The medium sized SUV market is indeed a crowded one, with all of the big car manufacturers competing fiercely in what has been the biggest segment of the market for some four years now.
In Citroen's case, it’s time for a facelift for the C5 Aircross to try to maintain its place in the face of all the competition from the likes of Ford, Nissan and Toyota. The car has been Citroen’s biggest seller in Ireland for the past two years.
Of course, car companies don’t spend fortunes on facelifts and the changes to the C5 Aircross are subtle - some are even hard to spot.
The design is described as assertive but the car remains in essence the same, except with a new front chevron logo, grille, air intake and lights. So, the car is still quirkily Citroen, with its side air bumps and rather soft profile. It’s one of those cars that manage to stand out all the same.
Which brings us to what exactly Citroen is offering that the others are not ? The term comfort levels comes to mind first. Citroen has always had a strong penchant for producing cars that have good seats and a comfortable cabin ambience and this car certainly has both. The company even has a name for it now - the advanced comfort programme. Supportive seats with extra layers of memory foam make for a very pleasant driving experience. Anyone whose back gets irked by less supportive seats will certainly appreciate the difference.
The same comfort principle applies to the suspension, which has extra absorption functions for bumps on the road. This can result, however, in it being a little too soft and it’s an emphasis that may alienate those who find themselves coming to grips with a certain floating quality when they push the car hard. I don’t imagine, however, that most drivers of cars like this will be too interested in the outer limits. Otherwise, the C5 is smooth and very quiet on the open road.
There are petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid options available. The petrol version uses a 1.2 litre, 130hp engine with a choice of 6-speed manual or 8-speed automatic transmission.
The1.5 litre diesel (130hp) has the same gearbox options.
There’s a plug-in version, which it’s claimed, will give you up to 55 km on electric only before falling back on a 1.6 petrol engine.
This is only a preview of the C5 Aircross, so we’ll have to wait for a longer drive to see how the consumption figures stack up.
One thing I did notice, however, is that Citroen has not addressed some irritants. Its centre infotainment screen is still a bit too small, compared to what competitors such as Kia are offering, and functions such as climate adjustment have to be adjusted on it by pressing and swiping, and not by using buttons. It’s unnecessarily distracting and you can easily find yourself being instantly diverted to temperature control when you’re trying to adjust the satellite navigation system, which is very irritating indeed.
Two things I did like about the car, however, were the fact that it has a good boot which can allow huge storage space with the seats folded and the fact that the rear seats both slide and fold - something I wish other manufacturers would consider.
There’s no "basic" entry level version. The so-called Feel version comes with 18" alloys, LED headlights and taillights, traffic sign recognition, lane departure warning, front and rear parking sensors, keyless entry & start and a gloss black exterior colour pack on airbumps and fog light surrounds.
Higher versions have the 10" infotainment system and an interior Alcantara pack with soft touch half leather seats, electric adjustments for the driver seat and a dark chrome exterior colour pack.
The petrol Feel model starts at €38,990, the diesel at 39,770 and the plug-in at €48,500.
