Review: Citroen C5 Aircross (2019)

Citroen C5 Aircross (2019): At A Glance

• On average it achieves 72% of the official MPG figure

Citroen C5 Aircross (2019): What's It Like Inside?

• Boot space is 580–1630 litres
• Euro NCAP rating of four stars

Dimensions
Length	4500 mm
Width	2099 mm
Height	1670 mm
Wheelbase	2730 mm
Full specifications

It's inside where the C5 Aircross really shines. Not necessarily in a premium way - you will find some hard plastics if you seek them out (although it does feel more premium than a Qashqai) - but in a clever family-friendly kind of way. Everything feels robust, as if it'll stand the everyday abuse of young children, and there's plenty of storage for all the bits and bobs families accumulate.

There are three trim levels - Feel, Flair and Flair Plus. All of them get an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment display in the centre of the dash, with DAB radio, Bluetooth and Citroen's Mirror Screen system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The entry-level Feel model does without navigation, but we generally find Google Maps to be a good substitute for built-in nav if your phone supports Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Citroen's infotainment system is a bit laggy, so the ability to bypass it using Apple Carpaly or Android Auto and your smartphone is a bonus. The inability to adjust the cabin's temperature without bringing up a screen on the infotainment system is a little annoying - and not great for in-car relations if your passenger decides they're cold as you're negotiating a tricky junction on the satnav. (But if you have the nav configurateion selected for the driver display that tells you what to do,very clearly.)

You can spend hundreds of miles in a C5 Aircross yet still feel fairly refreshed at the end of the journey. You sit high up, which is great for providing a good view of the road ahead, and the seats feature extra padding to reduce aches and pains.

It's very pleasant in the back, too. There are three individual seats with room for three adults, if needs be. You can slide them back should you need more legroom, and there's plenty of headroom even for the tallest of passengers. The windows are big, too - great for reducing the chances of travel sickness.

There's a big boot with a wide access, although there is the usual lip for hoisting bulky items over. If you need more space, the rear seats can be dropped individually. It's very easy to do so and they fold pretty flat, leaving loads of room for carrying large items.

Specification (February 2019):

Feel comes with the Safety Pack (including Active Safety Brake, Active Blind Spot Monitoring System, Active Lane Departure Warning System), Citroen Connect Box with SOS and Emergency Assistance, automatic dual zone climate control, rear parking sensors, acoustic laminated windscreen with rain and brightness sensors, electric door mirrors, multi-function leather steering wheel, height adjustable driver and front passenger seat in grey cloth, DAB radio, Mirror Screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 17-inch alloy wheels and the Visibility Pack (automatic wipers and headlights).

Flair adds a two-tone horn, front parking sensors, Visio park 1 (reversing camera), front fog lights with cornering function, advanced comfort seats with grey grained leather/graphite cloth, driver's seat lumbar adjustment, LED welcome lgihting with two front LED spotlights, rear LED reaing lights, electrochrome rear-view mirror, stainless steel front inner door sills, Citroen Connect Nav with TomTom Live updates (3 year subscription), ConnectedCam, voice recognition (radio, navigation and telephony features), 18-inch Swirl alloy wheels, folding door mirrors with integrated LED turn signal indicators, tinted rear windows and windscreen, a matt black rear bumper fascia with chrome exhaust trim and 'Follow me home' lighting.

Flair Plus features driver attention alert, intelligent beam headlights, foot operated motorised rear tailgate, keyless entry and start, acoustic laminated front windows, active cruise control, aluminium pedals and foot rest, wireless smartphone charging, opening panoramic glass roof including electric blind, 19-inch Art bi-tone diamond cut alloy wheels with 205/55 R19 tyres, gloss black upper radiator grille plus a gloss black rear bumper fascia with chrome exhaust trim.

What's the Citroen C5 Aircross (2019) like to drive?

• Engines range from 1.2 Puretech 130 to 2.0 BlueHDi 180 EAT8
• Readers report Real MPG to be between 30–50 mpg

Petrol buyers get the choice of a 1.2-litre PureTech 130 with a six-speed manual gearbox or a 1.6-litre PureTech 180 with an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Both are very quiet and refined, which suits the car's nature, although the 130 is best suited to town driving as it's a little underwhelming when trying to gain speed on a motorway slip road.

The 180 has no such issues, with plenty of performance on offer for a car of this type - and the automatic gearbox is rarely caught out.

If you cover lots of motorway miles you'd be better choosing a diesel model. The 1.5-litre BlueHDi 130 is available with a manual or automatic gearbox, while the 2.0-litre BlueHDi 180 comes with an eight-speed automatic gearbox as standard.

For most people, the BlueHDi 130 will be punchy enough, with plenty of low down torque providing a relaxing drive. Opting for the automatic gearbox hampers performance (0-62mph in 11.8 seconds compared to 10.4 seconds for the manual), although it still feels more sprightly than the 1.2 petrol.

In terms of handling, the C5 Aircross is perfectly competent for a car of this style. It doesn't lean too much in corners and the steering is reasonably connected and accurate, just not as sharp as in a Peugeot 3008 on the same 205/55 R19 tyres. Visibility is good, making it easy to thread through city traffic, and parking is helped by the reversing camera on Flair and Flair Plus models.

Thanks to its Progressive Hydraulic Cushions, the C5 Aircross's ride quality is the best in its class. It's not floaty, yet it soaks up lumps and bumps in the road very well. There's no harshness to it even on the most broken of British roads.

Engine	MPG	0-62	CO2
1.2 Puretech 130	53–54 mpg	10.5 s	119–121 g/km
1.5 BlueHDi 130	69 mpg	10.4 s	106–108 g/km
1.5 BlueHDi 130 EAT8	69–71 mpg	11.8 s	106–107 g/km
1.6 Puretech 180 EAT8	50 mpg	8.2 s	129–131 g/km
2.0 BlueHDi 180 EAT8	59–60 mpg	8.6 s	124–126 g/km

Real MPG average for a Citroen C5 Aircross (2019)

Real MPG was created following thousands of readers telling us that their cars could not match the official figures.

Real MPG gives real world data from drivers like you to show how much fuel a vehicle really uses.

Diesel or petrol? If you're unsure whether to go for a petrol or diesel (or even an electric model if it's available), then you need our Petrol or Diesel? calculator. It does the maths on petrols, diesels and electric cars to show which is best suited to you.

What have we been asked about the Citroen C5 Aircross (2019)?

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