The French are very passionate about their culture and art, their cuisine is world renowned, and their cars, are practical, efficient and stylish. Take the 2023 Citroën C5 X for example – it’s the perfect blend of sedan and wagon, with a little SUV thrown in.
With an avant-garde body, the C5 X is muscularly curvaceous, especially in Amazonite Grey. It features a beautiful panoramic glass roof, signature V-shaped LED lighting front and back, and a gorgeous set of 19-inch Aero-X diamond cut alloys.
Slide on into the C5’s plush and comfy Mistral Black perforated “Paloma” leather electric 8-way driver’s seat and 6-way front passenger’s seats and you’ll find a 12.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system front and centre, along with a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster.
Dwarfed by its larger partner, it works with the extended head-up display, ensuring you stay completely informed. A grained leather steering wheel, brushed aluminium pedals, black leather-effect inserts, and piano black shiny bits all feature.
There’s some plastics thrown in, wood film and grain trimmings. It’s not high-class luxury, but it presents stylishly. On the bright side, it doesn’t hurt as much when grubby little drive-thru hands, mush their muck into your pride and joy.
Oh, and there’s no shifter. Instead, you get a subtle e-Toggle automatic gear selector switch on the centre console. There’s plenty of space too, whether you need to fit child seats, tall or small people.
The C5 X offers 545-litres of boot space with the seats up, and once you have the second row folded completely flat, you bump those numbers up to 1640-litres of storage. There’s no rear cup holders or centre arm rest in row two though, which is disappointing.
In an Oprah moment, everyone gets a USB-C port too, well almost. There are four in total, two each in the front and rear, along with two 12V power outlets, one up front and one in the boot for those extracurricular powered items.
Bluetooth, DAB+ digital radio, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are all included, and you can also say “Hello Citroën” to get some voice control love. The 3D navigation is pretty sweet too, and there’s an app to manage connected services.
The C5 X’s 8-speaker audio system offers crisp treble and pulsating bass, and is more than sufficient to deliver auditory satisfaction – whether you’re listening to The Wiggles greatest hits or immersed in the latest Cardi B track.
You’ll want to favourite the Start/Stop function and lane keep assist on the infotainment unit, so you can disable them before commencing your journey – they’re both annoying. Rear vision is compromised too due to the shape of the rear end.
The C5 X is a great car to drive though, albeit more suited to taking in the Aussie countryside on a leisurely cruise than looking for lap times. Under the hood is a 1.6-litre turbocharged 4-cylnder delivering 133kW of power and 250Nm of torque.
The inclusion of three driving modes and flappy shift paddles is completely unnecessary, but who are we to argue with the French car maker. Fuel economy from the 52-litre tank is a claimed 6.0-litres/100km (we saw an average of 9.0-litres).
Paired to an 8-speed automatic transmission and advanced comfort suspension, the combination delivers an amazing on-road experience. Riding high, this front-wheel drive is ready to take on potholes, speed bumps and most other road imperfections.
It’s comfortable and the insulated glass keeps road noise to a minimum. With a 0-100km/h time of 8.1 seconds, with your foot planted firmly, there are some sounds of the engine emotionally wanting to be there for you.
In typical lifted wagon fashion, cornering can feel floaty, however steering is still precise, and impressive. Automatic high beam, and front and rear wipers feature, along with a decent 360-degree camera.
Packed with safety tech (although it isn’t yet rated), the 2023 Citroen C5 X sports autonomous emergency braking, forward collision warning, hill start assist, blind spot detection, and traffic sign recognition, among others.
Our example is priced from $63,342 drive away. It’s a lot of car for the money, with a hybrid variant also headed our way in the future. There are five other colours too, including Steel Grey, Magnetic Blue, Nero Black, Pearl White and Platinum Grey.
Your new Citroën comes with a 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty, along with 24/7 roadside assist. A great all-rounder, daily driver or weekender, the C5 X is definitely worth a look.
You can find out more on the Citroen Australia website. As always we recommend shopping around on the price front, or you can visit a website like PriceMyCar to get the best deal. If you need finance, check out CreditOne.
Our test vehicle was provided by Citroën Australia. To find out more about the 2023 Citroen C5 X, contact your local Citroen dealership. Thanks to Amaroo Park, Annangrove NSW for the use of their venue.
