Overview

We’ve rather enjoyed watching Citroen head back to its roots. The brand has abandoned any aspirations of sportiness it garnered during the early 2000s and gone back to building superbly comfortable mile-munchers. The C5 Aircross is a fine example of the breed – and as unfashionable as it might seem, it strikes us as a sensible choice given how family SUVs are most likely to be used.

We admire Citroen’s unashamed focus on comfort. It’s refreshingly honest. Most SUV manufacturers claim their cars can do everything. Their brochures claim they can carry lots of passengers, haul loads of luggage and ride like magic carpets – but also control their bodies like sports cars when the road gets twisty. Unsurprisingly, 90% of the SUVs on sale can’t.

Rivals include the Kia Sportage, Skoda Karoq, SEAT Ateca and Volkswagen Tiguan. They each have their benefits – the Karoq is incredibly practical, while the Ateca is genuinely good fun to drive – but none can match the C5 for ride quality. You need to step up to a premium SUV such as a Land Rover Discovery Sport or Range Rover Evoque to get the same level of comfort, spending a considerable chunk of extra change in the process.

In-keeping with its comfort-biased brief, you won’t find any performance powertrains in the C5 Aircross line-up. Even the most potent 180hp plug-in hybrid model feels brisk at best – and the bulk of the car’s range consists of smaller displacement petrol and diesel units offering between 130 and 136hp. You also won’t find four-wheel drive on the options list.

But what the Citroen gives away in performance, it claws back in practicality. It’s basically a large box with a wheel on each corner, so it has a reasonably spacious cabin. The rear seats also slide fore and aft to allow you to prioritise either increased rear leg room or greater boot capacity – and non-hybrid models have loads of luggage space and a height-adjustable boot floor.

Over the next few pages, we review each aspect of the Citroen C5 Aircross. Our assessment will consider its practicality, interior quality, comfort, technology, driving experience and running costs. We’ll then offer our final verdict on the car to let you know whether it’s worth spending your money on. Plus, if you’d like to know what the C5 Aircross is like to live with day-to-day, check out our long-term review of the car.