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What is it?

As you’ll no doubt have worked out from the pictures, this is the Citroën C5 Tourer. Cavernous estate models have always been a big part of the quirky Citroën appeal (think CX, BX and XM), especially with hydro-pneumatic suspension systems eliminating the need for suspension intrusion into the rear cabin.

Recently, after several years in a wilderness of mundane design and mediocrity (think Xantia and old C5), Citroën has returned to its old, more interesting and ...Read the full article

Autocar:

If you like the gimmicks, and enjoy the chilled out nature of the C5, then go for it. But if you need a truly capacious load carrier or something remotely fun to hustle along, then there are much better cars out there.

You could get something that's "fun to hustle along" and be rewarded on the two or three per cent of journeys that present an opportunity for enjoyment, but how about investing in a car that's quiet and cosseting and thus gives you a return each time you travel? People drive wagons with the wife, kids and a dog's nose pressed against the rear screen. Comfort wins.

ThwartedEfforts:

You could get something that's "fun to hustle along" and be rewarded on the two or three per cent of journeys that present an opportunity for enjoyment, but how about investing in a car that's quiet and cosseting and thus gives you a return each time you travel? People drive wagons with the wife, kids and a dog's nose pressed against the rear screen. Comfort wins.

 

I can't agree more. But shame about the weight of the car - it seriously blunts performance.

 

Exactly - comfort is the big thing here - and big Citroens have always had tons of it. And I love them. I'm a Citroen fan, and I never really liked the old C5. But this new one bring Citroen back to their original roots truly and originally. I particularly like this new C5 Tourer - it reminds me of the old XM Estate. But even cooler. This has got to be the most stylish Estate out there, and one of the most stylish Citroens! Great car! And apparently the residuals are set to be GOOD.

ThwartedEfforts:

You could get something that's "fun to hustle along"

 

In general I don't agree with people who don't consider their cars a tool to get them from A to B, but 'something that's fun to hustle along'. I understand the emotion but I say 'enthusiast drivers' should save it for the race track. So for me too comfort wins. Especially if it is coupled with reliability this time :).

 

 

A comfortable car is comfortable every time you drive it. A fast car is fast when weather conditions, road traffic conditions, road surface conditions, speed cameras, passengers and petrol prices permit, which is almost never. People are looking to buy smaller, slower, quieter, more economical cars these days, and Autocar needs to realise this.

The C5 looks at least £2,000 cheaper than any equivalent Mondeo (I'm guessing that the ubiquitous Ford was the sharper-driving alternative to which the author was alluding in his article), and is predicted to hold its value better too. While Citroen dealers get a roasting in satisfaction surveys, what they sell is proven more reliable than Ford or any German rival, and cheaper to repair should things go wrong. Check any claims-based survey.

Aside from the Mundano being larger and subjectively "much better" in terms of hustle-ability, it lacks Hydractive - the air suspension system which puts every Citroen estate at the top of its class for load lugging. Hydractive adjusts itself to negate the effects of what you have in the back, passengers included, and delivers a supple ride quality not far removed from luxury cars costing three times as much. Luxury cars, I might note, that are not for hustling.

Perhaps when Autocar write up a full review, they'll look at it from a buyer's point of view?

Interested in all these comfort based responses. I thought it was just me getting old. With the state of many of our roads and the traffic levels comfort is king. The enthusiast journalists judge a car under extremes of usage that a normal driver would never approach, worse still many manufacturers pander to this by designing ever firmer suspensions. BMW are particularly at fault here - great driving experience but not if you drive around London where you will arrive shaken and jolted. So Citroen's hydrodynamic suspension is very tempting and Volkswagen's comfort/normal/sport settings on the new Golf and Scirocco are another step in the right direction.

Fascinated with all the talk of comfort in relation to this car. Thought I would respond as someone who has been driving a C5 2.0 VTR+ for 6 months. In no particular order :- 

1. The seat base is at an odd angle which makes the back of your thighs ache after half an hour.
2. The steering wheel with the fixed boss is heavily dished and there is no comfortable position to rest your hands at the quarter to 3 position, consequently you hold it a bit too tight higher up which puts tension in your neck. Alternatively you let your hands fall down to your lap and hold it from the bottom which in my view is very bad.
3. The steel suspension is set up so softly to give the impression of comfort that it feels like there is no damping at all. On dual carriageways or even a straight motorway it floats up and down constantly and if you hit a sharp bump the suspension is completely caught out either pitching up into the air or doing a corkscrew motion. Passengers generally feel sick after a few minutes on the motorway, particularly if they are in the back.
4. The steering is incredably light which combined with the soft suspension makes motorway crosswinds an absolute nightmare.
5. The cup holder is hidden in a storage box which is inaccessable when you are driving, and not particularly clever when you are parked.

Granted, the performance and economy are on a par with most of the comparable cars, and the build quality is far better than any previous Citroen. I also totally agree that we shouldn't be racing everywhere and a comfortable car can be enjoyed on every journey BUT frankly if a Mondeo or a VW Passat drove like this the press would howl in disgust, or an owner would take it into the dealership to have it fixed. Quite simply this is the worst and most stressful car I have ever had for long journeys. Please don't be taken in by the myth that soft suspension means comfort, there are plenty of other cars which manage to compbine a comfortable ride and still let you feel like you actually in control of the car.