No matter the viewer's angle, this C5 is one of the most distinctive-looking French cars to hit the market since Citroën came out with its avant garde models in the 1960s.
The front is almost brutal, sliding into the marvellous sculptured lines as the car is viewed in profile, finishing with a really generous boot and yet a far shorter rear overhang than may have been expected. An attractive feature when viewed from the rear is the concave rear window, very much a Citroën signature feature.
Inside, the cabin is generous, and the seats grippy and yet comfortable, both front and rear. However, the car can be thrown around with such gusto, thanks to the suspension geometry, and the superb Michelin tyres specially designed across the range to cut down on tyre noise, among other positive attributes. Passengers may be forgiven for thinking that they are seated in a sports racing machine.
This genuine three-box saloon is the sort of size, and provides the degree of comfort, road holding and onboard amenities that will make it a most popular executive saloon, or possibly with the smaller-engined model, a fine family car, providing the visual pleasure that most busy executives and family members will find thoroughly appealing.
Much was learned from the C6, including the engineering built into the highly efficient platform, and from the driver's point of view the car provides a most enjoyable and unusually relaxing drive. This is partly due to the fixed steering centre with the wheel revolving behind it. This makes finding the centre controls very easy. Parking sensors also take much of the
anxiety out of reversing and parking this largish saloon into smallish parking slots.
Safety always figures towards the top of any purchasers 'wish list' and the C5 is well up to the mark. Up to nine airbags can be specified. One suspension mod that really grips the memory and imagination is that this car, the first in the M2 segment, comes either with a pretty good metallic system, which provides comfort with a more direct road feel, as in this case or the Hydractive III +, placing the emphasis on comfort and ride (not available on the model tested).
Long-distance drivers are always aware that a certain feeling of drowsiness may overcome them.
The C5 has a lane departure warning system that detects any unintentional lane changes at speeds of 80km/h-plus. A vibrating mechanism in the seat is activated on the side corresponding to the direction of drift so that the driver is alerted and can take corrective action.
No vibrating mechanism was needed to keep this 'pilot' thoroughly awake and attentive over a 150-minute drive. We used a mixed assortment of roads, guaranteed to sort out any weaknesses in the car's handling or ride, and even on little used country lanes, as long as there were no hidden potholes an average speed was maintained with the suspension providing the degree of comfort and glide that I first found in my own Light 15 half a century ago.
Even though some of the roads were damp and potentially treacherous, the tyres never once felt like losing their grip, and equally obviously no dramatic attempts were made to better any speed records on our 'highways' so the legal maximum was maintained on the properly surfaced roads and country lanes were totally comfortable at speeds of up to 60km/h.
The usual bit of the old main runway at Ta' Qali was used for both hands-off driving, and hands-off braking from 80km/h. In both instances, the car was entirely stable. With front-wheel drive, an attempt was made to unsettle things on the nasty left-hander that leads to the car park, and it's fair to say that this large saloon handled the ever tightening bend with total aplomb, nor did we manage to make the front end break away on high 'G' turns on the car park itself.
Nor could we induce the tyres to slide as a fruitless attempt was made to do a handbrake, or 'bootleggers' turn. OK, so we turned abruptly enough, but not in our own length as intended. Lastly, we went round the whole car park in reverse gear to prove that distance could be judged while looking through the rear window, rather than by using the rear mirrors all the time.
And yes, the fact that the outside mirrors folded automatically when we parked in a fairly restricted space would prove most useful on the Gozo ferry when many passengers intrude onto the car deck.
At a glance
• Engine: 1,561cc (diesel)
• Euro cap rating: 4
• Max power: 80kw (110bhp) at 4,000rpm
• Performance: 0-100km/h; 12.2 seconds
• Top speed: 191km/h
• Fuel consumption combined: 5.6 litres/100kms
• Dimensions: length: 4,779mm; width: 2,096mm; height 1,458mm
The front is almost brutal, sliding into the marvellous sculptured lines as the car is viewed in profile, finishing with a really generous boot and yet a far shorter rear overhang than may have been expected. An attractive feature when viewed from the rear is the concave rear window, very much a Citroën signature feature.
Inside, the cabin is generous, and the seats grippy and yet comfortable, both front and rear. However, the car can be thrown around with such gusto, thanks to the suspension geometry, and the superb Michelin tyres specially designed across the range to cut down on tyre noise, among other positive attributes. Passengers may be forgiven for thinking that they are seated in a sports racing machine.
This genuine three-box saloon is the sort of size, and provides the degree of comfort, road holding and onboard amenities that will make it a most popular executive saloon, or possibly with the smaller-engined model, a fine family car, providing the visual pleasure that most busy executives and family members will find thoroughly appealing.
Much was learned from the C6, including the engineering built into the highly efficient platform, and from the driver's point of view the car provides a most enjoyable and unusually relaxing drive. This is partly due to the fixed steering centre with the wheel revolving behind it. This makes finding the centre controls very easy. Parking sensors also take much of the
anxiety out of reversing and parking this largish saloon into smallish parking slots.
Safety always figures towards the top of any purchasers 'wish list' and the C5 is well up to the mark. Up to nine airbags can be specified. One suspension mod that really grips the memory and imagination is that this car, the first in the M2 segment, comes either with a pretty good metallic system, which provides comfort with a more direct road feel, as in this case or the Hydractive III +, placing the emphasis on comfort and ride (not available on the model tested).
Long-distance drivers are always aware that a certain feeling of drowsiness may overcome them.
The C5 has a lane departure warning system that detects any unintentional lane changes at speeds of 80km/h-plus. A vibrating mechanism in the seat is activated on the side corresponding to the direction of drift so that the driver is alerted and can take corrective action.
No vibrating mechanism was needed to keep this 'pilot' thoroughly awake and attentive over a 150-minute drive. We used a mixed assortment of roads, guaranteed to sort out any weaknesses in the car's handling or ride, and even on little used country lanes, as long as there were no hidden potholes an average speed was maintained with the suspension providing the degree of comfort and glide that I first found in my own Light 15 half a century ago.
Even though some of the roads were damp and potentially treacherous, the tyres never once felt like losing their grip, and equally obviously no dramatic attempts were made to better any speed records on our 'highways' so the legal maximum was maintained on the properly surfaced roads and country lanes were totally comfortable at speeds of up to 60km/h.
The usual bit of the old main runway at Ta' Qali was used for both hands-off driving, and hands-off braking from 80km/h. In both instances, the car was entirely stable. With front-wheel drive, an attempt was made to unsettle things on the nasty left-hander that leads to the car park, and it's fair to say that this large saloon handled the ever tightening bend with total aplomb, nor did we manage to make the front end break away on high 'G' turns on the car park itself.
Nor could we induce the tyres to slide as a fruitless attempt was made to do a handbrake, or 'bootleggers' turn. OK, so we turned abruptly enough, but not in our own length as intended. Lastly, we went round the whole car park in reverse gear to prove that distance could be judged while looking through the rear window, rather than by using the rear mirrors all the time.
And yes, the fact that the outside mirrors folded automatically when we parked in a fairly restricted space would prove most useful on the Gozo ferry when many passengers intrude onto the car deck.
At a glance
• Engine: 1,561cc (diesel)
• Euro cap rating: 4
• Max power: 80kw (110bhp) at 4,000rpm
• Performance: 0-100km/h; 12.2 seconds
• Top speed: 191km/h
• Fuel consumption combined: 5.6 litres/100kms
• Dimensions: length: 4,779mm; width: 2,096mm; height 1,458mm