Citroen C5 X 2022 Review

You can hardly accuse Citroen Australia of range complexity or excessive options, because the 2022 Citroen C5 X is available in a solitary high-specification grade and with one option, paint.

Pricing is set at $57,670 plus on-road costs, positioning the French wagon about $15,000 upstream from the most affordable Subaru Outback on offer, and on par with the excellent Skoda Superb.

As Citroen’s first passenger car since the regular C5 sedan and wagon duo was axed in 2016, the C5 X sits alongside the Citroen C5 Aircross SUV (from $52,300 plus ORCs).

The C5 X is backed by Citroen’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, a five-year roadside assist program and a five-year ‘service price promise’ program.

Citroen says servicing will set buyers back $2818 over five years/75,000km, based on intervals of 12 months/20,000km.

Although the French brand only has a 10-dealer footprint in Australia, officials say its servicing network actually stretches to 36 locations dotted around the country.

The 2022 Citroen C5 X reads like a burger with the lot where specifications are concerned, offered standard with 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights/tail-lights, electric tailgate, keyless entry/start, climate control, Citroen’s vaunted Advanced Comfort seats and a swag of tech and safety, which we’ll detail in the next sections.

As such, there are no additional options other than metallic paint, which costs $690 for Steel Grey, Platinum Grey, Nera Black and Amazonite Grey – or $1090 for Pearl White premium metallic.

It appears to be very safe, complete with Level 2 autonomy which effectively enables the 2022 Citroen C5 X to hold its position in a lane and between cars (so long as the driver’s hands are on the wheel).

Officially, the Citroen C5 X comes equipped standard with autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with low-light, pedestrian and cyclist detection, forward collision warning, hill start assist, attention monitoring, lane keep assist, traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go, rear cross traffic alert, blind spot monitoring (with up to 70m range) and a 360-degree parking camera.

The C5 X is yet to be assessed by ANCAP, but has just received a four-star (out of five) rating by Euro NCAP, the results of which will form the basis for a local rating. The related Citroen C5 Aircross also holds a four-star rating from 2019.

The 2022 Citroen C5 X bears the French car-maker’s latest tech and infotainment suite, bringing items including a 12.0-inch centre touch-screen with wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and wireless phone charging, a digital instrument cluster and four USB-C points spaced across the two rows of seating.

The touch-screen is customisable in its layout, meaning users can pick and choose which items they’d like at the front of the menus, and save shortcuts for frequent functions.

It means the C5 X has the functionality to match its shiny showroom brochure.

The C5 X is also the first Citroen in Australia to offer connected car technology, providing handy services including car park availability and live fuel prices.

Citroen has deployed a familiar 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder in the 2022 Citroen C5 X. It officially produces 133kW of power and 250Nm of torque, shuffling drive to the front wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Those figures translate to a claimed 0-100km/h time of 8.1sec – which is spritely enough. Some buyers may note the absence of all-wheel drive, which potentially costs the Citroen marks against the comparable Subaru Outback.

Further afield, Citroen Australia has confirmed a plug-in hybrid version of the C5 X will make its way to showrooms in the second half of 2023.

Elsewhere, the Citroen C5 X combines MacPherson strut front suspension and multi-link rear-end with hydraulic cushions for both compression and rebound – in essence, hydraulic bump stops said to cushion movement at the end of the stroke. More on that shortly.

Citroen claims a combined fuel consumption rating of 6.0L/100km on the combined cycle for the 2022 Citroen C5 X, which has a 52-litre fuel tank.

On launch we averaged 7.9L/100km across a mix of conditions.

We’ll give Citroen Australia credit for one thing: there’s a lot of clever marketing around the new 2022 Citroen C5 X.

From “magic carpet ride” suspension to the Advanced Comfort seats, or even the keenness around spruiking the brand’s heritage in Australia, the Citroen C5 X is a vehicle that is heavily geared around its purported comfort.

And in regular conveyance, there is a lot of merit to Citroen’s claims.

The cabin is nicely insulated from pitter-patter bumps, with the ‘hydraulic cushions’ endowing the C5 X with additional isolation from what’s happening underneath. It’s relatively quiet inside, too.

Similarly, the engine feels unstressed with the way it tackles low-speed and around-town driving, naturally pushing for the lower end of the rev spectrum, indeed finding its nominal 250Nm maximum torque from about 1650rpm – not far off idle.

Ask a little more from the engine, and it can occasionally feel languid in moving the 1500kg heft.

But, sadly, it’s not all good news.

We found the throttle modulation uneven, meaning the C5 X regularly jerks as it pulls away from a standstill.

Moreover, the brakes feel inconsistent through the pedal, beset with a long action and strange take-up as you depress it.

The ‘magic’ suspension isn’t without fault, either. Upon reaching a more uneven road surface, with road joins, crests, undulations and corners thrown in, the Citroen C5 X is simply inflicted with too much vertical movement and busyness to really make good on the marketing rhetoric.

For all the suspension’s efforts to cushion the blow, it makes for a see-sawing ride when there are multiple bumps in succession. Sportier, better-tuned rivals would recover more quickly, where the C5 X seemingly needs a couple of goes to get it right.

It’s a similar story with the driver assist safety systems, which can occasionally feel a little overbearing with their interventions but clearly have good intentions.

Where dynamism is concerned, we have no real complaints. For its circa-1500kg mass, the Citroen C5 X turns in faithfully, offers adequate grip and will happily hold a line through a faster corner.

Granted, there is an added degree of body roll, but the C5 X feels stable and surefooted given the 4.8-metre length and 2785mm wheelbase.

The 2022 Citroen C5 X will happily charter occasional dirt roads, but the fitment of 19-inch alloys and the absence of all-wheel drive are probably the best indicators of where it belongs.

In short, we’d say the 2022 Citroen C5 X interior looks and feels polished. From the surface treatments to the design and the functionality of its layout, it makes for an impressive first taste test.

The infotainment system is easy to use and legible, with a heightened level of customisation over its rivals.

And the packaging here is considered, with excellent second-row legroom and ample incidental storage.

Integration of a head-up display at the price point is noteworthy, and Citroen has cleverly avoided putting too much emphasis on the touch-screen for basic functions like climate control, with a neat bank of hard-wired switchgear underneath.

Although it’s not part of the ubiquitous SUV crowd, the Citroen C5 X is a cinch to get in and out of, thanks to a slightly elevated ride height which promotes ingress and egress.

All told, the 545-litre boot area isn’t as big as we expected (even with the use of a space-saver spare tyre), and we’d love to see a fold-down arm rest in the second row.

This, combined with the ever-so-slight dearth of headroom, suggests the space is better suited for little ones rather than adults but will ultimately accommodate both.

The fitment of ISOFIX attachment points on the outboard seats, and three top tether points are duly noted as well, as is the open glasshouse, which affords a strong outward view.

Ultimately, we reckon Citroen has done a fair job with the new 2022 Citroen C5 X, but it is missing a few key ingredients.

The interior is excellent, the infotainment is intuitive and functional and the presentation is terrific.

But the high starting price and some of its ride and handling foibles lend a clear advantage to the much more affordable Subaru Outback, not to mention the very sound Skoda Superb.

Add in the relatively expensive servicing and the smaller dealer and servicing footprint, and the C5 X loses some of its shine.

With that said, there’s a lot of personality about the Citroen C5 X. And as Citroen is keen to point out, it’s quite comfortable too.

2022 Citroen C5 X at a glance:
Price: $57,670 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 133kW/250Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 6.0L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 137g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Four-star (Euro NCAP 2022)