YOU have to hand it to Citroen – 100 years in business and it is still managing to invigorate and surprise us.
Take its C5 Aircross SUV – unlike many of its counterparts, it looks big and friendly even before you get in and sink into its incredibly comfortable seats. It’s a welcoming car, its broad nose highlighted by the double chevron on the bonnet and the wide smiley grille.
This model, Flair Plus, had the red colour pack on board, with red outlining the vents under the grille and stylishly highlighting the broad roof bars and Citroen’s signature Airbumps under the doors.
The C5 Aircross comes with seven body colours, the option of a black roof and two other colour packs – silver or white – giving you 30 different colourful ways to personalise your Aircross.
It is built for families, with piles of space inside and three full-sized rear seats that can be lowered together or individually for a massive load space and they can also slide backwards and forwards.
The central arm between the front seats has a great bit of space under it that will take a 1.5-litre water bottle, the glovebox opens from above and is illuminated and there are cup holders and map pockets.
But the C5 Aircross is not just all about comfort, space and storage. It comes with enough tech to satisfy the fussiest digi-fan.
There are two USB charging ports as well as a wireless charger and two 12V sockets – one in the glovebox and the other in the boot. There’s DAB, Bluetooth, MirrorLink, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, with voice recognition covering radio, sat nav and telephone.
And, of course, because this is a Citroen, there is the firm’s Connect Box emergency and assistance system, as well as the Connected CAM that you can use to send pictures of your travels to friends on social media or, better still, use as a dash cam.
And you will want to travel a lot in this car. Due to its suspension with Progressive Hydraulic Cushions, it is exceedingly comfortable, like floating along on a giant cushion. Remember, this is the car that can claim the iconic in its heritage.
But, amazingly, this car is also well equipped for much of what Mother Nature can throw at you.
Its optional Grip Control, costing £400, allows you to adjust the driving system for snow, mud, rocks – different kinds of terrain – for greater security. And Hill Descent Assist will help you down a slope forwards or in reverse.
It comes with loads of safety systems, too, such as adaptive cruise control, a reversing camera, an alert to tell you when to take a break, a collision risk warning, an active safety brake, intelligent beam headlights and many more features.
The Citroen C5 Aircross is a car for our times, offering a plethora of features that are incredibly family-friendly and designed to make life easier. They are the kind of little things that you never knew you needed but, once tasted in this car, you will never want to be without them.
Factfile:
- Model: Citroen C5 Aircross Flair Plus BlueHDi 130 Auto
- Engine: 1.5-litre diesel
- Power: 129hp
- Top speed: 117mph
- 0-62mph: 11.8 seconds
- Average mpg: 48.0-56.3mpg
- CO2 emissions: 106-108g/km
- Warranty: Three years/60,000 miles
- Price: £30,830
