Citroen C5 Aircross - long-term review

In 1955 when DS was a Citroen, they invented a wild new suspension. Now DS and Citroen separately have crossovers with new suspension ideas.

The DS 7's road-surface camera predictively adapts its dampers, but actually it's deactivated much of the time, including main-road speeds, and when you're not in 'comfort' mode. It has a hard task anyway – how does it see potholes full of water in the rain? How does it work at night? In the end the DS 7 is a pretty comfy crossover in 'comfort', but not sporting in 'sport'.

The soft-sprung C5 Aircross's rally-derived dampers are comfortably squidgy at their centres but controlled towards their extremities. That successfully makes one of the plushest urban rides at any price. Yet it doesn't entirely lose control in bumpy twisty rural stuff.

On motorways it's wibbly-wobbly, though, because the dampers don't clench small strokes. But you get used to that, and it doesn't seem to make passengers feel sick. All told the Aircross's suspension is just the ticket for a soothing, low-powered family wagon.