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Citroen C5 Aircross review – new kid on the suburban SUV block

Citroen C5 Aircross review: An all-new choice in the compact SUV sector: the Citroen C5 Aircross SUV.
Citroen C5 Aircross moving
Citroen C5 Aircross - immensely comfortable on the move, the Citroen SUV is ideal for high mileage business drivers

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11 February 2019

Citroen C5 Aircross SUV 1.5 BlueHDi Flair 130 S&S Auto

  • P11D value: £28,425
  • BIK band: 26%
  • 5-door compact SUV
  • 130PS / 300Nm four-cylinder diesel with 8-speed auto
  • Performance: 11.8s / 117mph
  • CO2 emissions/economy: 107g/km / 51.4mpg

What is it?

WELCOME to an all-new choice in the compact SUV sector: the Citroen C5 Aircross SUV.

Citroen has been in this sector of the company car market before with the C4 Aircross, but this really is a very different proposition.

Featuring a bold frontal design with high bonnet line, along with those signature ‘airbumps’ on the lower edges of the doors to ward of parking bashes, the C5 Aircross SUV is a distinctive car.

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Typical rivals are the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage, Ford Kuga and, from its sister brand, Peugeot 3008.

Not that it’s a clone of the 3008; while the chassis and drivetrain might be shared, the Citroen has its own distinctive and unique features.

These centre around Citroen brand features such as comfort and practicality – all of which the C5 Aircross is designed to meet. There’s plenty of comfort, modularity in the interior, and a large boot space.

Taking these individually, comfort features include a special suspension treatment – Citroen has fitted what it calls progressive hydraulic cushions as standard. These are designed to filter out undulations while also coping with potholes.

And comfort seats. There’s additional +15mm padding and high density foam to improve longer journeys in the C5 Aircross.

Citroen C5 Aircros static
Mid-range Flair is the key model for business users: among the features are acoustic windscreen (for improved noise reduction), 18 inch alloys, automatic headlights and wipers, rear view reversing camera and ‘follow me home’ lighting

For practicality there are three individual rear seats. These can be moved forward individually if required but also fold flat to extend the car’s load bay.

Talking of which, there’s a large boot with 580 litres of space growing to 1630 litres with the rear seats folded – the largest in segment says Citroen. It also gives you a length of upto 1.9m. To give you some perspective, that’s in the same leagues as a Mercedes E-Class estate or Skoda Superb Estate. In other words, it’s long…

You can choose your C5 Aircross SUV from two petrol engines or three diesels; there’s also a new eight-speed auto box said to improve fuel consumption by a commendable 7% over the previous box.

Specs include Feel, Flair and Flair Plus. Key business model, Citroen believes, is the 130 diesel auto Flair. So that’s the one we’re trying.

Citroen C5 Aircross boot
Pack it how you want. Three individual, sliding, folding and reclining rear seats, and best-in-class boot volume ranging from 580-litres to 720-litres, and up to 1,630-litres with the second row seats folded down, provide fantastic modularity

Why would you want to drive a Citroen C5 Aircross SUV?

  • It looks distinctive – that high bonnet line with the Citroen double chevron is very effective visually
  • And so are the roof bars which you can have colour coded to the air bumps on the doors
  • The ride quality: you’ll be super surprised at how good is the ride. You know those aggressive road bump – the ones that loosen your fillings and send your suspension turrets poking through the bonnet? – the Citroen contemptuously waves these aggressive collisions away
  • And on the road it smoothes out dips and crests as a proper Citroen should
  • It’s all helped by those marvellously comfortable seats – for long distance business drivers these are an extra item to consider for your next company car
  • The engine is strong and gutsy enough for the urban cut and thrust, but quiet and unobtrusive on the move; rather like the smooth eight speed auto
  • The interior is chunky functional in a charmingly playful way

What might put you off a Citroen C5 Aircross SUV?

  • For business drivers it can be seen as too much functional SUV rather than swish styled executive crossover
  • While the diesel engine delivers good BIK figures, you’ll have to wait until next year for the plug-in hybrid version for really low company car tax
  • Lingering concerns over Citroen quality, residual values and dealer performance
Citroen C5 Aircross EAT8 auto shifter
New 8-speed EAT8 automatic gearbox (‘Efficient Automatic Transmission’) offers 7% improvement over old 6-speeder

Verdict on the Citroen C5 Aircross SUV

This is a very good car. Full stop. It does everything you want from an SUV (bar the four-wheel drive bit, but there is an option for that) and delivers comfort on the road, decent fuel economy and offers a strong benefit in kind position for company car drivers. Benefit in kind starts from just £122 a month (18/19 tax year).

That’s a decent proposition.

And for company car drivers with families, the C5 Aircross has the practicality you would require for the weekends.

We can understand where it might not work – where a little less ‘SUV’ is required by your company – but overall we were impressed. It’s a great choice for the company car car park.

What else should you know about the Citroen C5 Aircross SUV?

  • Prices start at just £23,225
  • The official UK ‘on sale’ date for New C5 Aircross SUV is Monday February, 04, 2019
  • There’s a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and the latest 8-inch HD touchscreen as standard
  • New C5 Aircross SUV also features ConnectedCAM (it records accidents) and Wireless Smartphone Charging
  • There are 19 standard safety and driver assistance technologies, including Advanced Active Safety Brake, Active Lane Departure Warning and Active Blind Spot Monitoring
  • Although the C5 Aircross is two-wheel drive, if you want 4×4 security there’s the option of Citroen’s Grip Control with Hill Descent Assist which gives decent off road ability but without the weight penalty of a four-wheel drivetrain. Offered on auto models
  • The C5 Aircross measures 4.50m long
  • 180 degree colour Reversing Camera with Top Rear Vision is standard on Flair and Flair Plus
  • A total of 30 exterior colour combinations are available
  • There are seven body colours: Polar White (standard colour), with optional Volcano Red (Metallic), Cumulus Grey (Metallic), Platinum Grey (Metallic), Tijuca Blue (Metallic), Perla Nera Black (Metallic) and Pearl White (Pearlescent).
  • A Perla Nera Black roof is available as an option on Flair and Flair Plus models
  • Three Colour Packs bring a splash of vibrancy with coloured inserts on the front bumper, Airbump panels and under the roof bars: Anodised Silver Colour Pack (standard specification), Anodised White and Anodised Red Colour Packs are optional across the range
  • There are three different interior ‘ambiances’ to choose from as well: Standard Ambiance – Silica Grey cloth seat upholstery on Feel versions; Metropolitan Grey Ambiance – Grey Grained leather and Graphite cloth seat upholstery on Flair and Flair Plus (optional on Feel); Hype Brown Ambiance – Brown Nappa leather and black leather-effect seat upholstery – optional on Flair and Flair Plus versions.
Citroen C5 Aircross coloured insert on roofrails
Add a splash of colour: up to 30 different personalisation options

Citroen C5 Aircross SUV range and prices

TRIM ENGINE/TRANSMISSION OTR
Feel PureTech 130 S&S 6-speed manual £23,225.00
BlueHDi 130 S&S 6-speed manual £24,725.00
BlueHDi 130 S&S EAT8 8-speed automatic £26,325.00
Flair PureTech 130 S&S 6-speed manual £25,325.00
PureTech 180 S&S EAT8 8-speed automatic £28,325.00
BlueHDi 130 S&S 6-speed manual £26,825.00
BlueHDi 130 S&S EAT8 8-speed automatic £28,425.00
BlueHDi 180 S&S EAT8 8-speed automatic £30,325.00
Flair Plus PureTech 130 S&S 6-speed manual £27,725.00
PureTech 180 S&S EAT8 8-speed automatic £30,725.00
BlueHDi 130 S&S 6-speed manual £29,225.00
BlueHDi 130 S&S EAT8 8-speed automatic £30,825.00
BlueHDi 180 S&S EAT8 8-speed automatic £32,725.00

 

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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