Citroen C5 Exclusive 2008 Review

Bon Jour. In Anglo-French translation that's 'good day'. For the French, however, their universal greeting also has implications of good will and good manners.

In its own quiet way, the new C5 expresses that nationalistic sense of culture and couth. This is a welcoming car, one that carries itself with perceptibly more authority than the previous model.

The spec levels brim with features, up to nine airbags and more equipment than before, along with top class crash-safety ratings. Almost inevitably, weight's up. So are some price points.

Note there are no petrol models for Australia - Citroën Oz is taking a big punt on diesels sustaining their new-found popularity in spite of fuel price contortions.

Where the earlier C5 range started on petrol at $39,990, the new entry level Comfort 2.0 HDi asks $49,990, unchanged from its identically engined SX antecedent. In newly introduced Exclusive form, the 2.0 costs $54,990 while the 2.7-litre lists at $62,990. In each instance, Tourer wagon variants add $2750.

The 2.0-litre again has 100kW and 320Nm, with another 20Nm available for full-throttle overboost. The twin-turbo V6 specifies the same 150kW and 440Nm as its C6 stablemate. Both are six-speed autos.

Although there's a second or so lost in the 2.0 HDi's claimed acceleration times, the extra weight hasn't cost fuel economy, and certainly not dynamic refinement. The 2.0 HDi again claims 7.1L/100km consumption, and the V6's 8.6L/100km is also competitive among its class rivals.

Naturally the V6 is noticeably ahead for brisk acceleration and responsive overtaking, but the 2.0-litre isn't a slug and doesn't feel or sound strained even when pedalled with vigour. That's because the C5's noise suppression and insulation are outstanding. Tyre/road rumble is minimal even on coarse surfaces, and if there's a car that generates less wind rush at up to 1.5 times the speed limit, we've yet to hear about it.

With Citroën's computer-controlled self-levelling Hydractive3 hydro-pnuematic springing, the impressively supple ride is unusually willowy (and quiet) as it soaks up bumps that would conventionally rock your socks. At first the C5 feels comparatively soft and a bit floaty even on the firmer of its two settings. But familiarity and hard cornering prove that the handling, grip and body control are, in their own Citroën-esque ways, the stuff of which fast, flowing cruising is made.

So, no, the C5 isn't for everyone. But for those who accept and appreciate its qualities, its very Frenchness, the C5 is a constant assurance of motoring bon jour.