First look: Citroen blings C5

CITROEN has revealed a new-look version of its volume-selling C5, which has been confirmed for Australian release in the third quarter of next year.

While there are no plans to introduce the matt-black limited-edition C5 model announced this week, the upgraded C5 represents a midlife makeover for the French brand’s mid-size sedan and wagon range that was launched here in September 2008.

Globally, Citroen has sold more than 200,000 examples of the latest C5 – a third of which have been Tourer wagons – and now it has emerged with a host of styling and technical improvements.

Chief among them are revised headlights incorporating the de riguer LED daytime running lights seen on most premium models today, plus ‘Dark Crystal’ clear-lens tail-lights, while the C5 range that goes on sale in Europe by the end of this year will also score a new 150kW 2.2-litre HDi turbo-diesel.

Citroen will stick with 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 3.0-litre V6 HDi turbo-diesel variants for both the C5 sedan and Tourer in Australia, but in Europe the facelifted line-up will also include ‘e-HDi micro-hybrid’ technology that combines a second-generation idle-stop system and the six-speed electronic gearbox system (EGS6) automatic transmission with a HDi 110 DPFS diesel engine and low rolling resistance tyres to return fuel consumption of just 4.6L/100km and CO2 emissions of 120g/km.

Citroen says that is 15 per cent lower than the micro-hybrid model it replaces, thanks in part to the MkII Stop & Start system comprising a power electronics unit and new 2.2kW alternator-starter, or reversible alternator, that is 70 per cent more powerful than before.

In its world-first fitment to a diesel-engined passenger car, Citroen claims its idle-stop function takes just 400 milliseconds – or half the time of a starter – to start up and remains “completely transparent for users”.

Noise and vibration at both start-up and cut-out have been eliminated through the use of a timing belt rather than the gears of a conventional starter, and a twin-mass engine flywheel and a sealed air regulator, while other unique features include a watertight battery good for up to 600,000 restart cycles and enhanced engine mounts to increase stop/start refinement.

The PSA Peugeot-Citroen group’s new 2.2-litre HDi engine also makes its debut on the 2011 C5, featuring the same power, torque, refinement, consumptions and emissions advances realised on PSA’s smaller 1.6, 2.0 and 3.0-litre diesel engines.

The C5 HDi 200 DPFS mill comes with a third-generation common-rail intake system with maximum injection pressure of up to 2000 bars, Extreme Conventional Combustion System (ECCS) technology and a lower 16.0:1 compression ratio to lower emissions and engine noise.

The 2.2’s parallel sequential twin-turbo set-up remains, this time developing 150kW (EEC) at 3500rpm and 450Nm of torque at 2000rpm. Matched with a six-speed automatic transmission, it drives the C5 to 100km/h in a claimed 8.3 seconds (8.6 for the Tourer) on its way to a top speed of 230km/h (Tourer: 225km/h) and returns fuel consumption of 5.9L/100km (Tourer: 6.1L/100km).

In Europe, the C5 will also come with a 240 DPFS engine, plus an 88kW 1.6-litre petrol engine co-developed with BMW in the new C5 VTi 120. Fitted with the EGS6 transmission with steering wheel-mounted gearshift paddles, the latter returns 6.2L/100km.