2023 Citroen C5 X Shine review

Citroen does weird, and that’s how it should be. It does weird well.

The C5 X is a properly weird car. Is it a wagon? Is it a five-door coupe? What is the point of it? Does all that matter once you step inside?

As the seemingly unquenchable thirst for SUVs continues, some car companies haven’t forgotten the sedan. And thank goodness for that, even if the C5 X isn’t strictly one of those.

In fact, with an X in the name, you rather suspect there’s a little marketing trickery going on to convince you it’s something you think you want.

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JUMP AHEAD

• How much is it, and what do you get?
• How do rivals compare on value?
• Interior comfort, space and storage
• What is it like to drive?
• How is it on fuel?
• How safe is it?
• Warranty and running costs
• VERDICT
• Specifications

How much is it, and what do you get?

Not to put too fine a point on things, but $57,670 before on-road costs for a Citroen C5 X is a lot of money when the Kia Stinger exists, probably its only non-French rival.

You do get a fair bit of kit, though.

The new media system is way better than the old one and also has Citroen’s Connected Services package. Free for three years, it updates maps monthly and keeps you up to date with fuel prices, live traffic alerts from TomTom and will find you a car park.

Its new screen is crisp and clear and the reversing camera is now usable rather than the murky nonsense of the older one found on Citroens (and Peugeots).

Were the digital radio interface not so irritating it would be even better but wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity is most welcome.

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How do rivals compare on value?

The most obvious rival is the car with which the C5 X shares a great deal – the frankly stunning Peugeot 508.

It does require rather a larger investment than the Citroen at $63,341 before on-road costs for the GT Fastback, but it’s pretty loaded and drives very nicely indeed.

In fact, it has the same driveline and also (if you’re really going to town) shares the same plug-in hybrid driveline with the upcoming C5 X PHEV. The wagon is another $2200-odd.

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Kia’s much-loved Stinger, believe it or not, comes in versions that don’t have a twin-turbo V6 and are quite nice too. While not as quirky outside or cool inside, they do drive very well and have better steering, courtesy of rear-wheel drive.

The Stinger range starts at around $51,250 (before on-road costs) for the 200S. While the Stinger isn’t a wagon, the C5 X isn’t technically a wagon either.

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Interior comfort, space and storage

Citroen does really interesting interiors. I know that’s not news to a lot of people, but then a lot of other people saw their stuff earlier this century and asked, “Do they, though?”

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They’ve been back on form since the launch of the Cactus, without going completely insane. Like the Cactus, the C5 X has a lot of interesting design features in what would otherwise be a fairly dull interior. That’s what makes the difference.

Broad and comfortable front seats, in the current Citroen way, have perforated leather and a kind of strapping effect stitched in. Look closely and you’ll see a chevron pattern in the perforated sections.

There is a lovely slab of textured plastic across the cabin which adds a nice visual feel to the dash. The texturing is, again, made with chevrons. There aren’t many buttons, which is nice, although a proper shifter would be more welcome than the tiny Golf-like rocker.

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You get bottle holders in the doors, a pair of cup holders on the console and the armrest has a split opening to access the storage underneath. The armrest is a bit low and I had to crank the seat right down to make it work.

Which was fine because the now-signature squared-off steering wheel has a big range of movement. The big screen is a sight to behold in a French car but the configurable dashboard could be a lot less annoying and more like sister brand Peugeot’s.

The back seats feature a lot of leg and shoulder room, but I’d like to see the sunroof made an option because it does knock out a bit of headspace (and adds cost). You get a pair of USB-C chargers to go with the two in the front and there are air vents.

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In a fairly solid self-own, this reasonably expensive car does not have a rear armrest, which I find deeply strange. So you’ll have to keep yourself upright on a long journey like it’s 1980 or something.

Citroen C5 X boot space

Boot capacity starts at a pretty decent 545 litres and it’s a really nicely laid-out space, that has no intrusions and a flat floor with rails built-in.

Drop the 60:40 split-fold rear seats and you have 1640 litres, which is again pretty decent. Both figures are higher than the criminally under-bought C5 wagon of old.

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What is it like to drive?

Ah, the French.

For a while there, they lost the plot. Got too boring, too GFC-ey, too busy trying to be dull and dependable but only being good at dull and no good at dependable. I’m not bitter about the mid-2000s through to about 2012. Pas du tout.

Things have clearly changed. The old C5 – while a good car – was largely ignored, as are most large French cars, sometimes even in France. That’s a real shame, too, because I think this C5 X, a car that defies a neat little box, is all that can be good about French cars.

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This style of car – and I don’t mean looks or form factor – is largely absent from the market. While I love a sporting drive in anything, it seems that’s where everybody has landed, chasing the BMW vibe rather than forging their own path. Not the C5 X. This car, like the C3, is all about comfort, from the front seats to the steering to the ride quality.

I love the way this car goes about its business. In yet another stressful week packed with health drama – seriously, this pandemic can just bugger off and leave us all in peace – it was an ocean of calm as I navigated my way from chemist to supermarket to home. The ride is super supple, the steering feel-free and light (on purpose) and the cabin hushed.

That said, it’s also pretty good on the B-roads, handling all of the nastiness of crumbling bitumen with ease. Even though it’s fairly soft in the suspension, it’s got a pretty good change of direction, and that came in handy on said B-roads which were littered with large tree branches shaken free during a windy week.

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Along with the superbly comfortable seats, plenty of forward vision and all the driver aids doing their thing without trying to break your wrists (I’m looking at you Hyundai and Kia), it’s a great car to get away from the urban hustle even if you’re in the urban hustle. All it needs to be is electric and the job is done.

Which brings us to the only thing to crack the illusion – the dimness of the eight-speed automatic transmission. Although familiar from other cars in the wider Citroen/Peugeot family where it behaves largely impeccably, in the C5 X, it’s decidedly not bright.

You get a lot of roll-back when you’re trying to get moving and it takes forever to wake up from stop-start, which proved difficult if not impossible to switch off. This is a huge shame because the 133kW 1.6 turbo-petrol is a belter of an engine.

It’s so smooth, with a linear power delivery masked by the twin-clutch feel of the eight-speed and the fact all 250Nm of torque arrives at just 1650rpm.

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How is it on fuel?

With a fairly aggressive stop-start and an already quite efficient engine, it was very nice to see 7.5L/100km on the trip computer, given the errand-running nature of my week with the C5 X.

I was able to blag a couple of hours to myself, so ran it down the M1 to Stanwell Tops and then back through some twisting back roads.

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How safe is it?

The C5 X is yet to receive either an ANCAP or Euro NCAP safety rating.

It comes with a reasonable level of safety tech, which is pleasantly unobtrusive on the move, though the list is far from comprehensive given the price of the car.

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Warranty and running costs

Citroen offers the pretty much industry standard warranty coverage of five years and unlimited kilometres, with five years of roadside assistance.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000 km and the first five services are subject to a capped-price maintenance regime. It’s not what you’d call a bargain, running at $444, $722, $444, $743 and $465 for a total of $2818 over the five. That’s an average of $563 per year. Not extravagant but not cheap.

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VERDICT

At first glance, the C5 X is another weird French car. And it is. But the French bit is key, because the execution is excellent.

It’s kind of funny that this segment used to be one of the most conservative but as time goes on and the SUV market continues to flourish like sepsis, car-makers are having a bit of fun with what has become the contrarian’s car of choice.

Citroen appears to be having a lot of fun as the yin to the Peugeot 508’s yang, while being fundamentally the same car underneath. I like that there is so much differentiation from a common platform and that two different teams have built such different cars.

But what I like is just how comfortable it is and I dreamt of pointing it at a little place we know in the Snowy Mountains, knowing we would arrive fresh as daisies.

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2023 Citroen C5 X Shine specifications

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