Test drive Citroen C5 Estate 2001 - 2004 station wagon

Citroone C5: degree of originality

Citroeon is a kind of exotic in our market. It seems that this French automaker also produces the models of mass, and even relatively inexpensive, but we, until recently, were somehow completely not quoted. Either an excessively extravagant appearance is guilty, or the presence of some technical highlights like a famous hydropneumatic suspension, or an incomprehensible reputation of French cars interfered with a generally obscure. Although no, the nationality of the car is not worth it here: Citroeon fellow countrymen, French companies PEUGEOT and RENAULT in our market were not more likely, so there were no complaints about the quality of the goods, in theory, the buyers did not have. Apparently, the reason was still in the seller: until recently, this brand in the republic was represented by a dealer, whose activities to promote this brand on our market could not be called sluggish. But now everything has changed: a new branded Citroeon car dealership has opened, the branded one hundred, and the new dealer, the company of Yukola Auto began an active advertising campaign ...
Advertising slogan Citroeon: the answer to any question most fully reflects the market position of the company. In the range of this manufacturer there is almost everything: sports modifications, family sedans, hatchbacks and station wagons, minivans and even commercial models, unless the SUVs are not enough. And the model C5 is currently the top of the gamut, the top model. Citroeon has not yet released representative models, so Citroeon C5 3.0 AUT, which we have been tested, is today the most expensive car of this brand. And the French would not be French if they had not offered their interpretation on the topic of a prestigious model of the middle class. C5 has so many different highlights, including technical ones, that even technically perfect Japanese just fade against his background.
To begin with, this model shown in the photo is ... a hatchback. The type of body, which German manufacturers have long been used mainly on the less class models, the French are very fond of, so for them any car can be hatchback, regardless of which class it belongs to. And after Renault introduced the representative hatch-bek of Vel Satis, you should not be surprised that Citroeon did not give up the favorite type of body in the middle class. True, the French themselves call such three -arming cars not at all hatchbacks, but sedans with the back door - in all catalogs there is not even a mention of some five -door hatchbacks there. However, on the side of C5 is really little like a five -door car. Judging by how much the trunk sticks out, it really can be taken for a full -fledged sedan. Maybe this really makes sense. Why buy an allegedly prestigious sedan, if instead you can get no less attractive, but much more universal and convenient hatchback. And there is no need to say that you never carry anything big in the car, anything happens in life, but you will not order a gazelle because of each purchase ...
But you can’t attract one functionality of buyers now, and it is quite natural that the main emphasis in the development of C5 was on design. Citroeon cars have always been very extravagant, and sometimes even shocking, so buyers once again expected to see something ... and Citroone did not disappoint.
Perhaps the new C5, which, incidentally, was the first to cross the old indexation using his own names to the new, alphanumer system, and did not look like a true Citroeon, which fans of this brand consider only the XM model, but he was able to attract new ones, to attract new ones young buyers. After all, it is far from a secret that more recently, Citroeon had big problems with sales precisely because their cars had too original appearance: buyers who wanted to stand out from a car crowd in this way were less and less. And C5, as the first of the models of the new generation, was designed to change public opinion.
Strange, but for some reason for everyone who saw this car live, he causes associations with ... fish. Not with any specific, but in general. Choosing the most characteristic epithet for her, you recall precisely about water inhabitants. Either the forms of such, or anterior lighting technology is too similar to the eyes, but the fact remains: C5 really wants to be called waterfowl. But this does not mean that the car is ugly. The French have always been large docks in terms of the beautiful, and in automotive design the taste does not fail them. And it seems that many talented guys work in Citroeon: fundamentally change the image of the brand, but at the same time make cars recognizable - for this you need to be large professionals. And if with the younger C3, which was already on our test, everything is clear, because it was simply made in the style of the classic 2C, then with C5 the designers were much more difficult: it is not like any of their predecessors. However, a successful design or not is to decide customers who choose a new car based on personal taste preferences. From myself, I would like to add only one thing: in our opinion, C5 in light troops looks best. The black car that visited on our test looked massive and even seemed larger than it really was. All the lines that play on a light body are absolutely lost, and the car becomes like heavy Merses, which were so popular five to seven years ago.
The interior also did not hit anything supernatural: no experiments, everything is strictly, in accordance with the requirements of ergonomics and stylists. The central console looks interesting, resembling a petal in shape, but otherwise everything is quite commonplace. There were no complaints to quality, as well as the convenience of landing. The model was developed too carefully to have some kind of childhood illness. On the version that was on our test, there was an adjustment of the driver's seat in height, and it turned out to be very useful: the car is still large enough, and its dimensions with low landing remain behind the scenes. At the back of the place is not that very much, but it is quite enough for this class: it is still far from Mondeo, but with Passat and the like C5 in this indicator competes directly. And as for the luggage compartment, then C5 is just out of competition. Even if in terms of numbers the volume of the trunk of the rivals is more, then in terms of Citrooen transformation with its body, hatchback can offer much more; In my opinion, it is not like a TV, even the refrigerator should fit.
He travels C5 very interestingly, assertively, but not at all as German classmates with powerful six -cylinder engines do. Even if you press the gas pedal into the polish, your pulse is unlikely to become more frequent: the car simply accelerates, and very actively, but this acceleration does not rotate with a cannon language. Perhaps the whole point is that on C5 there is a 4-speed automatic gearbox, which is clearly not enough to make a fairly heavy car at the same time fast, dynamic, economical and comfortable. Many of the C5 classmates are already flaunting 5-speed automatic transmission, and only for this reason their dynamics can be called more exciting. The presence of an additional stage allows designers to make all the gears a little shorter, which is very favorable to the accelerated dynamics. Only you do not think that C5 with a six -cylinder engine and automatic machine is phlegmatic or has insufficient dynamics - it simply does not get some sharpness or pronounced pickup. So if you are a supporter of active driving, we recommend paying attention to the C5 with mechanics - with a six -cylinder engine, he accelerates from a place to hundreds in only 8.2 seconds!
But dynamics are not all, because there are no absolutely direct roads, and sooner or later the car will have to go turns. And the opinion of the owner about the dynamic capabilities of his car often depends on how well he succeeds. After all, no matter how quickly the car rides in a straight line, a stubborn unwillingness to turn along the desired trajectory can negate the whole advantage, or even leading to extremely unpleasant consequences.
Citroone C5 has a full order with controllability: if there is not enough information to the steering, then C5 will steer simply excellently. The famous hydroactive hydraulic suspension, and on this model there is a third -generation suspension, makes it possible not only to change road clearance within a wide range, but also works great in turns. The rolls are minimal, although it cannot be said that they are not at all. True, we traveled in ordinary, road mode, and it is likely that with a lower suspension position, the car would become even more stable. By the way, with regard to the operating modes of hydropneumatic suspension, some Citroeon car owners, with whom I have communicated, sometimes use it not entirely for their intended purpose. It is far from a secret that when the engine is turned off, you can make your Citroeon sit down, so much that it will seem almost lying on the belly from the side. As it turned out, this feature has its positive aspects: in some countries, if you are standing in a wrong place or not paid for parking, a heel is put on the front wheel of the car, which prevents movement. So, it is simply impossible to push this very heel under the Citroeon lying: the wheel is almost completely hidden in the wheel arch, and it is almost impossible to put on it the very lock ...
Among classmates, especially in our market, Citroeon C5 stands out primarily by an unauthorized image: almost all the brands presented in our market already have an established reputation. Moreover, very often the renom of the other brand depends not only on how prestigious the brand itself or its individual models is, but also on how actively and, it is unpleasant to talk about it, the local dealer decently works. After all, it often happens that even the most serious brand in our republic is only sold, and the dealer simply forgets about its warranty service and some other moments. No, the so -called proprietary station, of course, is available, but the quality of the works performed there, as well as the knowledge of the specialists working on it, do not go into any comparison with Western or even Moscow STO. Ask any owner of a new car serving his horse at a proprietary service station - he probably had to face mud in the cabin, which remains after the repair, with some excess nuts or washers or even (what kind of horror) to detect the glass cleaners replaced by old brushes. In this sense, Citroeon has great prospects: the level of service at the proprietary service station, as promised at a press conference, will be really high. Elementary things such as an inflated car for the duration of the repair, mandatory washing before repair or simply high-quality service in this case become something for granted. It is commendable, especially since given the warranty period, which is 3 years, the owner one way or another will have to deal with the service.
SUBJECTIVE OPINION:
(+) High -quality interior, good suspension work, spacious salon, advanced checkpoint.
(-) slurred steering, mediocre dynamics of acceleration.
Text: Pavel Kozlovsky and Sergey Mitskevich

Source: Autogazet / N 28 (374) dated 08.21.02