Living With The First Citroen SUV For India, C5 Aircross Review

The driver display is a full digital affair which is expected but has a simple look which does not overcomplicate.

Citroen C5 Aircross SUV For India (Source: ABP News)

New Delhi: As Citroen gets ready to reveal its C3 for India, we thought we would look back at its first offering, the C5 Aircross. If anything, the C5 Aircross is purely French and shows how different Citroen is from others. That said, we wanted to get beyond the usual first drive and lived with it for a while to get under the skin of this premium SUV. Before we start, the achilles heel of the C5 would be its pricing which is now north of Rs 32 lakh starting. Hence, it's a different sort of SUV for a different car buyer. We drove the car for a long time to find out if it's remotely worth that money and how Citroen is shaping up its brand in India.

You do not see many C5s here and that's a shame because the C5 Aircross is quite a good-looking SUV and not within the usual SUV design template. It's not huge and nor is it small but the right size while the front-end is what gives it a different look. We love the grille design and the detailing around it plus the sculpted sides along with the dual-tone look are very pleasing to the eye. 

Big 18-inch wheels do fill up the wheel arches nicely while the square-ish LED tail-lamps again make it stand out. It gets a lot of stares even in this sober colour and it does turn heads. It's not very butch but a very interesting design that will look unique even years down the line.

The interior again was completely different and took us some time to get used to it but the quality along with the sense of occasion was there. It's genuinely plush and that's expected for the price but does not have the boring beige set-up with a leather/cloth combo. The touchscreen and the infotainment system work well but some more physical controls would have been nice. 

The driver display is a full digital affair which is expected but has a simple look that does not overcomplicate. The huge boot is simply massive and swallowed all of my furniture with the loading lip being perfectly placed too. A small road trip with my family meant I got feedback on the comfortable rear seats with ample cushioning but personally I would have wanted a bench-type lay-out instead of the individual rear seats for better comfort.

I'll get to the best bit about the C5 and that's the ride quality plus the overall driving experience. There is a single 2.0l diesel on offer but that's enough in terms of strong performance and it feels quicker than other SUVs. Plus a diesel 5-seater premium SUV is getting to be a rare car and that's a USP with the C5. The strong torque and the smooth 8-speed auto means I did Delhi-Chandigarh in one go without even stopping! It's very relaxing and is a great highway companion. 

Moving upwards from Chandigarh, I ventured off-road a bit and the 230mm (unladen) ground clearance came in handy along with the suspension which is silent along with being perfectly suited for our roads. In Delhi, I used it every day, and here again, the constant construction meant some of the roads had vanished which means here the ride quality of the C5 was shown. That said, some of the sharp edges or bad roads did filter through but the car has a solid and tough feel to it. I would say the ride quality, smooth diesel, and overall drive comfort is the main reason to buy this car. Being a diesel, my wallet was also reasonably happy with a 13kmpl average.

Overall, the C5 Aircross might seem expensive and it is, but dig deeper and its talents can be seen. Its design and relative rarity is a bonus but the superb ride plus the easy-to-use nature along with the strong diesel is the USP. It also shows what to expect from the brand's future cars too.