Citroen C5 X
SECOND REPORT C5 X impresses on long trip up the A1, but fuel economy takes a hit
AFTER nearly three months testing our Citroen C5 X, it’s fair to say that I’m still smitten. In fact, my initial draft of this report sounded so positive that it read like I’d switched into car sales. That was until I did some last-minute MPG number crunching.
In my first report I’d mostly been driving around South London while enjoying the head-turning hatchback’s warm, enveloping interior. With a surprising level of comfort and bags of tech to play with, all was good. However, I needed to get away and add in some proper motorway mileage.
That chance came with a trip up north to visit some universities with my youngest son Harry and wife Dawn. We also planned to visit Harry’s grandparents in Lincolnshire.
Motorway driving proved even more warm and soothing than urban motoring. Those super-comfy electrically adjustable heated leather seats (a £1,600 Hype Black Ambience option) really take the weight off.
The C5 X seems designed to do that across all aspects of driving. The adaptive cruise control is easy to operate from the buttons on the steering wheel and gives clear readings in the head-up display (along with speed, speed-limit signs and lane assist). The car adjusted position to the vehicle in front, slowing and speeding up to my set speed. I would have eaten up much of the trip using cruise control, but we don’t live in France and drivers on our packed UK roads seem incapable of overtaking and maintaining speed or just moving from the middle lane, which makes it redundant much of the time.
Our journey was a well trodden regular route up the A1, so I decided to spice it up by throwing the sat-nav a mid-trip curveball by taking us off across to the east onto some smaller A-roads. It quickly picked up a route, selecting some surprisingly small lanes. We were also given the opportunity to switch from our current route (clearly marked in blue) to alternative green-coloured detours that promised to shave off a few minutes of travelling time here and there.
Merely following a green route switched it to the ‘new’ blue route. Some detours involved changing to roads running parallel to existing routes just to avoid traffic-light junctions. I’m never in that much of a hurry, so that novelty quickly wore off.
Other handy technology worth noting includes the wireless phone charger and connection to Apple CarPlay. I love listening to my music playlists through the Citroen’s cracking audio system.
Harry also rates the rear-seat comfort and legroom. He’s six feet, two inches tall, but still has decent headroom despite the fact the C5 X has quite a raking roofline. He is happy enough with the two USB-C changing points in the back and can wirelessly play his own music to mix up the ambience.
One big thing the Citroen has going for it is curb appeal. It looks different and turns heads, and both Harry’s grandparents commented on the car during our visit.
Everything sounds great until we totted up the recent economy figure, which was a disappointing 32. 2 mpg. A couple of times I’ve been surprised by how quickly the petrol seems to have disappeared after the gauge dips below half full. The dash displays the range, but it can go from 150 miles down to less than 100 in just a few short urban trips.
I live in a hilly part of London and do many short trips in traffic, but it’s not like I’ve been blasting around in Sport mode. The C5 X mainly sits in the Eco drive setting, so the 1. 2-litre engine should be doing better.
One thing that’s great about south London is testing safety tech. People are always strolling out in front of you. The C5 X has advanced driver-assistance systems, such as radar-controlled active safety brake. This has enhanced pedestrian and cyclist pick-up and works at night. It also has forward-collision warning and lane-keep assist, and all of these features have kicked in at some point.
The brake warnings are slightly sensitive, but not too intrusive, and the braking system has prevented a possible shunt at low speed.
The rear-view camera has parking guides and surround sensors to make it easy to fit in the tightest of spaces. It gives an overhead view of the C5 X ’s position that should help save the 19-inch alloys from being kerbed, while the sensors make it almost impossible to reverse into anything.
The latest journey was a holiday airport run. The car was simple to load, with lots of room for our small cases and an extra child’s car seat. There’s no big lip to lift items over and the rails make sliding in weighty bags that bit easier. The C5 X really came into its own on the trip back from our break. It was truly joyful to get into the car after a long early-morning flight with teenagers and toddlers. It was effortless to drive home, cocooned in comfort to our beds.