Citroen C-Crosser FemaleFirst test Citeron's new SUV.
Citroen have crossed the boundaries with their first ever SUV, the C- Crosser that combines the Citroen qualities as seen on their other models, with a spacious, practical interior, flexible seating arrangement and being a Citroen, a new cleaner and more fuel efficient HDi diesel engine with a Diesel Particulate Filter system.
Indecisive customers will be delighted to hear that only two trims are on offer mated to one 2.2 litre engine, the highly equipped VTR+ at £22,790 and with more toys on board, the Exclusive at £25,490. My test car was of course the latter in black pearlescent paint
The C-Crosser has an easy peesy flexible 5+2 seating configuration so if I want the third row seats down for the shopping, I pull a couple of tabs and the seats fold away under the floor giving me a whopping 1,686 litres of space.
With the pressure on for motorists to start downsizing their vehicles, have Citroen missed the boat with their late entry into the 4X4 market? Well, according to Citroen, the market is still a healthy one with 4x4’s taking 7.5% of the total car market in 2006. Let’s face it, there are genuine reasons why this huge chunk of the market want and need 4x4’s and what will lure them towards the Citroen camp, is the fact that the C-Crosser is a remarkably attractive car albeit rather large due to the long, long bonnet, but comes with the front styling taken from its siblings, the lovely bi-xenon light clusters with washers, and thanks to the high waistline, curvy wings and large wheel arches, the aggressive look normally seen on 4x4 is instantly taken away. The 18 inch alloy wheels provides the car with presence, the alloy effect roof bars, shows its practical side as does the body coloured electrically adjustable and heated door mirrors while the rear privacy glass prevents other motorists being distracted by the children fights.
Hoisting up into the interior the smell of leather greets me coming from the leather seats, the front ones being heated and the drivers electrically adjustable, the gear knob and the leather height adjustable steering wheel with remote audio controls. At least being leather, they are easier to clean. Keeping me cool calm and collected is automatic climate control with pollen filter while I plug my MP3 player into the RDS stereo radio CD meaning I get to chose exactly what music I want to listen to as I cruise along with the cruise control set legally to ensure I keep my gleaming clean licence in tact.
The C-Crosser has an easy peesy flexible 5+2 seating configuration so if I want the third row seats down for the shopping, I pull a couple of tabs and the seats fold away under the floor giving me a whopping 1,686 litres of space. But if I don’t, its really easy for the children, who love going in the third row, to access it through the second row thanks to two buttons located internally next to the rear wheel arches that allows the second row seats to be electronically folded forwards thus the children clamber in. But there is not much room in the third row and I would be surprised if taller children don’t get their legs chopped off. Even with the seven seats in place there is still 510 litre of luggage space and the two-piece tailgate can be dropped down to lower the sill thus doubling up as a handy bench to support 200kg of shopping bags.
The C-Crosser comes with lots of cubby holes including a lockable air conditioned glove box, roof mounted sun glass holder, loads of cup holders, a storage box in the centre front arm rest, pockets on the back of the front seats and in the boot, there are more storage compartments for the de-icier, first aid kit etc.
The clean new 2.2 HDi litre diesel powering the C-Crosser slashes the CO2 emissions right down to 194g/km thus falls into VED band F at £205 pa, with a benefit in kind tax of 28%. Mated to a six speed manual gearbox and hydraulic variable power steering, top speed is 124mph, 0-62 in just 9.9 seconds and cost saving 38.75 mpg on a combined cycle. Being quite large, I found myself gunning for the furthest away parking space, but in fact, the C-Crosser glided into the bays quite easily with a little help from the rear parking sensors.
Keeping me on track is ABS with EBD, ESP and Traction Control but in case it went all topsy turvy, the C-Crosser comes with driver and passenger airbags, lateral airbags, rear curtain airbags, three point seatbelts for all seven seats, the fronts having seatbelt pre-tensioners plus force limiters, 3 x ISOFIX anchorages in the second row and energy absorbing side impact protection. Securing the C-Crosser from roaming eyes is a high frequency remote central locking with deadlocks, an anti theft alarm and electronic transponder immobiliser thus falls into insurance group 13E. The C-Crosser has yet to be tested in the Euro NCAP ratings.
I became very attached to my C- Crosser. She produced a lovely ride and handling thanks to the revised suspension and with three different modes of driving available using a selector by the gear lever, I could conquer any terrain by using 4WD mode, safe in the knowledge that by switching to LOCK, the muddy drive or pending snow who not stop me from shopping or to keep my fuel usage and CO2 emissions to a minimum, just pop her into permanent 2WD mode.
I do believe Citroen’s late entry will send some ripples of discontent to other manufacturers with its excellent practical side and stunning design while potential customers will be counting pennies saved not just from the initial price tag, but all the other running costs slashed thanks to the new engine.
OK, off to the sales
FemaleFirst - Jackie Violet