Citroen C5 Aircross

Citroen C5 Aircross £28,325

WE SAY: QUELLE SURPRISE!

THE FRENCH DECIDE TO DO IT THEIR OWN WAY...

You’ve got two choices when arriving late. One, slip in and try to go unnoticed. I imagine the Skoda Karoq turning up at the crossovers’ choir concert. It’s just like the rest and whispers, “What, me? Yep, been here ages.” Second option: style it out. That’s the C5 Aircross: “Of course I’m late – I’ve been rehearsing my solo.”

Its design, inside and out, rejects the orthodoxy that mainstream crossovers should prostrate themselves before the altar of sportiness. Instead, its shape articulates an inner comfort and a cheery practicality. It’s not just a pose, either. While the Aircross is based on a familiar PSA Group platform (see 3008 and Grandland for details), Citroen deploys some interesting engineering and packaging innovations to back up its visual message.

The cabin’s style harmonises with the exterior, its dash and doors carrying rectangular pads like the bar in a diner. Flat-looking chairs invoke the same vibe, but they work as car seats too. Multiple-density foams mean they sigh invitingly as you drop into them, but support at length. Citroen is leveraging its people-carrier experience. So there are three individually sliding and reclining rear seats, to ameliorate family spats. They give decent legroom for three when they’re on the rearward stops. Otherwise one or two can slide forward to free up more bootspace, from 580 litres (big) to 720 (warehouse).

Citroen had to scrape back some euro to pay for those triple rear seats and the complicated dampers. So you’ll find some biggish swathes of hard plastic around the Aircross cabin, but mostly not where your fingers come to rest. More sadly, the shortcuts for the media system aren’t the lovely aluminium keys Peugeot uses, but indistinct plastic touchpads.

It’s the usual PSA setup of central touchscreen and a big driver’s tableau. Phone mirroring is standard on every trim, for your nav and streaming needs. The instruments screen has