Citroen C5 Aircross Review (2018-present)

Citroen was rather late to offer SUV choices to its family car buyers, but the C5 Aircross underlines that the wait has been worth it. They might be fashionable, and desirable to buyers, but most SUVs are pretty conservatively styled - not so the C5 Aircross. Whether it’s an earlier car, or the 2022 facelift model with its more assertive front end design, the Citroen C5 Aircross SUV does enough in the styling department to stand out from the crowd

It’s not just the high-rise SUV stance that appeals, but also its colourful highlights, Airbump detailing, bold front and rear LED lighting, and plentiful personalisation. Overall, this is a refreshing, head-turning take on the popular mid-sized SUV format.

Rivals for the C5 Aircross are countless, with almost every manufacturer offering an alternative, be it the Skoda Karoq, Seat Ateca, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson, Ford Kuga, Nissan Qashqai, Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5 and plenty more besides.

All Citroen’s experience of making space-efficient MPVs has paid dividends with the C5 Aircross’s interior space and practicality. There’s plenty of room for starters, and this is one of the few five-seat family SUVs to offer three individual rear seats. Combined with a flat floor and lots of legroom, this makes it a great car for carrying three taller passengers in the back. What’s more, the backrests can be reclined for comfort, and the three seats can individually slide forwards by up to 150mm to create more boot space. For maximum load volume, all three seat backs drop down to create an almost flat load bay.

Speaking of boot space, the C5 Aircross excels here, too. Total volume ranges from 680-720 litres in petrol or diesel models, or from 460-600 litres in the plug-in hybrid, which trades the useful variable height boot floor of cheaper models for a battery and motors than can drive the car on electric power for around 35 miles.

Those travelling in the front seats will find themselves with plenty of headroom, legroom and shoulder room. In fact, the C5 Aircross has the feeling of a proper SUV, with a generously wide cabin, an elevated driving position, and lots of in-car storage including a massive cubby between the front seats that makes up for the rather small glovebox. Note that post-2022 facelift models feature slightly improved material quality which gives a more upmarket feel insider the car.

The C5 Aircross is closely related to its French compatriot, the Peugeot 3008, and uses the same engines and gearboxes (both manual and automatic gearboxes are offered). The starting point to the range is the PureTech 130 petrol, powered by a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with 128bhp. It’s a willing enough performer for solo drives, although needs to work quite hard if the car is fully loaded. Alternatively buyers can opt for Citroen’s 1.5-litre BlueHDi 130 diesel engine (again with 128bhp), or a 2.0-litre BlueHDi turbodiesel that kicks out 178bhp. Both are pretty smooth and refined by diesel standards, but if you’re towing, or doing bigger mileages, the 2.0-litre is the one to have. Note that as of the 2022 facelift the only diesel offered is the 1.5-litre.

Lastly, there’s the plug-in hybrid, which pairs a 1.6-litre petrol engine with an 80kW electric motor to deliver a combined output of 222bhp. In addition to its outright power advantage over the other engines, the real draw of the plug-in hybrid is its generous all-electric range of up to 38 miles, along with company car friendly CO2 emissions.

Driven in electric mode, the C5 Aircross PHEV is a quiet and smooth vehicle, and powerful enough. When the petrol engine chimes in it does so smoothly, and adds enough mid-range punch to make the C5 Aircross feel genuinely swift. What it doesn’t particularly relish is being pushed hard, at which point the engine sounds strained. However, if that’s the kind of driving you enjoy you’re in the wrong car anyway, because the Citroen has no sporting pretensions (overly light steering that is devoid of any feel also sees to that).

It’s in the area of comfort that Citroen really wants to stand out with the C5 Aircross. To that end its seats feel particularly supportive, and its suspension is soft in its configuration. Citroen has also fitted what it calls ‘Progressive Hydraulic Cushions’ to the suspension to help smooth out rougher roads. All of this helps to give the C5 Aircross a softer ride than most other SUVs; you’ll still feel bumps in the road, but its comfort-focused approach means it deals with them a little better than its rivals.

The trade-off for the smooth ride is a more body roll, and some pitching and heaving, but on the motorway, or around town, the suspension’s softness makes the C5 Aircross an easygoing companion. Throw in what is good isolation from wind and road noise, and the big Citroen is a particularly easy SUV in which to complete long journeys.

One thing to note is that the C5 Aircross is only offered with front-wheel drive. That means you’ll need one of its four-wheel driven rivals if you’re intent on venturing far off-road.

The C5 Aircross’s infotainment screen was one of the items upgraded as part of the 2022 facelift. At 10 inches it looks impressive enough compared with the old 8-inch system, but in reality the extra space offered over the older design is merely used for permanently displaying the in-car temperature. In terms of software little has changed, which means you still need practice and patience to navigate the system’s plentiful sub-menus to perform what should be rather simple tasks. You might find that plugging in your phone to take advantage of the standard-fit Apple CarPlay or Android Auto is the best way forwards.

Other tech highlights include a 12.3-inch digital dial display (crisp graphics, but somewhat fussy in its layout), as well as keyless entry, a reversing camera, and front and rear parking sensors on all models. Go for the top-spec model and you'll also get a powered tailgate.

The C5 Aircross is priced very competitively, and running costs should also be reasonable, with all versions offering good fuel economy. The Hybrid is the champion here, but also remember that it commands a much higher list price. Of the conventionally-powered C5 Aircross models, the diesels offer the best fuel consumption, with the 1.5-litre BlueHDi returning an official WLTP tested combined consumption between 48.2-56.3mpg, depending on which trim level you’ve picked, and whether you’ve gone for the six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic gearbox.

Don’t rule out the petrol engine, though, particularly if you’re likely to be doing shorter journeys around town. The 1.2 PureTech returns an official economy of between 36.6-45.2mpg, again depending on the specification. The automatic choices, with both the diesel and petrol engines are marginally more efficient, and convenient around town, too.

Servicing, insurance and all other associated costs for the C5 Aircross are typical for this class of car.

The Citroen C5 Aircross hasn’t thrown up any serious common mechanical worries since its time on sale, nor are we aware of any specific issues relating to the engines it uses when featured elsewhere within the Stellantis portfolio (Stellantis being the parent company of car brands including Citroen, Peugeot, Vauxhall, Fiat, Alfa Romeo and DS). There’s only been a couple of recalls for the car, relating to a trailer hitch and the AdBlue injector blocking, but ask your Citroen dealer if there have been any other service bulletins, and make sure that any necessary action has been undertaken under warranty.

Citroen hasn’t had the most impressive reputation for reliability in previous years, but like its Peugeot relation, that seems to be changing for the better. Any issues tend to centre around bugs in the electrics rather than mechanical woes, so they’re more frustrating issues than anything serious.

Citroen’s standard warranty runs for three years and 60,000 miles, which is far short of Kia’s seven-year, 100,000-mile offering on the Sportage, or the five-year warranties that many other SUVs come with. Those buying the C5 Aircross Hybrid also benefit from additional cover to eight years and 100,000 miles for the battery, giving extra peace of mind for this expensive component.