The last hydro-Citroen? C5 X7 Hdi 16 Exclusive!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 พ.ค. 2024
- The end of a famous line - the last Citroën to feature hydropneumatic suspension. The C5 X7, or MK3 to some, only offered the magical spheres on the top Exclusive model. We drive a 2.0HDi 16 163bhp automatic to check out the waft. Does it really feel Reassuringly German?
This car is for sale! £3000 the asking price. Email ian@hubnut.org in the first instance if you're interested.
HubNut merchandise is available at hubnut.org
#citroen #hydropneumatic #waft - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
The styling of these was so much nicer, in my opinion, than the earlier C5. A genuinely great looking car.
I agree. The first generation was staggeringly bland.
@@evo5dave yeah it was very bloated and a backwards step from the Xantia.
I leased an estate version of this car for 3 years and absolutely loved it. It wasn’t an Exclusive (a trim level below) but it did have the hydro pneumatic suspension, but no acoustic glass and a few less goodies than your test car. I used to do a childish thing of lowering and raising the suspension whilst stationary at red lights to amuse/annoy/baffle other motorists! All passengers I carried were impressed by the waftiness and it was the most comfortable and relaxing car I have ever owned. Would have had another but leased costs became prohibitive probably due to quite savage depreciation. It’s still on the road…AO09HDU
I have a 2011 C5 X7 Comfort. I don't get full leather, heated seats or satnav. I bought it as my last chance to get a hydraulic Citroën. I would have been happy to get 3 years out of it. 3 1/2 years later I don't know what I would replace it with. I also get very favourable comments from passengers. It has not needed anything serious fixed, the worst thing it needed was a starter motor. No oil needed between changes at 217,000 km. Lovely car.
ı want to ask something ı have 1.6 e hdi wversion of c5 x7. I owned it for 5 years it is around 250 000 km. do you think it is sensible for me to upgrade it with 2.0 exclusive ones. also i think conventional ones are very good soft and floaty asc well.
Dear Reader,
I think Mr. HubNut is made for Citroën., or the other way around. I dare not speak for Mrs. HubNut.
This car was the last model my father owned, when I drove it around in the Provence (on vacations). Of course, you were blown away by all the German motor-monsters on the straights, but you could always catch up with them on the winding (mountain) roads. You could see the cars front keeping perfectly horizontal when turning right to left.
And black with chrome strips is always a good combination.
Sadly my father exchanged it for a Renault Laguna III estate. Very good, bur boring.
And these days I just walk.
With Sad Regards,
Michel F. van den Brun
Pedestrian
I miss big Citroens. I know they didn’t sell latterly, but they were lovely things.
Ive fairly recently picked one up over here in Aus where they are exceptionally rare, 2012 wagon with 250k kms on the clock. Just had to get one of the last big citroens with hydro suspension after bottling out on a CX and and XM many years back in the UK. Superbly comfortable car to drive and has become a favourite for both me and my wife.
Beautiful car astonishingly stable at motorway speeds .
Sadly, not as stable as DS and CX Citroens, with their centrepoint steering geometry. The C5 is now like all other cars and inclined to deflect the steering wheel if you hit a bump with no hands on the wheel.
@@normandiebryant6989 not the one I drove down to the West Country ,dare I say up to 100mph . It had the hydropneumatic suspension and was steady as a rock the same as the various CX ‘s I’ve driven and the DS I’ve also been in . The DS didn’t have self centre steering and I don’t think all models of the CX had the self centre steering .
Lovely car. I had a 3.0HDi for several years around 10 years ago. Loved and enjoyed the car. Totally reliable over 70k miles in my care.
I remember speaking to a chap at the Motorist last year who had one of the last Hydropneumatic C5 X7's and he was wondering why I was filming his car and gave me all the information about the car as he loved it.
An excellent review as always Ian and Carly, certainly cheered me up after my Mental Health Club Meet.
1st knees/sandal combo of the season. I still miss my old Xantia.
😂
As a former owner of an X7 C5, the reason for the wind deflectors - if you wash the windscreen with the drivers window down, you get wet, every time! The only bad thing with the car is leaking steering racks which I believe affects them all.
This is the kind of car you should be running. More modern and potentially more reliable but with plenty of tinkering potential nevertheless with bits falling off periodically. Not to replace all your cars but as a refreshing change to a more 21st Century type vehicle. Some refinement and luxury that I’m sure you secretly desire.
Potentially. 😉 Betty ticks most of the boxes you suggest.
I owned one and tinkering, hmm, I did some. I loved the car, it was more comfortable than the Mercedes E 220 that I was also driving at the time
@@mehrzahl2219 So you've never worked on any newer car? They're very simple really and extremely easy to diagnose most of the time
@@mehrzahl2219 You do?! That's news to me as I've done everything I've needed on my phone, even remapped my car with my phone.
Sure there are things you can do with a laptop and the right software but it's far from needed.
@kristoffer3000 I agree wholeheartedly. I use an ebay OBD2 Bluetooth adapter and my phone. With that, I can read trouble codes and erase them when I fix the problem. Other than that, it's just a car. Servicing, brakes,starter motor etc no more difficult than 1970! I do have a Citroën specialist mechanic if I run out of talent!
Impressed by the speed you are doing on this B-road in that silence ! 😮
I recently got an estate as my first car,. People normally say to get something small but I didn't enjoy the Ford Fiesta I once had as a learner car at all. The steering wheel being offset from the drivers seat and the car feeling far too eager to overamplify the tiniest of inputs made it much harder to drive. My Citroen gives me a lot more confidence to carry speed into corners without feeling like its going to bounce into the nearest hedge and it's actually a lot easier to park. Not to mention the French armchairs and hydropneumatics are extremely comfortable.
Yeah, the modern Fiesta/Focus (same platform, slightly smaller interior on the Fiesta) are not nice to drive. My time with them in AA learner cars immediately told me I didn’t want anything to do with them, even though I like late-90s Fords.
Excellent video mate. I always remember the underdog more fondly than the 'popular' models. Everybody still rates the KA/Fiesta-based Puma as the best sports car they've ever driven. But here's the thing: Have you ever seen a rusty Probe? Not me. I think the Probe's styling has aged much better than the 4-years-newer Puma, with its long, sleek, proper sports-car shape, wind-cheating 'tear-drop' door mirrors, pop-up headlamps and frame-less door glazing. The Puma has none of these. The Probe's punchy 2.5 24-valve V6 engine is whisper-smooth and could give Porsches of its day a bloody nose too.
Lovely looking car, one of the few 'modern' cars that I like
This cars design strangely never ever seems to age, whenever I see one on the road it ages like an ol' A4 or 3 series from 5/10 years ago.
But in an evolutionary good! Way!
Great review again, Ian. I own a 2008 Tourer 2.0 HDi Exclusive with "only" 136 horses and 6-speed manual for over 7 years now. It has all the goodies, including accoustic glass, electrically operated tailgate, creme leather interior, lane departure, front- and rear parking-sensor and many more.
And apart from the squeeky door-handles you also mentioned and some cheap plastics on the central console, the car is solidly built. Squeeks and rattles are almost non-existant, even now its almost 16 years old with 315.000 km's on the clock. Citroën put quite a lot of effort to make this C5 a car with high quality feel of the interior. Maybe that's also the reason they were so heavy. Which, here in the Netherlands, is not so funny because cars are taxed by weight and, on top of that, diesels get an even higher taxe rate. So it doesn't come as a surprise that my HDi costs me over € 500,- per 3 months.
But this absolutely doesn't spoil the fun of owning this car, because it's an excellent long-distance cruiser and reliable as well. Of course it has its niggles, but nothing major, mostly regular maintenance. So I'm enjoying it now as much as I did the first day of ownership. It's not as roomy as the C5 Estate mk1 but I don't care. In a couple of months however I will trade it in for a C5 X Plugin Hybrid. The active PHC-suspension impressed me during a testdrive and convinced me as a long-term Citroën-owner to buy my first non-hydropneumatic daily-drive ever. Hopefully I won't regret it.
I think the 2.0 HDI Is probably the safe pick as you say. Several friends have these and they have proved very reliable, economical, comfortable motoring. An advantage of the fixed steering wheel centre is that the airbag is always at the optimal place…..they say.
Loved mine - checked MOT history recently and its still going with 282000 miles on it at its last test- I sold it at around 80k! Excellent car - very stylish and practical with loads of spec. It was horrendous in the snow though - despite having 'Snow-Motion', whatever that was!!
I remember seeing many of these when I first went to Paris in 2016. I have wanted one - in black, of course - ever since.
Now is your opportunity to achieve your ambition..
@@avit24 Sadly, not ULEZ compliant. V6 petrol for the win.
I miss my 2010 C5 X7.
Those right hand drive gloveboxes in Citroëns and Peugeots with the fuse box glaring at you and only room for ONE glove, really reminds me of John Cleese as the French soldier taunting King Arthur and his knights in Monty Python and the Holy Grail 😂
But a lovely car nonetheless 😊
Thankfully Stellantis has given everything a swift kick in the ass and now move the fuses...about time.
I love these and think they still look fantastic. Infinitely more appealing than the previous generation (sorry Ian). Early 'Exclusive' trim levels with the 19" 'Adriatique' wheels look utterly brilliant. I'd definitely have one today if I was looking for something around its price point. I'd take it over almost everything else it competed against particularly its sister car, the truly revolting looking widemouthed frog, also known as the Peugeot 408.
It's Peugeot sister is the 508.
The 16v 2.0 HDi is honestly a cracking engine, I've got one in my 307 with a stage 1 map. It goes like the clappers and averages 52 MPG.
Used across loads of different PSA, Ford & Volvo models from vans and 4x4s to the Focus ST in various tunings.
According to my tame mechanic it's the best of the 2000s diesel crop!
Great video, you should have tried sitting in the rear centre seat as the squab is raised and you have the sunroof encroaching the headroom is very limited. The best thing for me about this model is 2 way adjustment for the front seat backrest so you can have it perfect for your back and shoulders. The worst thing was the pop up cup holder in the armrest, you had to have the armrest up to use it.
I appreciate how much of a glow-up the styling was on these from the earlier C5s. It is a shame though that the engines weren't more fizzy, without the thirst of the V6s
Great video, back in 2010 I was a Trade Plate Driver and had to deliver the estate version from Gateshead down to Cornwall for the owner. A lovely drive, the memories came flooding back.
I have the estate version of this as my daily driver. It's a fantastic car. Demolishes distance (it can do 1200km on a single tank) in supreme comfort, and also serves as a capacious workhorse. As well as uppy-downy suspension it has turning headlights, like the DS. In left hand drive form the passenger glovebox is a decent size, as the fuses stay on the left. The stereo is great too. I plan to keep it and drive it until it can go on no more.
Oh niceeee. I daily a 2015 Tourer with 2.0 hdi and I really like it. Comfy, spacious, economical, great headlights
The end of an era, these Citroëns.
A beautiful car. The Hubnut sticker only adds to its overall panache 🇫🇷
Very nice! I like the steering wheel and the rear blinds as interesting features. The suspension is needed more than ever these days, with the terrible state of modern roads.
The BX reg, fitting for a Citroën.
I have a non hydro X7 C5 and it's still a wafty barge despite it's 'conventional' setup although it is mainly aluminium including the front and rear subframes. There are no useable cup holders, but at least three useable ashtrays.
The conventional setup in one of these still has double wishbones on the front so pretty good compared to the McPherson struts on many other cars. As for the ashtrays, I like to joke that everyone in France smokes including the children.
We've had C5s in the family since 2004. Mum a 2003 dealer estate, I then got a MK1 sedan which I passed on to my sister, and is her daily driver 21 years on. I once drove a coiled X7 and found it nicely smooth, but without the natural control of the hydropneumatic.
Superb cars for distance driving 😊
Fittingly on a BX number plate. I have a 11/2004 estate with the 2l petrol for 2 years now. Very happy with it.
It's beautiful, definitely one of my favorite Citroen
I had a GS during the late 80’s then an AX ‘BX and finally a Xantia . I wish I’d kept them all now 🤦♂️. Citroen are very underrated but sometimes unreliable’just like any other car. Preventative maintenance is the key to success 👌👍
Doubtless a lovely car when everything is working as intended.
Give me simplicity every time though.
I've had mine for 14 1/2 years and nothing had gone wrong until the battery needed replacing after 12 years and, a year ago, when electronics power-supply board failed, causing flocks of error-codes on the dashboard. I've never been stuck on the side of the road, ever. The suspension has been totally problem free and required no maintenance except checking fluid levels.
Citroën - je t’aime 🇫🇷🤩🇫🇷
Hi Ian i have the 1.6 litre VTR TDI salon and it is the best car i have ever driven in my life. I only found out it had 6 forward gears a few weeks ago after owning it for almost a year.😀
Someone in my street had one that was slightly lowered and had bigger wheels with some nice rims. Looked mint!
Amazing car. Such a big step from C5 mk1.
I have mk1 currently and had x7 before (auto gearbox failure killed it)
Great review. I love mine here in Australia. Need more Citroen road tests/reviews.
Been in one of these with coils. Very comfy cruiser and smooth in town as well. Also found wind noise noticable. Not comfy on the sort of roads you've just been on. More nausea inducing! So probably worth having the hydraulic suspension to make it less boat like on a country road. To me it felt heavy. French diesels typically good.
Always liked the look of these. Nice car
Lovely car
Lovely car.
Great video! I really like this version of the C5 decent looking car 👌
From Australia. After 6mths of ownership and especially heading into our hot southern summers 2 years ago with the loud-as-hell but asthmatic aircon, I initially regretted buying my 2014 Tourer 2.0Hdi Exclusive with only 90k km on the clock, especially given I didn't find the hydractive 3 suspension that special - until I gradually realised my admittedly gorgeous 19" Adriatique wheels probably took the suppleness out of the ride. And I've also gradually accepted sharp lateral bumps (as in the video here when the drain grate was hit) is not something the hydractive is designed to manage well - the harshness introduced into the cabin along with some scuttle shake is still disappointing. But levelling out loping undulations on the open road is its forte, as well as the self levelling when towing or when carrying a huge load. In a nutshell this car is probably better out on the open road than the city. Now that I've resolved the main niggles pertaining to this car, namely premature wear (conpared to Japanese and Korean cars) of front trailing arm bushes, engine and transmission mounts, the STOOPID design of electronic parking brake cable end plastic holder (made from dehydrated fondue!) aging and breaking the entire parking brake unit itself when the cable overextended, I'm starting to love this car the more I go for long drives out of the city. Who knows, like the return of vinyl and film cameras, this hydractive suspension might be sought after when the decade is up ... that's if the current young generation even bother to learn to drive ... thanks for a great review!
I loved the fixed hub on my c4 coupe. Missed it when I changed car!
Really enjoy the various car tests you do so interesting & enjoyable keep up the great content 👍👍👍
I was wondering what type of gearbox was fitted until you said Aisin. I was thinking EGS or EAT, but Aisin makes sense as my Mondeo from the same era used an Aisin mated to a PSA engine. Aisins are Toyota owned and are very reliable. They were also used in the Freelander 2 my dad has.
How long was it after driving it was it before you started looking through ebay, marketplace, autotrader etc for a C5 estate?
02:52 I see an accumulator 👌👌
Absolutely brilliant video Ian miss hubnut ❤👍 what a beautiful car good looking brilliant
Handsome car, only badge snobbery kept the exec types from owning one. A quiet and comfortable waft, a very nice motorway cruiser.
The c5 design of this generation influenced other brands too. Look at Vw Passat estate of the same era.
Yes I remember it took away the very last of the rememants of late 90's early 00's boxiness abd blended what we have now curves and angles in 3 box designs.
Ohhh I wish I'd got one new back when I thought about it...chickened out and got a C4 Grand Picasso instead...
But then again I sold my MG Metro Turbo and got a Triumph Acclaim 😂😂😂
I hope your Acclaim was gold like all the others!
@romac9516 no flat red in HL trim tbf it was actually a very good practical family car...I know that because the ex wife told me it was also she told me the metro wasn't hence why it went 😆
Lovely review! I have got an C5 Estate ("Tourer", 136 hp, Exclusive in red) and can only confirm its economy: it will do Northern Italy to Northern Germany without filling up easily (5,8 l/100 km). VERY comfortable (except for short bumps), largest (fixed) panoramic roof of its day.
The problem with the glove box: you can't reach it as a driver, and on RHD cars the fuse box is kept on the lefthand side, hence even more intrusion.
Keep going, Double Chevron!
yes i have done the cruise control thing when i 1st got my current 10g civic😮
I have a neighbour down the road who used to drive one of these late model C5. I asked him how the hydropneumatic suspension felt compared to other cars he owns (a Peugeot 404 and a Mk1 Panda) and then he looked at his shoes, mumbling "this one has conventional suspension". Shortly after he went to the dark side and bought a BMW 5-series estate.
I used to have a 2008 C5 VTR+ with the 156 1.6 THP petrol engine. That was a pretty decent car, quite quick, quite frugal and rode really well even on conventional suspension. The engine was reliable as well despite the poor reputation. My only real criticism was that some of the soft touch plastic started deteriorating.
Top vid!
A much better effort than the first generation C5, A decent car aimed at a shrinking Market Segment which has now almost disappeared 🤣
These were smart looking cars and they were trying to compete with the German saloons, even on the adverts they highlighted this.
5:32 It's just at Your RHD-vehicles like that. The "regular" LHD C5s also have the fuse box at the left end of the dashboard, so they have a full width glove-box.
One of very few cars, still looking fresh 16 years after release.
Also have had a 2009 saloon for 8 years and loved it. It even had a massage-seat.
About the center screen, it everytime annoyed me, that it was faced away from the driver and it wasn't touch.
The suspension wasn't that floaty like it should be, and it was the only part, I have had (expensive) serious issues with.
The rest of the car was very reliable.
Very smart motor Ian
I had the mark 1 face lifted version Exclusive 2 liter diesel I loved it
You need one on fleet…you should make a tidy profit from it👍
I was thinking the exact same!
It is tempting...
Nice looking Motor
another great video has always Ian and Carly miss/mrs hubnut and hublets and hubmutt 👍
A nice engine is the 204 hp 2.2 litre diesel. I have a 2015 LE (a special limited edition sold in Australia). Has all the options except a tow bar. It is very quiet, very fuel efficient and (if you want), very fast, particularly if you get something like a Racechips doo dah (max 261hp and 563Nm). The suspension is a bit wobbly (though mine needs a sphere replacing - ordered over a year ago and still waiting for it!). Extremely comfortable motorway cruiser and 58 mpg at 110 kmph.
The exterior is nice, but the interior is a bit of an ergonomic mess. Fiddly and complicated buttons and worst of all the cup holder is inside the centre console!
The Tesla 3 should have the fixed hub steering wheel for those (stupid) indicator switches.
Down in the village close to me there’s a cream coloured c6 and the back looks amazing
Lovely car, great design. When cars didn't look like appliances.
I had a base model diesel estate from new in 2012 as a company car.
Nice thing to drive, sod all storage space in the front for a mobile engineer, but the boot was plenty big enough.
Worse thing is Citroëns insistence on turning all the electronics (windows / raidio) when you pull up and park in the name of energy saving mode (as does my 2019 berlingo van) and you need to start the engine to do anything.
Oh I do hate that. Betty lets you operate stuff for a good couple of minutes after turning off.
You can turn the radio or CD back on after switching off the ignition. And the windows continue to work for a while, too.
@@wanderingorganist the radio will switch of when the stupid power saving mode kicks in. Won't even raise windows before the engine has been run. Hate this stupid things with passion. Forced in one through work
Nice C5 but definitely prefer the estate/ break. A local lady who used to deliver Ferraris in her youth used to in the 90s own an Xm Break upgraded to a C5 Break it then sat outside her house and was scrapped. I did consider buying but was put off by the hydralics and brakes that needed going thru plus some light bodywork.
I do miss her she was a very classy lady. She adored her XM metallic deep green from new owned a long time. Dementia sadly.
1958 Ford Edsel had the teletouch auto selection buttons. I loved the C4 steering wheel when it came out. Whish the auto selection was like an Edsel. Airbags of course
Superb long distance tourer and great on dirt roads.
Having owned Land Rover Discovery,Volvo V70 est. 5 series BMW by far the suspension comfort was superior to those cars and almost as good as the Land Rover for towing comfort. When we sold the Citroen C5 2.2Tdi est and bought the Volvo V70 est I thought something was broken when towing, and found that there was nothing wrong with the Volvo.
Lovely condition for a 2011,really nice.
Always liked the styling of these right away when they came out.
They seem to have disappeared much faster than the first generation.
That suspension system is absolutely brilliant the problem is when it goes wrong even the main dealers are absolutely clueless, my dad had a mk1 exclusive 2.2 HDi estate, the suspension system started playing up he had 1000s spent on it and was never sorted that was over 3 main dealers at the time.
Yup. Best off with the independent Citroen specialists.
I drove the c4 Picasso with the fixed hub steering wheel and lil stick to select gears
In the 'TopGear' pursuit for taking corners ever faster, modern cars have lost true ride comfort.
Top review Ian, of a lovely waffty Citroen. I grew up with Citroens, Dad had GSA's followed by BX's, all with the hydro suspension. Lovely cars but, as you always say...French! However, a lovely car, and a hark back to when saloons were cool and we weren't forced into a crossover or SUV!
No one is forcing you, Manufacturers make new cars to what the Market wants, If people wanted mass market mid size hatches new that is what they would build, The fact is nobody bought them so they died out.
I so wish we had Citroens in Canada (hydro-pneumatic ones of course & 2CVs). Sadly we have no French cars here, which I find especially ironic considering French is one of our two national languages. No Daihatsus either ☹
I was very close to change my C6 for a C5 tourer when realizing it doesn't have the headup display. I still have my C6 😅
Neat stuff.
Had a 2009 Exclusive Estate 2.2 HDI for a while. Loved it but the suspension almost bankrupted me.
Ha ha, I remember when I thought I'd bought my Xantia Activa really cheap, until I took it to (pliaides, sp?) & it needed ALL the spheres replacing & a new rear height corrector. Ouch. Terrific car though, on good spheres & that lazy torquey 2.0 turbo.
AY UP MR HUBNUT
Had a 2010 c5 1.6 estate, sublime comfort, but mechanical issues made me get rid after 6 months.
Dampers!! Shocks is American!! 😃
I worked in a Citroën showroom when they were current. I always really liked them. I remember they had a really lovely, almost sweet smell when new. Reminded me of my Grandad's 306 D Turbo when new. Also had a fantastic smell. As much as I liked them, I'm not sure I'd buy one. We have a 2010 Passat estate. Dull as ditchwater, but at 300,000+ miles it still drives brilliantly and materials have stood the test of time. The ride quality is good enough and it's a much better product. Love French cars though. Volkswagen leave me cold. I'd love one day to own a big French car. 😊 I like to hear the turbo whistle and sound of the HDI. I must be the only one who likes the sound of the 2.0! This a bit too quiet for me.
"The last amazing Citroen you've never heard of". Maybe? Might have been a good strapline. A current Citroen advert has them toting a record player on the back seat over a bumpy road. It's interesting that they still feel they have to prove they're still the masters of the waft! 👍
The reflection of the speedometer is weird!
What? No "Knees alert!" 😀
Had one, hated it, now have an XM again. So much lateral wobble, and every MOT it needed a new bushing here and there.
3:20 I concur
Nice car, think you should have it as your daily driver, better than that Australian junk
Post Bach to Talgarreg isn’t ‘the middle of nowhere’. Try Tregaron to Pontrhydfendigaid. Now that is ‘nowhere’!
Love that road. The Mercedes-Benz C126 video was shot along it.
The centre of the steering wheel staying stationary really hurts my head