I've enjoyed my 53 reg 3.0L V6 immensely, when driven sensibly the fuel consumption has been good (high 28-30mpg) and around 26 in town, that is on Shell V-Powerpetrol - the engine pinks annoyingly with 95 RON fuel. The 24 valve, variable cam-timing V6 engine is pretty grunty and has a reasonable top-end rush, it does use a little oil when thrashed. The car is faster than it feels (or the figures suggest.) many a boy racer has been left floundering at the lights. The programming of the 4 speed ZF auto gearbox is the weakest aspect of the drivetrain, supposedly adaptive it often selects the wrong gear, either holding on to lower gears too long or resisting a downchange when required - I always switch to manual mode when contemplating overtaking, something I never needed to do in my Jaguar XJ8. The later 6 speed which I've sampled in the (wonderful) C6 is much better.
The ride quality is pretty good at speed but is far too crashy around town for a oil/gas suspended Citroën, whoever came up with the damping rates obviously had a bad day at the office, compression damping is too harsh, the rebound damping (lack of) is shocking. My brothers later facelift C5 is much better judged, more supple and better damped. Handling is fairly benign, obviously under-steer biased, grip is okay, it's no sports saloon but can be hustled along pretty quickly. The soft, long travel, suspension means grip in the wet is pretty good, traction from standstill in the wet is remarkable for a front wheel drive car, the traction control rarely chimes in. The steering is a little light but has enough weight not to feel overly so. The brakes are excellent.
The interior is roomy and well equipped. Sadly the switch gear feels a little low-rent and the climate control is noisy - not something you'd expect is a top-of-the-range car these days. Otherwise the interior is pretty unremarkable although the plentiful cubby holes are welcome.
Running costs/what has gone wrong. A rear window has dropped out of its runners, I experienced a misfire in a admittedly heavy downpour on the motorway, I stopped at the first opportunity allowing the engine heat to dry out the electrics which enabled me to continue my journey. I suspect one of the ignition coils isn't as water tight as it should be. Now the shocker, the rear exhaust box rotted (inexcusable on a fairly new car used primarily on motorways.) The cost? £1000 + fitting - obviously I wasn't prepared to pay Citroën this extortionate amount for what is a cheap and nasty mild steel exhaust box (The entire stainless steel system on my old Jaguar costs the same - not that I ever needed one!) I turned to the Sebring aftermarket catalogue, they make a good quality rear box for the C5 V6, which came to £300 including VAT, packaging and international posting. although it's notionally a sports exhaust - noise levels in the car are as standard with a pleasant and subtle growl outside the car.
I would recommend this car if you want a brisk comfortable motorway cruiser with decent interior space plus a roomy boot. The car almost disappears into anonymity when parked which is good from a theft/vandalism point of view. Find a second-hand one with a rotting exhaust box, using the eye-watering replacement cost as a bargaining angle to drive the deal. There are no "kwik-fit" type aftermarket boxes available.
PS Servicing is not cheap (costlier than my old Jag) in the UK, Citroën sell cars cheap then make a profit on the servicing. Luckily it only needs a service every two years - I get the oil changed between services.
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Dec 31st, 2007
(Dec 30th, 2007)
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