Citroën C5 Aircross test: our opinion on the restyled version

With its disturbing look organized on two floors, the Citroën C5 Aircross surprised as soon as it was presented at the end of 2018. Since then, this singular muzzle has been emulated (to the point of inspiring the latest BMW 7 Series?!) and has not prevented the herringbone SUV to succeed in its first half of its career. Witness the 260,000 copies sold in just over three years, far behind a Peugeot 3008 but far ahead of a Renault Kadjar. It must be said that this nice monster quickly held a pro-family speech. His size? 5 cm higher than that of a Peugeot 3008 in length, to swallow up to 720 l of luggage when the cousin fails at 520 l. The rear space? Separated into three independent seats, sliding and reclining, more welcoming than a classic 2/3-1/3 bench seat. As for comfort, it benefits from the famous suspensions with hydraulic stops, just to erase the deformations of the road like Aladdin’s carpet.

Beneath a revised and wiser design (united front headlights, thickened grille, 3D-effect rear lights), the restyled C5 Aircross further reinforces these historic qualities. Its Advanced Comfort seats accommodate 15 mm of additional foam, its central touch screen goes from 8 to 10 inches diagonally, and its automatic gearbox control, with a rocker and no longer in the shape of a stick, provides unprecedented storage on the console. All the engines can also be associated with the BVA8… which is not a feat given their number: only three proposals. Between the BlueHDi 130 (increasingly shunned) and the Hybrid 225 (always expensive), the C5 Aircross retains a three-cylinder PureTech 130 gasoline engine that today drives our test model.

Restyled C5 Aircross price

Available from €27,850 in a manual gearbox, the C5 Aircross PureTech 130 imposes the Feel level with the EAT8 automatic gearbox. The price then climbs to €33,350, but the standard equipment gains the famous Advanced Comfort seats, the 12.3-inch digital instrumentation and the 8-inch touch screen compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The new 10-inch panel only comes later. Not in Feel Pack at €35,000, but in Shine at €36,950, which also includes GPS with connected applications, adaptive cruise control and Alcantara and imitation leather upholstery. The Shine Pack pictured here peaks at €38,400 (see detailed endowment on next page). The bargain of the launch comes from the special C5 Aircross C-Series which, for €35,500, embeds the 10-inch screen, blind spot monitoring and a specific presentation for only €500 more than the level Feel Pack.

After restyling, prices for the C5 Aircross remained stable. Simply count 100 € more than the old version, or even 300 € less in a plug-in hybrid (read our C5 Aircross Hybrid 225 review). Unfortunately, this variant requires a frightening additional cost (between 6,600 and 7,300 € depending on the finishes, bonuses and maluses included), which will increase further from the 1^er July 2022 when his bonus of €1,000 will disappear. With a penalty contained between 740 and 1,070 €, our C5 Aircross PureTech 130 EAT8 is not penalized too much in 2022 thanks to the sobriety of its small three-cylinder on the homologation cycle. It remains to be seen whether the latter is enough to animate the 4.50 m long family SUV…

Driving

Unlike the C5 X lifted sedan, the C5 Aircross remains proudly rooted in the world of SUVs. High perched seat and bonnet clearly visible from the driver’s seat smell good of the recreational vehicle, like the downhill assistance control command standard on all models (the intelligent Grip Control traction control remains optional). At the wheel, we immediately spot the new rocker box control and the new open storage knowing how to hold a smartphone. We still preferred the old butt-shaped lever, which was nicer in the palm of the hand and more responsive when going from D to R (or vice versa) during a quick maneuver.

The C5 Aircross reminds us here that it is appreciated in flowing driving, as in other points. Steering is at your fingertips. The suspensions fly over the irregularities without ever getting lost in disgusting pumping, even if the 19-inch wheels go up with slight tremors at low speed. As for the motorway journeys, they highlight the soundproofing always in the shot (thanks to the laminated side windows) and the relevance of the Highway Driver Assist system (optional, except on Shine Pack). The active centering in the lane is indeed remarkable: oscillation of the steering wheel reduced to nothing, even in slight curves, and positioning in the line adjustable to facilitate cohabitation with two-wheelers.

If this driving aid can make more recent rivals jealous, this is not exactly the case with the EAT8 automatic transmission. On the battery side, it knows how to shift gears smoothly on the road and has a Sport or even Manual mode. via paddles behind the steering wheel. On the front side, it loses more pedals in dynamic driving and / or on mountainous roads, and still lacks softness in town, especially uphill or downhill. The management of the rampage near the stop generates unpredictable jolts, while it takes fairy toes to avoid the jolt during a restart after Stop & Start regime.

Its responsiveness could finally be better, the limited resources of the PureTech 130 requiring you to quickly descend several gears when you need power if the car is running loaded. Too bad, because on a daily basis the small three-cylinder is enough and is hardly noticed, combining very correct availability at low revs and contained rumble when accelerating. To the point of making people forget the old four-cylinder C5 Aircross PureTech 180? Don’t make us write what we didn’t think.

On board

competition

As mentioned in the chapter on prices, the Citroën C5 Aircross did not give in to the sirens of inflation. Displayed at less than €37,000 in Shine level with generous allocation, it maintains a nice gap with its cousin Peugeot 3008 PureTech 130 EAT8 GT (€39,470), more dynamic but less habitable, and even more so with the 5008 (42,070 € for a comparable version) fitted with two extra seats in the third row. While waiting for the replacement of Kadjar baptized Austral, the other rival of the Renault group is called Nissan Qashqai. Priced at €38,200 in N-Connecta level, the Japanese imposes a more powerful engine (1.3 Mild Hybrid of 158 hp) to benefit from an atypical X-Tronic continuously variable box.

As usual lately, the biggest threat comes from Korea. Sharing the same 1.6 turbo 150 hp MHEV 48V with DCT-7 gearbox, the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage are displayed respectively at €36,300 (Creative) and €37,990 (Design) and combine the arguments: original and neat presentation, interior very welcoming, complete standard equipment and generous warranty (5 years at Hyundai, 7 years or 150,000 km at Kia). Now confined to hybrids or even rechargeable hybrids, the Ford Kuga Flexifuel (from €40,200) and Toyota RAV4 (€44,000 minimum) start higher on the price scale.

Find the results of the test, the prices, equipment, options and the technical sheet of the C5 Aircross PureTech 130 EAT8 on the following page.