Reasons to be sneerful
It’s time to out the Citroën C5 Aircross’s long list of flaws. By
The C5 Aircross has been winning hearts and minds with its comfort, economy and practicality, so to prove we haven’t gone soft here’s a roll call of bad stuff. The car equivalent of my household DIY to-do list.
Let’s start with the start button: it requires too long a press to ignite or kill the engine. It’s not just a Citroën thing: I once unwittingly left a Peugeot 5008 running while unlocked outside Starbucks, which speaks equal volumes about the button’s tuning and the car’s refined idling.
Similarly obstructive is the infotainment, which takes ages to clock-on for use. I’m always in a hurry and want to instantly input an address to avoid going wrong. But I was incorrect to criticise the roof blind’s ‘temperamental’ button: it’s a two-stage switch, with a firm press for automated operation and a lighter touch enabling manual control for part closure.
The DAB radio seems to drop out more than other cars’ along the A1 corridor, and the automatic transmission’s downshifts can be a bit lumpy in slowing trac. And it looks cheap for the reversing camera’s view to redact chunks of surroundings, no doubt to save money on extraneous lenses.
Truth be told, this is nit-picking on an industrial scale. The C5 Aircross is far greater than the sum of these gripes.
Citroën C5 Aircross PureTech 180 Flair+ Month 5
The story so far
Striking and practical midsize SUV determined to cosset passengers from noise and discomfort
+ No major Achilles’ heel uncovered in five months of trying Roly-poly cornering; inconsistent steering response
Logbook
Price £31,330 (£32,125 as tested) Performance 1598cc turbo four-cylinder, 178bhp, 8.2sec 0-62mph, 134mph E ciency 38.2mpg (o cial), 35.5mpg (tested), 129g/km CO2 Energy cost 16.2p per mile Miles this month 1551 Total miles 10,189