is located in the visibility zone of the driver

The joystick of the musical system is even more convenient than on Citroen
 
  
Box for papers and other little things under the right front seat

The cup holder jumps out of the nest to the right of the radio, like a devil out of a box

The CD-resort for a long-standing French tradition is hidden under a massive cover. I know from personal experience - this does not stop thieves
 

Unlike twins
They are so different, Asterix and Obelix, Renault and Citroen. Laguna is a machine for progressive people who adore the fruits of technological progress, who do not want, like everyone else, to ride on the passathes and Avenses, and in addition, value security. Renault is the safest car in the world, at least this follows from the results of crash tests of the Euro NCAP!
Citroen - for those who prefer indools and in the car sees not only a banal vehicle, but also a faithful friend, an almost animated creature. And yet, of course, there are similar features. After all, the lagoon, like the chain, is a modern, well -equipped, qualitatively assembled car.
In a word, our Asterix and Obelix, as expected, parted in the world. Each of them, of course, will find precisely its buyer. And given the sum of the non -trivial advantages of these French, it can be argued that they will look very worthy in a fight with the Japanese and the Germans.
     
Unlike Europe, a car without a key system in Russia is included in the standard package of Renault lagons
1. Card free hands. 2. The device read the card signal. 3. Control unit. 4. Doors and a gas tank hatch. 5. Electronic blocking of the steering column. 6. The engine start/stop button. 7. Data exchange tire. 8. Door sensors.

 
Mikhail Medvedev, photo Maxim Goncharov
 

Source: Magazine "Limousine" [06/02]