Early release for Citroen's C5 Estate

CITROEN Australia has boosted its C5 line-up with the addition of a wagon variant - two months ahead of schedule.

"There has been so much interest in the C5 Estate following the launch of the Citroën C5 sedan in June that we applied some pressure on our French colleagues to get the estate here early," Citroen Australia boss Miles Williams said.

Pricing is set at $43,490 for the C5 2.0 16V Estate with manual transmission. Add another $2000 if you prefer a self-shifter.

Like its sedan sibling, the C5 Estate comes with Citroën's Hydractive 3 suspension that is claimed to deliver excellent ride quality and keep the car level even when fully laden.

In addition, an on-board sensor recognises rough roads and automatically raises ride height for greater ground clearance. At freeway speeds the C5 lowers itself for better stability and lower fuel sapping drag.

A button is also provided at the rear of the car which, when activated, lowers the C5 to make loading heavy items easier and safer.

When loading is complete, the C5 Estate automatically restores normal drive height and self-levelling.

The load area, which has a minimum volume of 563 litres and expands to a maximum of well over 1.6 cubic metres, may be accessed either through the rear door or the rear window, which opens independently of the rear door, adding to ease of use and flexibility.

The load area has a reversible floor mat, with one side covered in deep pile carpet and the other side in a washable and waterproof high grip surface, which means the Citroën C5 Estate is equally happy with carrying soft leather luggage, a dirty mountain bike or wet towels and swimming costumes from a family day at the beach.

For added safety and security, there are luggage tie down points, a load cover, cargo net and a retractable net to keep pets and luggage in the rear load area.

The rear seats may be folded down either as a complete bench or split 60/40.

A 2.0-litre petrol engine that generates 101kW is the only powerplant available for now. It can be mated to a five-speed manual gearbox or an auto-adaptive four-speed automatic gearbox with Tiptronic style manual gear selection.

Citroen says the manual C5 wagon can accelerate from standstill to 100km/h in 11 seconds while the self-shifter takes 13.2 seconds. Overall fuel consumption is quoted at 8.4 litres/100 km for the manual and 8.7 litres/100km for the auto.

Standard equipment includes electric windows, climate control air-conditioning with split temperature control, front centre arm rests, remote central locking, rain-sensing wipers, rear folding arm rests, six-speaker CD stereo, two gloveboxes and drawers under the front seats.

It also comes with power sockets in the front for computers and mobile phones and another power socket in the luggage compartment for fridges.