Citroen C5

The Citroën C5 is a mid-size car produced by the French manufacturer Citroën since early 2001.

The C5 is available as a saloon/sedan or estate/station wagon, and replaced the Citroën Xantia in the large family car class. Power comes from by 1.8 L, 2.0 L and 3.0 L V6 petrol engines as well as 1.6 L, 2.0 L and 2.2 L direct injection Diesel engines with up to 136 hp (100 kW), capable of 127 mph (204 km/h) and a 10.2 second sprint to 0-60 mph (97 km/h). A comfortable interior and smooth ride are considered to be the C5's strongpoints, though customer satisfaction survey performances are frequently poor.

The C5 had a further development of Citroën's hydropneumatic suspension, now called Hydractive 3. The major change with this system was the use of electronic sensors to replace the mechanical height correctors seen in all previous hydropneumatic cars. This allowed the suspension computer to automatically control ride height: at high speed the suspension is lowered to reduce drag and at low speeds on bumpy roads the ride height is raised. Manual control of ride height was retained, though it was overridden by the computer if the car was driven at an inappropriate speed for the selected height. Certain cars also featured the computer controlled ride stiffness seen on Hydractive 2 Xantia and XM models.

In a major break with Citroën tradition, the brakes and steering were no longer powered by the same hydraulic system as the suspension. It has been speculated that the primary driver for this was the cost of developing electronic brake force distribution for the system when PSA already had an implementation for conventional brakes. Another factor may be the highly responsive nature of Citroën brakes, which some have found hard to adjust to on other hydropneumatic cars, though it is felt by some to be superior. It can be scary for a Citroën driver used to the instant reactions of an older hydropneumatic car to drive another vehicle and find an inch of pedal travel before any significant braking is achieved.

Unlike its predecessors, the C5 sedan is a "three-box" design, with a small portruding trunk. This form actually disguises a hatchback door, so Citroën has completely reversed design philosophy from the fastback sedan era of Robert Opron.

In 2004, the C5 got a major facelift (new front and rear ends; same centre section) to bring it into line with the look of the new Citroën C4. The car was lengthened from 4618 mm (182 in) to 4745 mm (187 in).

Second generation

The second generation C5 II is planned for the fall of 2007, which will retain the current concept of a sedan with a hatch. The range is predicted to include a V6 HDI version.