Citroen C5 Tourer test drive since 2008

In the wake of calm and comfort

I used to understand why people buy crossovers with a drive for one axis. Like, damn it, with a 4x4 transmission, the main thing is that there is an enlarged road clearance, which is sometimes more important in our directions more importantly. And now I don't understand. And Citroen C5 is to blame for this.

Panikovsky shouted in a golden calf: go to Kyiv, and that's it, go, and that’s it. I can also say in his style: go to St. Petersburg, and that’s it. It is in the cultural capital that any driver can now understand that an increased road clearance in a passenger car is good. For traveling along the St. Petersburg routes that are covered with snow porridge and park in huge snowdrifts with standard 140-150 mm clearance, it is not so easy to easily damage the bumper or just sit on the belly. In general, every day here is like the last battle, as a test of character (to understand what we are talking about, you can, having looked at our photo report from St. Petersburg).


Thanks to the possibility of increasing the Enterprise Citroen C5, it can park where eternal Zhiguli calls with great difficulty. True, you need to remember the off -road lumen only works at a speed of up to 10 km/h. Then the electronics automatically reduces it. This allows you to maintain hydropneumes from damage

And it was in such conditions that we decided to test Citroen C5. There is an occasion on C5 began to install a new gasoline engine with turbocharging and direct fuel injection with a volume of 1.6 liters, which produces 150 hp. He replaced the 2.0-liter atmospheric (143 hp). Moreover, the new motor became not only slightly more powerful, but also, which is very important for urban operation, it has a greater torque. Previously, there were 200 Nm at 4000 revolutions, but now 240 Newtonians, which can be obtained at 1400 rpm. Agree, a good difference. In addition, the new motor can be equipped with a modern automatic machine with six steps (earlier gasoline cars had a morally obsolete 4-speed automatic transmission, which has long been retired).

And due to the fact that 240 Nm is already available from the bottom, it is very convenient to drive by car. Is there enough 150 horses? Quite. Of course, if you often move along the highway, it is better to have a larger herd, but also a turbocharged 1.6 provides quite adequate dynamics. Successful engine. Of course, it would be ideal to get a car with a beautiful three -liter diesel engine that produces 240 hp. and as much as 450 nm. But when you find out that such a car costs 1,740,000 rubles, then the desire to buy it somehow disappears. After all, this is immediately for 604 thousand rubles. It is more expensive than a 150-horsepower gasoline machine with similar equipment (and for this money, by the way, you can safely buy the brand new Citroen C4). By the way, there is another two-liter 138-horsepower diesel, which has 320 nm, it costs already adequately (1,075,500 rubles. This is 77,500 rubles more than a gasoline machine).


Here they are, the famous Sitroen spheres. It is thanks to them that such a smoothness is ensured

Anyway. Citroen C5 proved himself to be a special machine, with his character. Moreover, the strength of this character is so great that you do not just feel the power of the car, but forced to adapt to it. And the point is not that the driver with the help of magic buttons has the opportunity to increase the road clearance and drive some complex site or park as you already understood, there were big problems in St. Petersburg. Comfort is the main force of Citroen C5.

The famous hydropneumatic suspension allows you to plunge into another world. I'm serious. Formally, on C5 it may not be on the simplest machines of hydropneumatics! But to buy such C5, to be honest, this is some kind of perversion. And in severe form. Never, hear, never even look towards such C5. You just kill the whole meaning of the model, you will trample its soul and get the average means of transportation. If you are afraid of hydropneumatics, you cannot pronounce this long word or you do not like the character of C5, then it is better to find another machine. So it will be more honest. Moreover, the difference between the right car and the undercut only 45,000 rubles. Considering that this amount includes not only the correct suspension, but also parking sensors, additional adjustments to the driver's seat, a two -zone climate instead of the air conditioner, rain sensor, electrically folding mirrors and even casting drives for 17 inches (in a base for 16 and steel). By the way, you can also order 18-inch discs, but the meaning of them, admitted, is doubtful. Firstly, 17-inch look very decent, and secondly (and this is the most important thing), large wheels of 18 inches bite a decent share from a pie called comfort. And, as you already understood, comfort in Citroen C5 is the main dish.

So, the hydropneumatic suspension complete with decent sound insulation and high-quality finishes make a ride on C5 some special. Sitting in the salon, you seem to become a different person. After 10 minutes of driving for C5, all your aggression goes somewhere, you become calm and reasonable, stop rushing and growing an ulcer of the stomach. Didn't have time to pass the intersection? It doesn’t matter if we turn on the lower back massage (option). He, of course, is not as good here as on the expensive Mercedes-Benz, but is also quite pleasant. And most importantly, it soothes. Does some youth try to get in front of you? And you will highlight it with rotary headlights (option, but very useful at night). Ah, you will say that hot blood is seething in your veins and you want to get a high rose. And Citroen will answer you that you have an awl in one place and kefir remains on the lips.

Meanwhile, if you press the S button next to the machine gun selector, then the box will immediately allow you to go in a rather aggressive style if it is strongly pressed to the gas, then the gears will be switched almost by the red zone (while after 4000 rpm, let it penetrate and let it get into the salon and let it penetrate Not very noble, but still a very good engine sound). There is a sports regime in the suspension. If you turn it on, then the car will begin to inform the driver much more often about the passage of irregularities, and the rolls in corners will become smaller (in the mode of comfort, I somehow do not want to go into turns at high speed).

But I did not want to use these opportunities. Seriously. There was a desire to always roll around the city in compliance with the speed mode, to turn slowly, to accelerate smoothly, without hearing the engine and not noticing the ships of the box. In general, relax.

But after a couple of days, when the narcotic effect of the hydraulic suspension passed, it became clear that this model also has its drawbacks. For example, the suspension in comfortable mode is too early in turning, and with the energy intensity, too, not everything is smooth if you fly into a hole at high speed, then the suspension does not have time to work out. Manageability is also not as perfect as, say, German competitors.


Leather chairs installed on our car with electroregulations and massage for additional money. But you cannot order a steering wheel with heating on C5. It's a pity. For Citroen C5 with its focus on comfort, this option would be by the way

You begin to find fault with ergonomic miscalculations. For example, the alarm button here is located almost opposite the front passenger. And when moving in the city, you have to often reach for her to say thanks to that cute girl on the red machine, who agreed to let in her row. Or will you order to constantly ride with your wife so that she says thanks to other people's women? You can complain about a not -so -presentable radio, a huge number of keys on the helm of the steering wheel, which is difficult to figure out, on small sound signal buttons located on the sides (personally, in dangerous situations, I instinctively beat my hand through the center of the steering wheel). Yes, and the steering wheel itself with a motionless hub, I admit, did not like it. Too unusual. It seems that they understood this in Citroen itself on the new C4, for example, the steering wheel is already ordinary.


Pay attention to where the alarm button is located. To press it, you need to stretch. And the radio looks simple

The price for any car, it determines a lot. If not all. Therefore, we begin to study the price list. Comfort equipment (we do not even take into account a strange version without hydraulic suspension) from 808,500 rubles. For a car with an old gasoline engine of 1.8 liters and a capacity of 128 hp. (In Europe, such cars are no longer sold, but they are still available with us). The equipment already includes seven airbags, a contrasting system, climate control, music, parking sensors, cast discs for 17 and much more.

The version with a modern 150-horsepower turbocharged unit is already from 948,000 rubles. (998,000 rubles with automatic transmission). Well, the most expensive is C5 with a 3.0-liter diesel engine, as already mentioned, such cars cost 1,740,000 rubles.
 


How much competitors? And by the way, who are they, these competitors?

Denis Smolyanov
Photo by the author

Competitors

Peugeot 407
Like Citroen, the Peugeot model always stood apart in the D-class: a car for lovers, but there are not so few. Fans of Peugeot in the new year are waiting for the successor to be presented at the Paris car dealership of the spectacular novelty of the Peugeot 508. Well, while the old man 407 is continuing. Also a car with their individuality.
In the scheme of Peugeot modifications, the ATs we tested by Citroen can be considered version 2.0 AT (141 hp). Its price from 995 900 rubles. In the Dynamic configuration. Both Frenchmen are not very different in terms of equipment. The advantage of Peugeot is that surcharges are not asked for heating the front seats and light and rain sensors.
The alternative is the Premium version for 1,066,200 rubles, which includes xenon, velor upholstery of the passenger compartment, cast discs and rear windows. Leather interior, parking sensors and an additional pair of rear airbags in the option list

Ford Mondeo
This model is among the most popular family class cars, and there are several reasons for this: a large body comparable to business sedans, a very wide selection of modifications and equipment, as well as affordable prices due to Russian assembly. Version 2.3 AT (161 hp), costing from 849,000 rubles. In the Trend configuration, it is almost as well equipped as Citroen C5. You can pay extra for alloy wheels (21,800 rubles) and parking sensors (9,500 rubles), but even then the car will still be cheaper than Citroen for about 60,000 rubles. Traditionally, Ford allows you to complete the car with such options that competitors do not have. For example, windshield electric heating and multimedia system.
As an alternative, Mondeo has a new generation of powerful and at the same time available engines 2.0 SCTI (200 and 240 hp), which are combined with a robotic checkpoint with two clutches. In addition to the sedan, a hatchback and a station wagon are proposed. This fall, sales of the restyled version of Ford Mondeo began, which has already visited our test

Opel Insignia
Insignia, which debuted in 2009, can be called one of the most interesting models of the D-class, but it remains the same niche car in its category as the French. The latitude of the Opel engines surpasses Citroen, but the German is more expensive, and the combinations of engines and transmission offered to customers can be called unsuccessful. Gasoline engines 1.6, 1.8 and 1.6 turbo are aggregated exclusively with mechanics. And as you know, Russian buyers in this class prefer automatic transmission. The most affordable machine from 1 060 800 rub. (with a 2-liter diesel engine with a capacity of 130 forces). The level of equipment is the same as that of Citroen, unless paradoxical is the fact that allocated discs require an additional payment of 6,000 rubles.
The highlight of insignia is the presence of all -wheel drive modifications. As we convinced, testing such a car at a snowy training ground, with a 4x4 Opel transmission, it becomes an optimal sedan for the Russian winter. But for such a version they ask for 1,479,800 rubles

Volkswagen Passat
Already on the way, the new generation of Volkswagen Passat, which will appear in the first quarter of 2011, but the German sedan sold now is also an interesting alternative to Citroen. The German is perceived as a more status machine, and thanks to the Russian assembly, prices are relatively reasonable. So, modification 1.8 TSI (152 hp) with a DSG box can be bought for 996,000 rubles. True, this equipment (Comfortline) will be poorer than that of C5. For a package of options, including two-zone climate control, audio system, alloy wheels, rain sensor, leather steering wheel and alarm, you will have to pay 64,000 rubles.
Volkswagen has an all -wheel drive modification, and it is noticeably more affordable than Opel. Passat 2.0 FSI 4Motion costs from 1,184,000 rubles. Unfortunately, it is offered only with a mechanical checkpoint. In addition to the sedan, the model is produced in the package of the station wagon. Interestingly, an all -wheel drive station wagon costs about the same as a sedan. And in all other models for the station wagon, about 100,000 rubles must be paid

Mazda6
Built on the same platform as Ford Mondeo, a Japanese woman, unlike his brother, is not a degenerate in her class, but in other parameters, he is perhaps superior to it. Driver habits, an elegant body design and salon, worthy of comfort, all this ensures a high demand for Mazda6 for more than one year. It is not as affordable as Mondeo, but in comparison with Citroen is a little cheaper. Version 2.0 AT (147 hp) in the configuration of Touring Plus has an equally decent equipment, including heating the seats, which C5 does not have, but costs 914,000 rubles, which is 24,000 rubles. Cheaper than the Frenchman.
Standing on the step above the Sport equipment (1,029,000 rubles) is characterized by a combined salon, light and rain sensors, parking sensors in front and back.
All the details about the Mazda6, which took place this year, in our test drive

Toyota Avensis
In Toyota Avensis, everything is standard and traditional, but nevertheless, conservative Avensis received great recognition in our market. Even though this model is not as affordable as many competitors. The new generation of Avensis, which appeared in 2009, has all that Russians loved the predecessor: it is solid, comfortable and reliable.
Modification 1.8 CVT (147 hp) prestige in configuration costs from 999,000 rubles, but this amount already includes a leather interior, light and rain sensors and heating the front seats, which do not have a cheaper Citroen C5. You can save and take a version of comfort plus for 949,000 rubles. But it will not only be devoid of these elements of a beautiful life, but in general it will be equipped with poorer than Citroen. Instead of climate control, she has a regular air conditioner, instead of cast wheels, and rear windows are mechanical

Story
The first model of the family class in the range of the French company was the Citroen BX hatchback, which appeared in 1982. Five years later, a very successful Peugeot 405 sedan followed him, which was created on his platform. Both related models became bestsellers: in total they parted around the world with a circulation of almost 5 million copies.

Outwardly, the BX was quite traditional for that time a five -door hatchback, but the technical individuality of Citroen was fully peculiar to him. It is not only about proprietary hydropneumatic suspension. For the sake of reducing the mass and reduce the cost of repairs, the hood and the back were made of plastic, the brakes, both in front and behind, received disk mechanisms that in those days not all automakers adopted.

Only 12 years later, BX gave way to the new generation of Xantia. The hatchback received a swift body from the Bertone studio, which was subsequently inherited with some alterations by the Daewoo Espero sedan. Fans of the brand a little reproached Xantia that the car lost originality. Like, the French began to focus on the bestsellers of the Ford Mondeo and Opel Vectra class. However, the hydropneumatic suspension was not only preserved, but was also seriously improved. Active pneumo elements controlled by electronics learned to compensate for the rolls in corners and clinking during braking. PEUGEOT 406 of the 1995 model had the same body structure and engines as Xantia, but the suspension remained the Sitroen know-how.

The Citroen C5 successor who appeared in 2001 is interesting to us primarily because its design has domestic roots. One of the authors of the interior Vladimir Pirozhkov, a Russian designer, who has achieved perhaps the greatest success abroad. After working in Citroen, he was invited to the post of senior designer in the European design center of Toyota in Nice.

The suspension design was further developed. If the old generations could be increased and reduced with the help of mechanical proceeds of height, now electronic sensors were replaced. At high speeds, the car automatically fell to the ground to improve aerodynamics, and on an uneven road the body itself lifted.

However, in the new century it became finally clear that buyers of the D-class models await primarily practicality, quality and comfort, and not the Sitroen technical tricks. Perhaps that is why the new generation Citroen C5 debuted in 2008 was presented in advertising as an example of German design. Another innovation appeared. If before the modifications with the usual spring suspension C5 and its predecessors did not have, then the novelty in the basic version received a traditional chassis.

History and competitors Pavel Elshin
 

Source: Auto.mail.ru