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IMPRESSIONS of the CITROËN C5 HDi 6 speed auto. . . . . . . . . .photography by Trevor Job

A recent club committee meeting in Paraparaumu gave three of the committee, Trevor Job, David Gerrie and Alan Adlam the opportunity to test drive a demonstrator kindly offered by Tory Continental, Wellington’s Citroen dealer.

Jeff Edwards, Sales Manager lent us a brand new C5 HDi 2.0l 6 speed automatic for the occasion. This is a model I haven’t driven before, the only other C5 being the pre-release C5 V6 in 2000 when we hosted the National Rally, and a brief drive of Alan’s 2003 V6 recently. I was the only one of the three who does not currently have a C5 but in saying that I still hold the Xantia in high regard.

This one despite being brand new – 200 km on the clock, was ready to go and the 200 further kilometres we added to it overnight showed no difference in the performance, a legacy of the fact no running in is necessary on modern cars.

Each of the three of us ‘had a turn’, I was fortunate in picking the car up and returning it that I got a few more km’s.

C5 on Wellington waterfront

C5 from the back

For me, Likes:

Looks and style, I liked the colour of this car, I’m not a silver car person. More executive looking particularly with the new tail light treatment. While it was not the ‘executive’ model with leather etc, the car was well spec’d, rain assist wipers, auto lights etc
The 6 speed auto worked really well and most of the time the changes were hardly noticed unless some real acceleration was required. The car was very quick in the usual diesel torque band after take off. Economy appeared to be very good according to the screen display averaging under 6.0 l/100km even in a test drive situation.

Dislikes: very minor

For the tall, not me, the screen washer jets appear very prominent on the bonnet. In the previous model there was a darkened panel which disguised these.
In the dark, I noticed the high stop light reflected across the rear shelf causing distraction in the rear view mirror. With my cars these lights are in the exterior panels and not seen.
For a modern car, there was no parking assist. I know we shouldn’t need this but it can be handy. I do believe this can be fitted retrospectively.

Overall, a very good upgrade of a standard production model, I may prefer the executive if you are already spending $50k+. – Trevor Job

David Gerrie’s comments:

There is no other vehicle that rides as well as the C5 and the facelift 2.0 HDI model continues the excellent ride with a flare of acceleration that would turn the head of a BMW driver.

The engines responsiveness is so much greater than the previous 2.0L. The six speed auto though doesn't do much for me. It seems to let the engine rev quite high, where the torque is lower before changing up and that seems unusual, maybe its just that its not how I drive my manual C5.

I didn't try out all the smart bits, I saw there was cruise control, the usual auto headlights and wipers. The C5 remains extremely comfortable to drive and as a passenger. It’s the only car I've ever driven where the head rest is just that, neatly fitting my head and there to immediately protect. The seat offers good side support and comfort to my back.

I think I still prefer the manual version.

C5 HDi 6spd auto

Alan Adlam’s comments:

With the new six speed auto box mated to the new 2 litre HDi diesel you now get the best of both worlds, “performance with economy”. Certainly the pick up from a standing start is excellent and although the gears are changing more frequently, it is smooth, and most of the time only detectable from the rev counter, but it does have the tiptronic gearshift option for those who like to control things manually. It is very quiet, and rides only like a C5 can. (ie superior to anything else on the road) It’s a pity that the price has now crept up to over $50k compared to its predecessor.

I have a couple of minor gripes which relates to all C5’s that I have driven, in that the brake pedal is positioned a little too high to enable good heel and toe operation for quick stops (bring back the big mushroom button on the floor), and secondly, the rear legroom is compromised because of an enormous boot.

This is certainly my pick of the C5 range, but as I am a “bells and whistle” person, my preference would be to pay the extra for the Exclusive version, which offers lots of very worthy features over the base version, like front and rear parking sensors, Xenon lights (swivelling), auto-tinting rear view mirror to name but some.