Citroën unveils its German generation (From Warrington Guardian)

Citroën unveils its German generation

9:09am Wednesday 9th April 2008 in Motors By Alan Domville

CITROEN'S svelte new C5 was described to me as a successful combination of French flair and Teutonic-like levels of quality when I kicked its tyres for the first time at the company's UK headquarters in Slough.

Flair certainly, but I felt then that the spokeswoman was being far too modest in her assessment of the saloon-like hatchback's quality.

VWs and such like are certainly well-built, but they often do not come near to the French manufacturers when it comes to creature comforts.

As it turned out she was simply pre-empting the thrust of the C5 advertising campaign which majors on the fact that, to quote Classic FM's David Mellor, if you like that (the German) you will like this (the French).

There is a choice of six engines and, for the first time in its market sector, the option of two suspension systems.

Specifications are called SX, VTR Plus and Exclusive and the prices range from £15,595 to £24,395. Like the C4 (and the Bentleys of the 1920s) the new C5 features a second generation version of the fixed-centred controls steering wheel along with a seat back massage function. Now that is what I call comfort.

"VWs and such like are certainly well-built, but they often do not come near to the French manufacturers when it comes to creature comforts."

Alan Domville

New C5 has showroom presence to spare.

Longer and wider than its predecessor it has large air intakes up front and a high waistline leading to a concave rear window.

It is what you do not hear, rather than what you do, that also makes a big impression when the car is out on the road.

As with the larger C6 much attention has been given to enhancing the soundproofing.

Ride comfort is enhanced by the higher Hydractive 3 Plus self-leveling suspension in either Soft or Sport modes.

With this facility comes an automatic parking brake and hill-start assistance.

To enable one to park such a long car safely there are parking sensors at the front and rear while a park gap assistance system works out the space available for the driver.

Up to nine airbags are fitted to C5 and in an impact the brake and clutch pedals are designed to retract into the floor of the footwell.

The advanced braking system incorporates the benefits of ABS, electronic brake force distribution and emergency braking assistance.

Higher specification variants also have the lane departure warning system - driving seat begins to vibrate if the lane marking is crossed unintentionally.

Advanced front lighting has an additional light source to assist with vision at corners and junctions.

Annular needles run around each of the dials, this enabling an electronic display unit to be integrated in the centre of each dial.

A screen on the overhead console displays a bird's eye view of the car to provide various warning signals.

Petrol engines are 16-valve units of 1.8 and 2.0 litres developing 127 and 143hp respectively.

There are four diesels - of 110, 138, 173 and 208hp - and all are fitted with a particulate filter that virtually eliminates particle emissions. A selection of manual and automatic gearboxes is also offered.

A C5 Tourer, aka estate, variant will come on stream during the summer.