Citroen

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Citroen C5 Tourer – An Estate By Any Other Name

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I can’t help it – I like estate cars. They carry stuff around and I like practical, sometimes. Except these days they call them Tourers and Avants, which seems to make no sense at all.

The latest C5 is no exception but at least it now looks the part, with sleek lines and a huge interior that swallows up people and luggage.

It’s true that Citroen secondhand values may not be as good as German marques but you are getting a whole lot of car for your money in the first place.

The C5 is fully equipped, with air suspension, excellent seats and every gizmo going on the Exclusive model.

Are you going to choose a £30,000 French estate over a BMW or an Audi? Let’s see how we get on in the week ahead…

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Thursday – DS5 Verdict

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So, as the Citroen DS5 of life disappears down the road of fashionable items that passed up by, it’s time to give an honest verdict.

Firstly, this is a car that you want to like. From the moment it turned up with us, the Citroen looked massively appealing from both the inside and the out. Definitely different and daringly designed, you have to take your chapeau off to the French for creating a cracking looking car.

The radically styled interior, brilliant dashboard and cool seats suggest it will be a great car to own too. However, all is not what it seems with the DS5 and sadly, the whole driving experience is a frustrating letdown. The car has lifeless steering, feels twitchy on rough roads and is devoid on driver involvement.

So, despite all the kit on our test car – the sat nav that has stars in the night sky, the massaging driver’s seat and a thumpingly good stereo – it’s never going to match up to the competition from Ford and Vauxhall in the family transport department.

And that is, unfortunately, rather a shame…

 

 

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Wednesday – Petanque Anyone?

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It’s taken almost a week but I’ve finally found a road where the DS5 behaves beautifully. Stick this funky looking coupe/MPV on a motorway and it really comes into its own.

I took a long drive down the M5 today to play a man at petanque – it’s a long story but destined to be a feature in the Financial Times. The big Citroen sits on a fast, smooth road beautifully and is also whisper quiet.

So quiet in fact that it is remarkably easy to slip over the speed limit. The speaker system is exceptional, made by Denon and worth every penny, if you fancy an accessory upgrade.

The three automatic blinds that screen off the sunroofs proved worthwhile and I used the seat massage function to prepare my body for my game of petanque. Perfect.

 

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Tuesday – Coupe On Steroids

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There are moments when I’ve really enjoyed the DS5 – it’s usually when I’m passing a shop window and see the reflection in the glass. There are admiring glances because the Citroen looks like a rather outsize coupe on steroids.

I’m desperately trying to resist using the phrase form over function but with the DS, it really does come down to that. The driving experience is best described as average and that’s a huge shame considering how much attention went in to creating a car that looks so darn good. Inside and out!

It is very practical and with the back seats lowered, also swallows up a large amount of anything. The subwoofer in the boot eats into space a little but nothing too intrusive.There are storage spaces everywhere, including a massive bin under the centre armrest.

If the DS5 had been designed by the French but engineered by Germans, I rather feel it would have been a much better car than it is…

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Monday – Head Banger

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I’m a modest 5ft 10ins. The DS5 is a family car, so why do I keep cracking my head on the side of the door opening when I step inside? It’s got to the point now where I duck down when I slip behind the wheel – although today I straightened up afterwards and immediately bumped my head on the centre roof console instead.

The Citroen is unusual in the fact that often, it is the driver who has the best seating position and the passengers miss out. The DS5 is fantastically comfortable for passengers but finding that perfect driving position remains a problem, even after four days of trying.

At least there is masses of space in the rear, with a drop down armrest in the middle of the back seat that helps give armchair-style relaxation. And the luggage space is huge, although you need to remove two parcel shelves to make the most of it.

Like the Hyundai Veloster, rear visibility is lacking. Our test car has a reversing camera and an audible alert but do try a rear parking manoeuvre before you open your wallet!

 

 

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Sunday – No Ground Control

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The Arnolfini Arts Centre in Bristol is surrounded by would-be space kids today. Nothing to do with the Clooney/Bullock movie Gravity – it’s the latest audition venue for the new Stars Wars films. Hundreds of bright you things, all looking for their 15 minutes of fame.

They could do far worse than start rehearsing for the role in the DS5. Seriously, it’s the most futuristic dashboard I’ve ever seen in a car. Part of the audition should be giving them the manual and seeing how long it takes to turn the head-up display screen off.

The button is hidden away in a centre console in the roof. It’s surrounded by switches for automatic sun blinds on the three sunroofs, plus a couple of drop-down sunglasses holders. How did we ever live without those?

I’d swap all those buttons for a better driver’s seat though. As funky as the leather interior is, the armchair-style driving position is quite awful, not helped by the upright angle of the foot pedals. Try it, you’ll see what I mean.

And this is made even worse by the lifeless power steering, which robs the Citroen of any driver enjoyment or feel. I don’t want to go to the Moon in comfort, just the local Waitrose please…

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Saturday – Flawed Beauty

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These aren’t the seats from a Bentley – they’re what you will find in top end versions of the Citroen DS5.

The French are notoriously good at putting fine couture into their luxury cars – remember the Citroen CX, Renault Avantime and Vel Satis – but these seats are exceptionally good to look at.

Unfortunately, they are not quite so good to sit on. Despite electric adjustment on the driver’s side with a massaging facility and heat, I’ve found it exceptionally difficult to find a decent driving position.

And it’s also worth pointing out that although the DS5 can carry five people, the centre bolster in the rear bench seat combined with a lack of rear leg room means the Citroen is really more of a stylish 2+2.

Is this going to be a typical French case of form over function – like the three cars mentioned above – or is the DS5 the real deal? Find out how it drives tomorrow…

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Friday – Space Craft

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Is this the coolest looking Citroen ever? Not only does the exterior styling look sensational but the interior is more like the cockpit of a spaceship.

We drove the DS5 to see the new George Clooney film Galaxy last night and the Citroen seemed to have such as many buttons and dials to play with as the International Space Station.

The HDi Sport model is just stuffed with technology and equipment. You need time on the driveway to understand everything that is going on here. I’m sure some technophobes would get in and hop straight back out again.

More on that later in the week but for now, just marvel at the styling of this exceptionally stylish family car. It leaves the Ford S-Max for dead in every department – apart from the lack of two extra seats in the boot, I suppose.

If I ever had to do the school run, this is the car I’d want to turn up in.

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Wednesday – The Handbag Car

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Jessica The ds3 is what I would call a handbag car. It offers, as any decent handbag should,  good design, functionality and  is sized for purpose.  Anya Hindmarch it is not,  however, references to the old Citroen aesthetic, via careful design and innovative dashboard features puts it firmly in the running for a future classic.

Inside, it feels roomy, without the go-cart feel of other small cars, such as the Mini. The Citroen drives as if it has a more substantial stature, with pleasing power and road holding.  The seats (which generally are a cause for concern for me, particularly on long journeys) are exceptionally comfortable, this combined with a big drive feel means the DS3 does not have to be a short hop, urban car.

I did have a bad moment when I was forced to look through the driver manual to identify a small button on the dash board. That made me realise how many times I have rooted through one of these tedious books to find specific information. Why is it so tricky to make them a clear and logical read?

Why can’t manufacturers provide an online manual, also available on the in car computer, which only refers to the model you are actually driving, thus saving paper, costs and preventing drivers from manual rage!

The button I eventually discovered was for air freshener ( I thought it was a little movable light !). I’m not sure what that says about the potential demographic but it does look appealing as a physical feature.

Jeremy I doubted Citroen could make a car to rival the Mini. I was wrong. The DS3 is an exceptionally good hatchback and combines all that is best about Citroen – unconventional styling, leftfield think – into a very smart little car. The slick roof operation, comfortable seats and willing engine are the highlights for me. I’m now looking forward to testing the DS5.

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Tuesday – 180

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Jeremy There are 180 good reasons why the roof on the DS3 Cabrio works so well but one word sums them all up – Webasto. The specialist convertible roof supplier has a history of making sliding soft-tops that dates back to 1901.

The DS3 roof is made up of 180 different parts in a co-build between Citroen and Webasto. It works brilliantly – even better than my 1969 MGB GT, which sported a fantastically simple but beautifully designed sliding Webasto sunroof too.

The DS3 Cabrio roof is operated by a one-touch button next to the rear-view mirror. It powers all the way back but does make the Citroen cabin very windy when fully retracted. There is a small wind deflector for back seat passengers but it works best when the roof is only folded back half-way – especially at high speeds.

Citroen has taken the DS3 roof design very seriously indeed, with a rigorous testing programme during the design stages. It’s certainly worked a lot better than the old Citroen C3 Pluriel. When that car was launched, a friend was awaiting delivery of a test car, only to receive a phone call saying the roof had blown off en route!

Trust me, that won’t happen with the DS3. It has one of the best folding roofs available for a car costing this sort of money.