Published:
11 April 2024Citroën has heralded its Progressive Hydraulic Cushions suspension technology far and wide but, just as with the Citroën C4 Cactus on which they first appeared, you may have at least one or two disappointments in store if you’re expecting a softness of ride quality that makes you think time has turned back 40 years.
What they do, first and foremost, is allow the C5 Aircross a softness of springing, and a pliancy in its ride, that’s missing from most of its mid-sized SUV rivals. With the bump-stops there to guard the extremes of travel in the suspension struts, Citroën can tune the spring itself for greater permissiveness. Absorption is good over lumps and bumps, and there’s seldom any harshness to the car's out-of-town ride.
There’s a touch of road noise at speed and there does seem to be a clear limit to the suspension's capacity to isolate the cabin from sharper inputs and severe road imperfections around town, where the softly rated suspension can seem to lack some shock absorption and general impact filtering. But for pottering around urban environments, the ease with which a C5 Aircross simply goes about daily driving, is generally good.
Come to a corner and you'll find a noticeable quantity of body roll, which is unsurprising – though the car is still some way from a listing, heaving, unchecked mess at fast road speeds. As a result, it pays to be smooth with the controls. Be harsh with the steering, brakes or throttle and the movements the car makes can begin to stray out of phase with the gentle natural frequency of its ride. Like so many comfort-oriented cars, the Aircross very much handles best with measured inputs.
