Citroen XSARA Test drive 1997 - 2000 hatchback

Toy-2

A toy is such a French film that is very popular in due time. The scene is Paris. Events unfold to the wonderful music of Vladimir Cosm. Both she and the whole video sequence enable the viewer to feel the unique aura of the main French city. An important component of this video is French cars. There are plenty of them in two hours on the screen. These are, in addition to numerous Renault, Peugeot, Simka, and some Citroen models, by the way. There is a legendary DS, GS flashes a couple of times, it has not done, of course, and without an ugly duckling - 2CV ...

 

What am I talking about? Yes, all about the same, about Citroen. This brand, one might say, is one of the symbols of France. And, therefore, it is no coincidence that after the appearance of Citroen Xsara 1.8i 16V I remembered the toy in the field of vision taken to the test. Associative series: Citroen - France - Paris - toy - Citroen. The mood is joyful - we are likened to the heroes of the film comedy. Naturally, in the sense that we will also drive in a French car. For some time.

 

The predecessor of Xsara was the ZX family, which saw the light in 1991. Then a base model with a five-door hatchback body was presented, a year later a version with a body compartment appeared, on the basis of which invincible cars for rally-marathons, the famous Citroen ZX Rally Raid were built. Later, a car with a wagon body was added. The machines were equipped with gasoline engines with a working volume of 1.1 to 2 liters and two turbodiesels that are particularly popular in France.


The model range of ZX at the beginning of the narrative about the novelty of Citroen (debut - at the Frankfurt car dealership last year) is not mentioned by chance.

 

The fact is that we were given the opportunity to conduct the Citroen Xsara 1.8i 16V test with one of the bright representatives of the previous generation of Citroen cars - the ZX 1.4i Tentacion model, which passed the light factory tuning.

 

At first, the XSARA model seems like a reduced and slightly rounded Xantia, although the XSARA body has completely different proportions characteristic of family hatchbacks of the popular Golf class .. It is gratifying that Citroen stores one of its old traditions, namely the continuity of the appearance of simultaneously produced cars of different families What we could see earlier on the example of CX and GS models. The fact that Xsara was created on a changed platform and frame of the ZX model is no secret. The company's management soberly reasoned that they were not looking for good from good. It was decided - the best that was laid down in the body and the interior of Citroen ZX (generally successful in design and operational properties, but now slightly outdated in design), will be preserved in the new model. Including a unique rear suspension with a steaming effect.

 

External similarity is noticeable primarily in the front of the body. This is a characteristic stroke of the hood, smoothly converting into an elegant mask-rack of the radiator with a traditional Citroen Chevron. A small scallop stretches from the chevron along the hood. The XSARA body is surrounded by a plastic buffer, the elements of which are made removable on the front and rear bumpers to facilitate repair in case of frivolous accidents. Under the hood, we discovered a line four -cylinder engine installed transversely with a tilt back. In version 1.8i 16V, equipped with a 16-valve cylinder head, which is indicated by the corresponding index in the designation of the machine, the motor develops a power of 112 hp. and torque 155 Nm.

 

We will deal with the study of the salon. The driver's door wide open, sequentially passing three fixed positions. We find ourselves in an ergonomically perfect salon. Without exaggeration. French manufacturers have long been famous for their skill layout of car interiors. Citroen is no exception. I already had to try on Citroen BX a few years ago - the impression of the ergonomics of the interior made very strong and then. Planting in XSARA passes without unnecessary body movements - everything is convenient and natural. The driver’s seat has only two adjustments - along the length and corner of the back of the back (on Citroen ZX, I must say, the same picture). However, these two are enough for the successful setting of the chair. The modification of Exclusive also provides for a change in the vertical position using an electric drive. The front seats with fabric upholstery due to the shape of the pillow and back provide good side support.

 

I liked the visibility forward and in the lateral directions - it seems that the front racks of the roof were specially curved in order to give the opportunity to better see the road. The steering wheel is adjusted longitudinally and vertically. The steering wheel does not block the combination of devices, regardless of the setting of its position. In addition to the built -in airbag, it duplicated the control buttons of the Citroen proprietary radio, which has digital code. The combination of devices itself is standard, only an indicator of the mileage with digital indication is unusual, at which after turning on the ignition, information about the amount of kilometers is displayed, which remains to go through until the next scheduled maintenance. Torpedo of modern outlines creates a feeling of comfort. All controls at hand. The left steering wheel switch is responsible for external lighting, and the end button on it is for the sound alarm. The same button on the right switch that controls the wipers activates the heating of the rear window.

 

The pedals are located very conveniently, for the left leg there is a supporting platform, a combination of the size of the moves and the information content of the pedals - at the proper level. The location of the lever of the five -speed gearbox on the XSARA, as well as the lever that has as many steps of the ZX box, did not cause complaints.

 

In both cases, levers are hard, with leather upholstery, tips that are comfortable in the hand. On the central console, which is the organic part of the XSARA torpedo, there are air conditioning controls, windows, as well as a radio and electronic hours. In front of the front passenger, in the absence of airbag (option), the covers of two messages open at once. As additional equipment, the car can be equipped with side pillows.

 

A characteristic feature of Citroen cars, in this case, ZX and XSARA, is the mechanical adjustment of the left external rear -view mirror, while the right is controlled by the handle on the torpedo through an electric drive. The internal mirror of the XSARA can be adjusted in height. There is a meaning in this - the rear window is relatively narrow, due to increased, in order to increase the volume, height of the trunk edge and a reduced height of the upper edge of the rear window. The latter, apparently, was made to give greater stiffness of the fifth door and the corresponding doorway.

 

At the same time, sighteding back was not affected, but it became more comfortable in the cabin. You especially feel this in the back seat. The XSARA salon is somewhat more spacious than that of ZX. If passengers of almost any height feel comfortable in both cars in front of both cars, then tall people will have to be tight behind ZX. In Xsara, they will conveniently accommodate simultaneously on two rows of seats. Let's see what awaits us in the trunk. Its volume seemed to us quite acceptable for a car of this class, and the possibility of separate folding of seats in a ratio of 1/3-2/3 will significantly increase the amount of cargo transported. A pleasant trifle - the shelf of the trunk fits behind the back of the rear seat.

 

Well, it's time on the road. Run the engines. The motors of both machines are exactly, without vibrations, earned at idle. The difference in the noise level is noticeable. On the XSARA, the motor is barely audible, and the ZX engine reminds of itself with a noticeable roar. Perhaps the fact is that Citroen ZX we have a tuned, with a special silencer. Both cars smoothly and clearly moved from the place, which demonstrated good joint operation of gas drives and clutch, and the work of the transfers mechanism brought us just delighted us. For a long time we did not have cars with such short and clear moves of the box of boxes! Less powerful, but faster than gaining revolutions, the ZX engine corresponds to more closely close, compared with XSARA, the transmission. On Xsara, they are somewhat spaced, but this does not affect the speed of switching. The dynamics of acceleration of both cars was very pleased, the cars show a pleasant responsiveness to the driver’s actions, and the engines after 3,000 revolutions have a noticeable pickup, which allows you to confidently accelerate in the city traffic flow.

 

The increase in the engine speed, of course, adds noise to the machines salons. But in Xsara is still noticeably quieter. However, the noise level in the ZX salon is still not so high as to cause irritation.

 

Management of experimental vehicles gives great pleasure. The differences in this case are primarily due to the hydraulic power control in XSARA. The steering wheel Citroen ZX is deprived of it. This is felt when parking and maneuvering at low speed, while in motion the steering demonstrates commercial sharpness and reverse reaction. The steering rear suspension provides good stability when moving in corners and helps to pass them at higher speed. Without hydropneumatics, unlike more expensive Citroen, Xsara and ZX cars, they cope with all kinds of irregularities no worse than the latter. The work of the tire-wheel suspension system does not tire the driver and passengers in the cabin, and when meetings with a large relief, the suspension is also confident, without breakdowns and knocks, performs its work. The size of the body roll in the turns is well predicted, the swing is not observed, and the increase in the angles of the transverse inclination and the reverse process proceed smoothly, without jerks. On both Citroen, the brake systems did not have ABS (on XSARA this is an option), but we did well without them. Cars confidently and evenly slow down on any road surface and under any weather conditions.

 

So we met. Citroen Xsara is certainly good. A close relative of the famous ZC, Xsara inherited many of his best features.

 

A memorable appearance, excellent technical characteristics, a high level of comfort will attract the attention of many to this model. Interesting is the price (about $ 20,000 depending on the configuration). The indelible impression that this car made on me was also aggravated by very pleasant French reminiscences. This is not forgotten. The end of the film.

 

Sergey Ivanov
 
 
 

 

Source: Magazine Motor