The Rise of the New Citroen C5
Car Leasing has become one of the most probable solutions an individual can consider if he wants to have his temporary car for an intervening time. When you lease you do not pay for the whole value and amount of the car for you only pay for the part or a potion of the value that decreases throughout the duration of the leasing term. There are a lot of car lease emerging and making mark in this industry, however, only few will bound to stay.
One of the best options is the Citroen C5. This is Citroen's 'Mondeo', the all-new C5. Totally redesigned, the French saloon gets a fresh platform, a new air-suspension system and a high-quality interior which offers much more space. This is a sleek addition coming from the French automobile maker and has made an impression of quality build and body and the eye catching features that comprised of a hydro pneumatic suspension, hydraulic transmission, and directional headlights
The said release of the C5 in the market has become a way for those who prove that along with many companies it can still have its own name and success. No other car on the Citroen line has been as pleasant and innovative as the C5. In addition, the finance charge that is what the leasing company earns for the transaction and that can be incorporated to the interests charged on an auto loan. This implies that if you don't want to keep the car and you like upgrading your wheels every now and then, leasing might be the suitable option for you.
The new C5 is considered to put style back into the Citroen line of automobiles and will definitely be one of the best car lease deal options in the market to watch out for. Its good looks will be coupled with a bevy of all kinds of features including hydractive suspension, a fixed-hub steering wheel, and a Parking Space Measurement system also known as the Backseat Driver.
This is a kind of French ingenuity built in German quality and this is a kind of feature expected the Citroen C5. Engines will include punchy diesels such as the firm's new 173bhp 2.2-litre HDI unit and the Ford/PSA-developed 2.7 V6, as well as a range of petrol motors topped off by a 3.0-litre V6. While most models will come with six-speed manual transmissions, there will also be the choice of semi-automatic and fully auto gearboxes. It will have to weather it's own against the competition in the name of giants like Mazda 6 and the Ford Mondeo.
But the Citroen C5 will absolutely be quite affordable and will definitely be the new version that says a lot and boast of a whole new design capability of Citroen and their future bringing. Some of the features of the Citroen C5 are the passenger compartment which remained stable during an impact. The driver's knees were well protected by an airbag mounted in the lower dashboard. Citroen with the airbag would also protect its passengers who were bigger and those seating in different positions. The passenger was well restrained and his knees did not get close to the dashboard. Also, with the Side impact, The C5 scored maximum points in the side impact and pole tests.
The Child-protection feature is where the passenger's airbag can be disabled to allow a backward facing child restraint used in that seating position. However, some of the main information about the status of the airbag are not that distinct and clear. The label warning of the dangers of using a rearward facing restraint without first disabling the airbag was clear and permanently visible. ISOFIX found in the rear outboard seats was not clearly marked.
Even if the C5 has not received any recognition for the protection offered by the front edge of the bumper, still the new Citroen C5 has been rated as four stars for child protection along with the good feature called the Pedestrian protection and scored maximum points on the bumper.
By John Eva.
Visit the Blog about citroen mehariCitroen C-Crosser
I thought I was well abreast of the gap between reality and PR spin in the motoring industry. I am used to being told that unsporting cars are exceedingly sporty and that cars designed for SainsburyÕs are fun to drive and full of emotion.
To me and most who do this job, itÕs just another form of white noise that accompanies most product launches and can be mentally tuned out while you wait in the usually forlorn hope that theyÕll tell you something you havenÕt read in the press pack.
But with this, the C-Crosser, Citro‘n has taken the reality gap and stretched it so so wide that no suspension of disbelief, willing or otherwise, can bridge it. For this is a car which, we were told without the merest hint of irony, is Ņa pure Citro‘n productÓ with ŅCitro‘n DNAÓ running through it. It is nothing of the sort.
The C-Crosser is, in fact, not a Citro‘n in any conventional sense save the badge on its bonnet. This Ņpure Citro‘n productÓ is a Mitsubishi, designed, engineered and built in Japan.
And as for the DNA, not only does it contain none of the quirky design touches that have distinguished key Citro‘ns throughout the companyÕs history, it is an SUV, a genre noted for its absence from the Citro‘n lineup ever since it hit the market.
True, the new car does have a 2.2 litre diesel engine used in other Citro‘ns and Peugeots, while the Mitsubishi on which it is based, the Outlander, uses an inferior VW unit, and yes it has been given its own nose and detail changes to the rear styling so it doesnÕt look exactly like an Outlander. But none of this makes it a Citro‘n any more than dressing up like Elvis and slapping on some sideburns makes you the King.
The pity is this sort of nonsense threatens to cloud the fact that what Citro‘n has been able to lay its hands on is a pretty capable and impressive machine. At £22,790 for the VTR+ model and £25,490 for the Exclusive version I drove, itÕs not cheap, but IÕd place it a step ahead of most cars that could be called competitors.
Sensibly, it recognises that people are increasingly buying cars such as this not to go yomping through the jungle but as something that works like an MPV or an estate without the homespun image. And in these roles it does well.
The fact that its third row of seats is fiddly to raise and lower and will accommodate only children is dwarfed by the fact that these seats exist at all: you wonÕt find them in a Land Rover Freelander 2, Toyota RAV4 or BMW X3. It has a split tailgate to provide a weatherproof vantage point or simply somewhere for children to change muddy wellies or football boots. The middle row of seats doesnÕt merely fold, it slides and reclines too.
And itÕs fair that Citro‘n takes a share of the credit for the refined and punchy motor under the bonnet. The VW equivalent in the Outlander is not only 10% less powerful, it sounds like a hardware store being fed through a blender. In contrast the 156bhp Citro‘n engine is smooth and flexible while offering reasonable fuel consumption and emissions. Sadly no automatic is available and the standard (Mitsubishi) six-speed gearbox is a little rubbery and obstructive.
The C-Crosser rides and handles surprisingly well, too. Citro‘n claims to have had some influence over Mitsubishi in the choice of suspension settings for the car (though the architecture itself is all MitsubishiÕs). It has a strong appetite for the open road, steers notably well and can be switched between two and four-wheel drive on the move. And if all you want to do is cruise, its all-round independent suspension and muted noise levels make light and comfortable work of long journeys.
ItÕs not an off-roader in traditional terms, but with reasonable ground clearance and the ability to lock up its four-wheel-drive system, it should have no problem extricating itself from muddy fields at sports day, a point-to-point or a country wedding, which, frankly, is all almost anyone is going to ask of it.
Inside, however, it is less successful, particularly when you consider the steep pricing points Citro‘n has chosen for it. Almost all the interior plastics are hard, scratchy and have no place in a car costing so much Š you can spend less and have an Audi A6.
The instruments are unattractive, the steering wheel lacks reach adjustment (an extraordinary omission these days), which compromises your driving position, and the sat nav that is standard on the top of the range car provided such dreadful graphics and proved so useless at navigating me through the Pyrenees that I seriously question its value.
I also question the carÕs positioning in the market: Citro‘n has always been aware that value is an integral part of its brand, yet it is charging big money for this car while Mitsubishi will sell it Š albeit with a considerably less pleasing engine Š for less than £20,000.
Even so, the C-Crosser is good enough to deserve to succeed. Whether it does is another matter. People are used to Citro‘n hatchbacks and Citro‘n MPVs but the evidence is that when Citro‘n wanders into a market where its face is less familiar, life can be tough.
Even Xavier Duchemin, the managing director of Citro‘n UK, admitted that sales of its big C6 saloon were disappointing. Clearly his marketing men are going to have to work hard to acclimatise the car-buying public to the idea of a Citro‘n SUV.
Perhaps they should exploit the fact that Mitsubishi is, in contrast, one of the biggest and longest established names in the SUV world and rename the C-Crosser with a view to describing it a shade more honestly and accurately. IÕve come up with the Citro‘n-Mitsubishi Cross Dresser. If youÕve got a better idea, perhaps youÕd let us know.
By Andrew Frankel.
