2023 Citroen C5 X Shine review

During my week with the 2023 Citroen C5 X Shine, the French carmaker’s new eye-catching, pseudo-wagon offering, I heard one comment more than any other.

“Woah, they still sell Citroen cars in Australia?”

Poor Citroen – it’s been a consistent presence Down Under since 1923 (fun fact: the first car to be driven around Australia was a Citroen) and its commitment to our country has never wavered.

Unfortunately, Australian buyers haven’t been so loyal in the sales stakes. 

Last year, Citroen sold only 88 cars locally... An improvement on the year prior, in which it sold a grand total of 47 vehicles.

This year, the French brand has sought to remedy this brand awareness issue by launching two new models – the Citroen C4 and the Citroen C5 X I’m reviewing here.

Offered in Australia in a single specification grade, the C5 X Shine, Citroen claims the C5 X encapsulates the “elegance of a sedan, the dynamism of a wagon and the elevated driving position of an SUV”.

A tall order for a single car, but first impressions suggest it might have pulled it off. Can this category-defying tourer reverse the French brand’s fortunes? 

The 2023 Citroen C5 X Shine starts at $57,760 before on-road costs. 

While some overseas markets receive an entry-level grade called the Sense Plus and a flagship grade called the Shine Plus, Australian shoppers only receive the mid-spec Shine grade. A plug-in hybrid powertrain is also a possibility for a later local launch, but hasn't been fully confirmed just yet. 

Given it’s the sole variant available, the Shine boasts a long list of standard equipment that is fairly compelling for the price point. 

Think: a hands-free power tailgate, keyless entry, dual-zone climate control, a panoramic sunroof, heated leather seats with electric adjustment, power folding mirrors, 19-inch alloy wheels and a 360-degree camera, to name a few.

The C5 X Shine is powered by a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that drives the front wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Peak outputs from this powertrain are rated at 133kW of power and 250Nm of torque.

My test car was dressed to impress in the premium paint shade of Amazonite Grey, which was actually a gorgeous khaki green colour, adding $690 to the purchase price (the only no-cost paint colour is Magnetic Blue).

As tested, my vehicle was $63,841 drive-away for a Melbourne 3000 postcode.  

In terms of rivals, an obvious choice would be fellow Frenchman, the Peugeot 508 GT Sportswagon – with which the Citroen C5 X shares a powertrain, platform and many of its features.

However, Peugeot's wagon comes at a price premium, starting at $65,657 before on-road costs, with a similar level of standard equipment (although a sunroof costs extra) and slightly less interior space.

Other competitors for the Citroen C5 X include the Skoda Superb, priced from $55,790 before on-road costs for a base variant, and the Volkswagen Passat, priced from $57,690 plus on-road costs. 

Given the number of features on offer, the Citroen C5 X Shine is reasonably priced in the context of its competition, and the lack of expensive options packs means there are no nasty surprises. 

In the context of the broader car market, $63,000 will get you into plenty of other more popular and familiar models (a top-spec, AWD Kia Sportage or an eight-seater Nissan Pathfinder, to name a few), but if you're already looking at a Citroen car, you likely don't want to blend in with the pack anyway.

The Citroen C5 X might appear to have a lower stance, but it’s actually eminently easy to enter and exit.

Inside, the front seating is thoughtfully laid out, feeling minimal and spacious without sacrificing any storage. 

The panoramic glass sunroof is included as standard on the Shine variant and comes with a sun blind that must be controlled by hand, but works well to block out heat and glare.

The dashboard is appointed with a mixture of faux woodgrain and embossed faux leather, with the 12-inch touchscreen serving as a nice focal point. 

The seats are finished in a black leather with a unique perforated design and feature electric adjustment – eight ways for the driver, six for the passenger. The sloped angular headrests might lend the seats a slightly sporty look, but they’re wide and accommodating. They’re heated too – as is the steering wheel. Dual-zone climate control is also standard. 

The centre console features a wireless phone charger with sliding cover, two cupholders, a centre console storage bin with butterfly-opening lid, and an extra dish just behind the cupholders that's ideal for storing keys. 

Meanwhile, the door bins are generously sized and within easy reach. 

In the back seat, there’s plenty of leg room, knee room and head room, and the floor is nice and flat, without too many impediments to foot room either. 

A maximum of two child seats can be installed using the ISOFIX mounting points on the two outboard seats, and three top-tether attachments over the back.

I found fitting a child seat to be a bit fiddly thanks to the amount of foam padding around the ISOFIX anchorage points, meaning I had to dig around and make several attempts at clicking the attachments into place. 

In terms of storage, there are smaller door bins than in the front seat, map pockets on the seat-backs, two USB-C ports, two air vents, but no centre arm rest or cupholders. 

The C5 X’s boot offers 545L of storage space, but the back seat folds in a 60:40 split to increase that cargo area to 1640L (when measured to the roof). 

The boot area is not only abundantly sized, but well equipped too. It can be accessed via a power tailgate with hands-free access. 

Inside, there are levers to remotely lower the second row, tie-down points, a 12-volt outlet, a removable and retractable fabric cargo cover, and a space-saver spare wheel under the floor. 

In all, the C5 X’s unique body shape allows for a spacious, well-appointed interior that’s ideal for touring and a hospitable place for both kids and adults. 

The C5 X’s dash-mounted 12-inch infotainment screen is visually impactful and offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio and Bluetooth connectivity, and a full digital manual for the car.

There’s also in-built satellite navigation with a 3D view option, plus updates on traffic, speed cameras and nearby service stations. 

There’s a voice assistant too – although she wasn’t all that cooperative, in my experience. When I tried to ask it to call my mum, she repeatedly told me “I didn’t get that”. Maybe I should have asked in French?

I also found pairing my phone via Bluetooth took quite a while, and for a brief period it inexplicably wouldn’t let me access wireless Apple CarPlay.

When I finally accessed the wireless CarPlay, the screen would occasionally freeze, or go blank and then the connection would drop out. For the most part, however, it worked without incident. 

Meanwhile, the native infotainment system in the C5 X is borderline nonsensical in its layout, offering you the ability to swipe up, down, left and right – with a wide range of dedicated menu pages, a few of them seemingly serving much the same purpose.  

Personally, I found it didn't have a natural flow and was tricky to navigate, and the graphics – although clean and crisp – lacked the same elegant execution present in the rest of the car. 

Meanwhile, the 7.0-inch digital instrument display is basic but functional, featuring an oversized digital speedometer, a digital tachometer, and a bright blue square showing which gear you’re in. 

One highlight of this driver display is a section that tells you the status of the automatic wipers – something I find extremely useful given I often struggle to gauge whether the wipers are on or off. 

There’s also a large head-up display stacked full of things like live speed limit information, cruise-control status, a digital speedometer, driver assistance systems and media player updates.

Owners can also connect to their car from their smartphone via the My Citroen app, which offers the ability to locate your vehicle, check the mileage, book a service and pre-heat or pre-cool your car remotely. 

As a relatively new model, the Citroen C5 X has not yet been rated by local safety body ANCAP.

The European equivalent, Euro NCAP, only awarded the Citroen C5 X four out of five stars.

It received 82 per cent for adult occupant protection, 87 per cent for child occupant protection, 69 per cent for vulnerable road user protection and 66 per cent for safety assist. 

The C5 X has six airbags in total, including dual front, side and curtain airbags.

The list of standard safety technology on the C5 X Shine has no glaring gaps, offering must-haves like autonomous emergency braking with both pedestrian and cyclist detection, a forward collision warning, active lane-keep assist that helps you stay centred in your lane, blind-spot monitoring and a rear cross-traffic alert.

On a few occasions, the forward collision alert incorrectly identified parked cars in a narrow street as imminent obstacles, but otherwise the safety systems weren’t intrusive and functioned accurately. 

The adaptive cruise-control system has stop-and-go capabilities – meaning it can operate at low speeds and right down to a standstill – plus there’s traffic sign recognition that alerts you to the speed limit and prompts you to set the cruise control to that speed. 

To further monitor your speed, the head-up display offers a large digital speedo and upcoming speed camera warnings appear in the driver display.

Rounding out this sizable safety equipment list is a driver attention alert and a tyre under-inflation detection system.

One convenience feature that doubled as a safety feature was the ‘welcome’ and ‘follow me home’ lighting, meaning the C5 X’s LED headlights illuminate when you approach the car at night. This simple but effective function can really boost your sense of safety when you’re a woman walking solo down a shadowy side street.

Additionally, the car will unlock as you approach it with the key in your pocket, and unlock as you walk away, meaning no scrambling around in your handbag for your car keys. 

Parking is straightforward thanks to front and rear sensors, a well-executed 360-degree camera that offers a close-up view of the tailgate when reversing in close proximity to an obstacle, and mirrors that will automatically swivel to provide a kerb view when you’re reversing. 

Citroen offers a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty on all of its new cars, as well as prepaid scheduled servicing programs, with service visits required every 12 months or 20,000km. 

Three years of servicing for the C5 X costs $1200, while five years of coverage costs $2000, working out to roughly $400 per visit. 

For a comparison, five years of servicing on the Skoda Superb costs $1800, or $360 per visit, while Peugeot charges $2400 for the 508 GT Sportswagon, or $480 annually – meaning the Citroen’s pricing sits perfectly in between.

The Citroen C5 X Shine will cost $1537.10 to insure per year based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

Citroen claims the C5 X will drink 6.0L/100km of petrol in mixed-cycle (city and highway) driving, or 7.0L/100km for urban driving. 

Over the course of my week of predominantly inner-city driving, my consumption figure was 7.9L/100km – not entirely unreasonable for a larger car on an urban driving cycle, but certainly higher than the claimed figure and not particularly economical.

My colleague Rob tackled a wider variety of roads at the local launch of the Citroen C5 X and returned an even higher average consumption figure of 8.7L/100km.

It's also worth pointing out the C5 X has a 52L fuel tank and Citroen recommends filling it with 95-octane unleaded at a minimum, which can add a price premium at the bowser. 

On the road, the Citroen C5 X Shine is composed, quiet and comfortable, offering leisurely yet consistent performance – the perfect tourer. 

For a larger car, it must be said that a peak power output of 133kW is somewhat meagre on paper, but I personally never felt the C5 X was underpowered for my needs – which consisted mostly of suburban sprints, traffic-heavy commutes and the brief freeway trip.

Rather, I'd describe the 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine as moderate and measured in its delivery of power from a standstill, which could leave more impatient drivers underwhelmed. 

Once it gets going, however, it cruises along quite happily and refinement is impressive, resulting in a cabin that is protected from intrusive outside noises, with imperceptible engine noise and vibration. 

The trade-off for this comfy behind-the-wheel feel is that the C5 X's lower outputs and lack of all-wheel-drive capabilities (it's front-wheel drive) could be limiting on longer drives featuring hilly, varied terrain and higher speed limits.

Otherwise, the steering feel is light but the response is accurate, giving the C5 X the impression of being smaller than it actually is, particularly when handling smaller side streets.

I did get a feel for its heavier body when taking sharper corners, but the slightly lower stance (compared to a more traditional SUV) counteracts any sense of body roll.

The elevated ride height permits adequate visibility at the front and sides of the vehicle. Rear visibility is a little more limited, but the overhead camera view fills in the blanks. 

Drivers can choose between Normal, Sport and Eco drive modes, with Sport mode eliciting sharper shifting and firmer steering, although you’d still never mistake the C5 X as a performance hero. 

I had one small gripe with the eight-speed automatic transmission in that it performs better at highway speeds than it does around town, where it can feel laggy in stop-start traffic.

Additionally, the throttle is quite sensitive and can mean the car feels like it’s lurching forward during low-speed manoeuvring. 

The idle-stop system doesn’t blend particularly well into this package and can be delayed in turning the engine back on, leaving the car to roll backwards on a hill, or linger unnecessarily at busy intersections. It even interrupts the rhythm of the indicator and just generally seems to throw the car off-kilter. 

Meanwhile, the ride in the C5 X is quite a unique experience, courtesy of Citroen’s ‘Advanced Comfort’ hydraulic cushioning suspension. The dual hydraulic cushions at the front and rear essentially absorb and dissipate shock from road irregularities to deliver a “flying-carpet” sensation.

I’m not usually one to fall for marketing speak, but Citroen’s flying carpet promise is pretty accurate. The ride is remarkably soft and almost boatlike in nature – cresting and cruising over speed bumps as if they’re waves in the ocean. 

It takes a while to get used to this floaty ride, which lends itself more to relaxed road trips than dynamic cornering. 

However, once you’re accustomed to the unusual sensation, it’s entirely addictive and allows for a healthy amount of escapism when tackling Melbourne’s roadworks-laden side streets.

Personally, I found the 2023 Citroen C5 X Shine to be a real breath of fresh air.

In a crowd of performance SUVs, family haulers and hatchbacks on stilts, this is a car that screams “I’m not like other girls”. I'd hazard a guess its target buyer would subscribe to a similar slogan.

The difficult-to-define body shape is surprisingly practical and versatile, and Citroen’s innovative suspension system and efforts to insulate the cabin mean the French pseudo-wagon is a supremely comfortable place to be. 

It must be said that those looking for a gutsy engine, punchy performance and all-wheel-drive capabilities should absolutely look elsewhere, as this car is probably better considered a couch on wheels.

In particular, I can see it resonating with luxury shoppers who've grown tired of the other monotonous premium SUV offerings, and whose driving needs consist merely of the school run, the supermarket dash, and a visit to the beach house on the weekend.

When it comes to value for money, the C5 X’s fuel economy is serviceable, its maintenance costs are manageable, and buyers shopping around the $60,000 mark will find the Shine grade offers a good scope of standard equipment for your spend, particularly when compared to premium rivals.

I had some minor gripes with how the transmission and idle-stop system performed in traffic, and with the infotainment system’s functionality, or lack thereof – but more generous critics (cough, Citroen enthusiasts, cough) might just call these 'quirks'.

Otherwise, the 2023 Citroen C5 X Shine is an intriguing and distinctive new option for Australian car buyers that’s simply crying out for a tour through wine country.