The Making Of The Citroën DS5

"Kookanoodles" (Kookanoodles) 08/25/2013 at 16:05 • Filed to: Citroën, DS5, PSA, Peugeot, Sochaux

1

50

I'll admit it, I have more than a weak spot for the Citroën DS5. To be blunt, I absolutely love it. It's bold, it's forward-thinking, the interior is incredible and the outside looks amazing. It's only flaw is that you can't have it with Citroën's famous Hydractive suspension (ok, that's a pretty big flaw, but it's not enough to keep me from wanting this car). And now, witness it being built in Peugeot-Citroën's Sochaux plant.

Source : PSA Peugeot-Citroën

Mikeado > Kookanoodles 08/25/2013 at 16:07

0

Have you ever sat in one? It's so so coooool! Overhead switches FTW.

The suspension seems to be the key flaw according to the reviews, because it's not as smooth or relaxing as that type of car - especially that type of Citroën - should really be. I wonder how much of a nightmare it would be to install Hydractive suspension...

Kookanoodles > Mikeado 08/25/2013 at 16:13

0

I don't think it'd even be possible, since this car is based on the same platform as the Peugeot 3008 and it hasn't been engineered at all to receive the Hydractive suspension. It's a shame, really, but Citroën made a choice between giving the Hydractive or the Hybrid4 diesel/electric drivetrain (PSA don't have a platform that can accomodate the two, yet). Oh well, I guess the best thing to do would be to buy it with the smallest wheels to get an acceptable ride.

Jaaag Hartley > Mikeado 08/25/2013 at 16:32

1

I sat in one when my mum was looking at a DS3 (she got one, the red edition too which looks sooo cool) and its amazing. You feel like you're in something low and sporty. I smile whenever I see one on the road, same with a C6, because I know that they have bought something that is brilliant that most people won't agree with...that makes me a bit of a hipster doesn't it...

Burrito de EJ25 > Kookanoodles 08/25/2013 at 16:37

6

I wish the French would build for the U.S.. Our country is more Euro friendly than it's ever been. I want Renault specifically, though.

Mikeado > Jaaag Hartley 08/25/2013 at 16:40

0

My dad's hoping to get a C6 when we can sell the Galaxy. I hope so too!

duurtlang > Burrito de EJ25 08/25/2013 at 17:07

1

It's much easier for Renault to reenter the US market than Peugeot and Citroën. Mostly due to the partnership with Nissan. Peugeot/Citroën will need a partner to supply infrastructure like a dealership network.

Jaaag Hartley > Mikeado 08/25/2013 at 18:03

0

Galaxy? As in ford Galaxy?

my mum had one of them, didn't exactly have the cool factor of the citroën...

Mikeado > Jaaag Hartley 08/25/2013 at 18:17

0

Nah man, we've got the rights to the Solar System!

We needed the third row of seats and more luggage space than an S-Max. But my brother and I are at Uni (me starting year 2) from October, and then my other brother will be next year, so we probably won't have it for all that much longer.

Jaaag Hartley > Mikeado 08/25/2013 at 19:10

0

my mum had the original rav4, then my dad surprised her with the galaxy one day...she was less than impressed haha. after the galaxy she wanted a 9-3 cab, but got an espace instead to be practical. Then an A5 cab and now a DS3...came from a very petrolhead family...what do you mean you don't believe me!?

And I'm going into second year in a few weeks, what Uni are you at?

Mikeado > Jaaag Hartley 08/26/2013 at 05:24

0

Swansea Met, doing Automotive Design. I'm moving in with friends after my cousin's wedding (which is in Suffolk and would make for a loooong train journey if I moved in before) which is on the 14th.

babou > Kookanoodles 08/26/2013 at 14:13

2

the quote at the end reads :

Whatever the perfection of the machine, the presence of man is required : it always dominate the most clever mechanical contraptions.

QQXQXL123 > duurtlang 08/26/2013 at 15:51

0

That's the easy bit. The hard bit is meeting US regulations, which are different enough to most of the rest of the world to make it not worthwhile making the changes for a market entry where sales will be low.

That should change with the US-EU Free Trade Area though.

homoman > Kookanoodles 08/26/2013 at 15:54

0

If that's the ad at the top of the page it's almost as bad as the Infiniti ads when before the line went on sale in the 1990's.

homoman > duurtlang 08/26/2013 at 15:57

0

Peugeot has to overcome the negativity from their last foray into the US market. Cars that would stop working as they were leaving the dealership were the tip of the iceberg with reliability and they rusted out at a frightening rate.

duurtlang > QQXQXL123 08/26/2013 at 16:05

0

You're absolutely right about that last part.

The US regulations certainly are different, and adapting existing models to US requirements might be very expensive but not hard. I imagine a manufacturer who wants to sell vehicles on both continents takes these regulations into consideration when developing a new vehicle and thus reducing costs significantly. So, given time, I doubt this will be a big problem other than it costing extra money. But I'm just a layman, I might be completely wrong here.

duurtlang > homoman 08/26/2013 at 16:07

0

Are you sure you aren't talking about Renault or even Fiat?

Napop > Mikeado 08/26/2013 at 16:12

1

I wasn't shocked by the firm suspension, it's true we could expect a smoother setup from Citroën, but this car (and the other DS) is aiming younger people than the typical XM-driving grandpas. Hydractive is still available on the C5.
I liked some of the details in the interior such as the switches, the brushed aluminum, but it's a bit like being in a lowered MPV because of these A-pillars, you've got to be used to it.
But hey, this is the official car of the président Hollande, so it should be good.

homoman > duurtlang 08/26/2013 at 16:27

0

No, I'm a bit of a Franco-phile and had several friends who had Peugeots in the 80's. They were a lot of problems, right up there with Fiats (Fix it again Tony!).

I actually liked the Renault 18i. My boss had one and his was great. If I could drive a stick without pain, I probably would have had an 18i in the 80's.

360ad > Burrito de EJ25 08/26/2013 at 16:31

0

Depends on what part of the US you are talking about. There are still parts that doesn't refer to Europe without saying "Euro trash".

duurtlang > homoman 08/26/2013 at 16:32

0

As far as I recall, but I was born in the early 80s so take it with a grain of salt, Peugeots of the time really were quite decent. Not perfect, but decent. I recall the 505 rusting, but newer Peugeots (introduced in the mid 80s and later) didn't really have rust problems, certainly not more so than the competition and certainly less than brands like Toyota, Ford and Opel. My own daily driven Peugeot 406 coupe, a car introduced in the mid 90s, is bulletproof and there's no rust at all. Yet they do salt the roads here.

homoman > duurtlang 08/26/2013 at 16:34

0

cool, good to know.

ProudMunchkin > Kookanoodles 08/26/2013 at 16:35

1

I have my DS5 THP200 for a little over a year and still absolutely love it. Great car if you don't want to drive what everybody else does. I really don't get the complaints about the ride. I think it fits the sporty character but is still comfortable enough that not even my grandma had any complaints.

505Turbeaux > Kookanoodles 08/26/2013 at 16:47

3

Nothing like a nice French break. I'll take my return of the Peugeot Citroen group in the 508 flavor though, diesel electric hybrid style. Never happen, but it is ok to dream

Kookanoodles > 505Turbeaux 08/26/2013 at 17:15

0

Definitely another great looking estate. More conservative than the Citroën, but after all that's how big Peugeots have always been. I don't think you can have the 508 estate with the hybrid diesel though, it's only available on the sedan. You can have it in the RXH however, if you don't mind the Audi Allroad-ish makeover.

Kookanoodles > duurtlang 08/26/2013 at 17:20

1

You have a 406 Coupé ? Which one ? I hope to buy one someday, it's my all-time favorite Peugeot. I'd like a dark grey one with the tan leather seats and the 2.0 petrol (or the V6 if I'm loaded).

duurtlang > Kookanoodles 08/26/2013 at 17:41

0

This is mine actually. The exact same color you depicted if I'm not mistaken. Red leather interior though. And the 2.0. Looking back I should've bought the V6 or even the 2.2. The fifth gear in the (manual) gearbox in the 2.0 is too short, it revs way too high on the highway. Roughly 4000 rpm at 130 km/h (GPS). It really needs a 6th gear, or at the very least the longer 5 the V6 and 2.2 do have.

Kookanoodles > duurtlang 08/26/2013 at 17:44

0

Didn't know there was a 2.2 petrol. Is the 2 litre not enough ? Also, from I can see of the licence plate, Netherlands ?

Kookanoodles > 505Turbeaux 08/26/2013 at 17:46

0

Nice username by the way !

duurtlang > Kookanoodles 08/26/2013 at 17:49

0

Yes, the Netherlands. My previous car was a 54 hp Golf mk2, so it's huge step up already and enough for me for now. But it would've been nicer to have more power when I was playing with it in the Alps. My main problem is with the transmission, as I edited into my previous reply.

I don't know if the UK got the 2.2 (or HDi). All I know is that in LHD markets it was introduced in 2001 or so.

Kookanoodles > duurtlang 08/26/2013 at 17:54

0

Well, I wouldn't know anything about that, I live in France. Interesting what you say about the gearbox, I shall keep that in mind.

KirkyV > homoman 08/26/2013 at 17:54

0

It's the same for my car. I've got a 13 year old 106, and it's not got so much as a spot of corrosion—this in a country where we salt the roads, and it rains a lot. Indeed, Peugeot actually have a great reputation for rust-resistance here—it's one of the reasons why their cars are so popular on the second-hand market.

duurtlang > Kookanoodles 08/26/2013 at 18:00

0

Right. You used lit re in stead of lit er , so I just assumed you were from the UK. My mistake.

Kookanoodles > duurtlang 08/26/2013 at 18:03

0

Well it's just that it's written "litre" in French as well and it bothers me to write liter or meter, so I write it the French/British way.

duurtlang > Kookanoodles 08/26/2013 at 18:06

0

I never thought about it like that, but you're obviously right. In Dutch it's spelled exactly the same as American-English, so meter and liter, so to me that's the more natural form even though we were taught UK-English in high school.

QQXQXL123 > duurtlang 08/26/2013 at 18:06

0

If you've designed your cars for Europe without thinking about the US, it's expensive (which might as well equal hard as far as business is concerned) to add it on afterwards without it looking like, well, a late 70s BMW with a large underbite.

If you design for all continents from the start it's cheaper.

In_Sweden > 505Turbeaux 08/26/2013 at 19:07

0

I had the 508 wagon, with diesel as a rental last month.

It really was a nice car to drive in, liked it alot. It had one flaw though, a sort of bad automatic gearbox. But you could shift with the gear leaver and + and - were the correct way. Pull towards you to go up a gear.

Jaaag Hartley > Mikeado 08/26/2013 at 19:16

0

Oh cool, I'm at Leeds Met doing Architecture, not car related but I'll find a way of merging it somehow haha

Mikeado > Jaaag Hartley 08/26/2013 at 19:16

0

You can design my car company's HQ, or a design studio!

Jaaag Hartley > Mikeado 08/26/2013 at 19:18

0

Talk about an oppo collaboration! I'll take one of your cars are payment haha!

Steve in Manhattan > Burrito de EJ25 08/27/2013 at 00:12

0

If I needed a car (I don't, I live in Manhattan and use the sad Zipcar) I would buy a Citroën C6 without hesitation. Black on black.

cuts_off_prius > duurtlang 08/27/2013 at 01:25

0

When I look at random pictures of cars in Europe, like at least like 90-95% of cars were rust free...and it snows a lot there. I know the cars also tend to be much cleaner than American cars due to much shorter commutes/less mileage. But how do you guys not get many rusted cars there? Is your road salt different than in the US? More expensive kind? I heard Japan uses some sort of synthetic one. Here we tend to use the cheapest, rawest road salt along with sand during the winter and we put A LOT because in general our drivers are poorly trained and there are no laws that I know of requiring winter tires. Here up north in the US it seems like 99% of 90s cars have at least a hint of rust on them.

Happy Panda > Steve in Manhattan 08/27/2013 at 02:17

0

Really? I think the black doesn't do it justice. The blues/greys accentuate the shape of the car much more.

Ben C > Kookanoodles 08/27/2013 at 02:26

1

I love the DS5. Properly Citroen quirky, and actually a damn good drive to boot.

By far my favourite current Citroen of all. DS4 a close second.

Ce he sin > duurtlang 08/27/2013 at 06:45

0

Pity the teaching of English English isn't more common. You often come across people who drink waader rather than water and so on.

KozmoNaut > Kookanoodles 08/27/2013 at 09:25

1

I drive a 406 sedan with the 2.2 petrol. It's a really great engine, on paper it only has 22hp more than the 2.0 and 27nm more torque, but it's all in the way it makes that power. It has variable intake timing that gives you extra low-down torque when you get on it hard, so the torque curve is almost flat from just above 2000rpm, it has this great mid-range pull that's a real old-school Peugeot trait

It makes a great sound as well, without getting into fartcan territory. High-quality equal-length headers from the factory, bigger exhaust and a slightly more aggressive ECU.

Best of all, the 2.2 petrol (EW12J4) only ever came with a manual gearbox, no matter which car you got it on. Not the best manual in the world, but bonus points for purity to Peugeot.

The 3.0 V6 is a very good engine too, but a bit thirstier and much more expensive on insurance etc.

homoman > KirkyV 08/27/2013 at 10:34

0

Glad to hear they've improved. They were not dependable.

ocbrad1 used to be iamhoff but is now just wandering around > Kookanoodles 08/27/2013 at 16:22

1

I would love to have more French cars over here (love all the DS models!). On our honeymoon, the wife and I are cruising from Paris to Bordeaux (our adult beverage tour, stops in Chambord, Cognac, and Bordeaux...part two was Monte Carlo for the GP and then a run down the coast to Cannes for the film festival and then onto Barcelona...I love my wife!). Somewhere near Bordeaux, we got off the A roads and started rolling through suburbs. As we hit a roundabout, going through I saw a Citroen dealership and then a Renault dealership. Little kid car geek me squealed, and the wife looked over at me and said "let's stop and take a look." With a mix of French, Spanish and English, I walked out of both dealerships with brochures on most of their vehicle lines, including the Megane, Laguna, DS3/4/5, and so on. My wife is awesome!

Jan Ham > cuts_off_prius 09/01/2013 at 01:51

0

Don't know about other European countries but in the Netherlands we mostly use brine, a water salt mixture. Brine uses less salt and is more effective. Usually we use both rock and seasalt. The proportions between the salts and water depends on the expected weather. Things to take in account are temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and time of day. Sometimes sand or fine gritt is added for better grip when very icey conditions are expected. Coarse gritt is preferably not used due to safety concerns for two wheeled vehicles.

AndrewH > Kookanoodles 09/01/2013 at 06:46

0

Is it just me or why do all the workers have "M Performance/colors" stripes on their uniforms? Is the car made in a BMW factory?

Kookanoodles > AndrewH 09/01/2013 at 08:31

0

No, it's just the PSA Peugeot-Citroën colors :