Citroen C5-X review: Quirky but hits some high notes

Citroen has always done things differently – often taking a perverse pride in how it can be so wantonly atypical from almost every other manufacturer in the world.

We have seen this quite often down the years, from such vehicles as the Traction Avant, through the DS (which was so different from everything else and such an outstanding design it eventually led to the DS brand being created), the ubiquitous Deux Chevaux (2CV), the SM luxury sports coupe (with a Maserati engine), the XM and, more recently, off-key takes on modern sedans such as the Xantia, the C5 or the C6.

History is littered with such unique Citroens and, in truth, we have come to expect – nay, relish – the weird and wonderful from the French marque and it has never really let us down in that regard. 

Sure, there have been clunkers along the way – the AX, the Xsara, and the ZX, all of which are from relatively recent times – but one thing is for sure: they never fail to excite comment.

That those comments might come either in the shape of unpleasant venom, or unbridled enthusiasm is only to be expected. In fact, most Citroen critics, observers or analysts fall into one of two categories: lovers or haters.

Haters will moan about how poorly the cars are built (often true), how unreliable they are (ditto), how awful they are to own (often terribly ditto), how they conk out unexpectedly and for no apparent reason (ditto), how mindlessly difficult they are to work on (shockingly true) and what bad handlers they are (ditto).

Lovers will whitter on about how unique their Citroens are (undoubtedly true), how they hate being seen driving ‘normal’ cars (true Citroenistas), how they drove their Citroens for years without any mechanical disaster (true, but rare) and how comfortable their Citroen was/is (the truest truth of all).

You will rarely find any motoring fan who does not have an opinion about the company and its products – good or bad – and the truth is that rarely has there been a manufacturer that excites that sort of passionate analysis – even from ignorant langballs who’ve never driven them.

For a relatively informed langball, such as yours truly, Citroen has ever been an enigma and never has that been truth been exemplified as much as with their latest creation – the C5-X.

Now, we have seen on many occasions down the years where car makers – in their desire to create something fresh, rather that simply sticking to what they are good at – make a hames of their venture into adventurousness.

With Citroen, you sort of take the potential for hames-making for granted, but with the mild expectation that they might pull off a trick or two.

So it is with the C5-X. I mean, what is it exactly? Well, the ‘X’ branding suggests something that some sort of Crossover or SUV – and that’s not a wild assumption for anyone to make because the raised ride height and the plentiful black cladding adorning the bodywork give it a bit of an off-roady look.

However, the extended rear end gives it more of an estate or hatchback look, so you can quite easily forgive yourself for being somewhat confused.

The C5-X is, truly, something of a mish-mash and not something everyone will find head-turningly attractive. Aficionados may be wowed; the unconvinced will go: “WTF.” 

For what it’s worth I must confess I found this car not to be unattractive, rather that it did not take the eye out of your head. It is pleasingly different as any good Citroen should be, but it’s not the beauty many paint it to be either. I suppose the best description for the car would be that it is refreshingly off-kilter.

It is a flagship of sorts for the brand though and, historically, that’s not always been a good thing. Similarly endowed Citroens of the past – the CX, the XM and the C6 – could not have depreciated quicker if they were dismantled by a Chittagong ship-breaking yard in Bangladesh shortly after purchase. The fact most purchasers preferred German rather than French badges didn’t help either.

Having the ‘flagship’ marker placed upon it, therefore, is not always a good thing for Citroen cars and one would have to be a little wary in that regard. Nevertheless the C5-X – at least while we had it – excited quite a deal of positive comment and very little negativity. And, to be honest, that was how we felt when we had to give it back – more positive than negative.

One of the most surprising things when we were asked about the car was the reaction we got when we revealed the engine to be none other than the Stellantis 1.2 three-cylinder turbocharged ‘PureTech’ petrol engine. People looked like you’d just slapped them in the mush when told as much, such was the disbelief.

The thing is – and we at Examiner Motoring have been expounding this theory for some time now – that small capacity petrol engines are still a viable alternative to electric. Diesels, as we know, are going to be taxed off the planet in short order and petrol still provide a relatively tax-friendly alternative – and small ones in particular.

This 130 bhp engine might seem ridiculously small for such a big car – and the 10.4 second 0-100 km/h time would suggest as much – but the way it goes about its business here is impressive overall. The 209 km/h top speed is decent enough, but the manner in which it enthusiastically does what’s asked of it is nearly shocking.

That it will also return some 5.9 l/100 km (47 mpg) is also an eye-opener considering the amount of weight it is pulling around and I must say that the pairing with an eight speed auto gearbox is also something potential owners will really like. Unlike a lot of such units, it does not constantly skip from cog to cog in ungainly fashion. It is a very likeable package.

It also handles rather well too and the feature here is the Citroen Advanced Comfort suspension which adds progressive hydraulic cushions to the damper set-up to try and ape the company’s hydropneumatic system of yore and it doesn’t do a bad job. Thus, both ride and handling are of a high order.

The interior of the car is huge and the rear seat passengers are afforded much acreage and the boot is pretty vast as well. In Flair trim, as tested, the C5-X also comes with a host of worthy spec – the 19” alloys certainly add to the SUV vibe – and every technological need of the modern driver is covered in a system that’s east to use and assimilate.

Driver and passenger comfort are a given – it’s a bloody Citroen, after all – and the layout of the cabin and switchgear, while a tad quirky is something easily gotten used to.

There are three engine variants on offer here, the 1.2 petrol, a 1.6 petrol (which might satisfy the more demanding driver what with 180 bhp on offer) and a PHEV which also uses the 1.6 engine and offers 225 bhp, but only 63 km of all-electric driving..

So then, another somewhat idiosyncratic offering from Citroen, but one which has many meritorious characteristics. It might end up as something of niche car simply because it is a Citroen, but it is an outside-the-box type of a car and should not be dismissed because of that. 

I liked it rather more than I thought I would.