Given the Citroën C5 X’s rather attractive, sub-£30k entry price, you might expect to see some major compromises in the interior, but that’s not the case at all.
The C5 X doesn’t feel like a luxury car as such, but almost everything is solidly made, and the designers have displayed some originality with their choice of materials, which both look and feel appealing. The usual glossy black plastic isn’t entirely absent, though, and is notable around areas that you are likely to touch (and leave fingerprints on).
The seats are typically Citroën, from the distinctive stitching pattern to the lack of side bolstering, and the way you sink into the soft cushioning. Mid- and upper-level trims get leather upholstery as standard, with fully-loaded ones getting Advanced Comfort seats.
Meanwhile, if you do feel like treating yourself, Citroen's C5 X Hypnos special edition, announced as it was towards the end of 2023, combines a maxed out equipment list with some special exterior and interior styling touches and unique trim materials. Its uniquely upholstered seats have part-alcantara surfaces and double chevron stitching; it gets 'bronze-striated' centre console trim and a lighter contrasting foil for the upper dash and door panels; and comes with a special paint shade, painted 19in alloy wheels and a panoramic glass roof as standard.
The C5 X's interior layout is well thought through. There is a 12.0in central touchscreen and a 7.0in digital gauge cluster, but Citroën has retained physical controls for the climate, the volume and the driving mode, and there are no touch-sensitive control surfaces. There are big bins under the centre armrest and in front of the gear selector, as well as an extra slot that is ideal for your phone.
The C5 X sits between two segments in size, and that’s most noticeable in the rear seats, which are roomier than those in most cars at this price point. The materials in the back mirror those in the front, and rear passengers are provided with a central ventilation outlet and two USB-C ports.
The boot, however, is smaller than the Skoda Octavia’s, and the practicality is hampered slightly by the sloping roofline. On the plus side, it is a usefully square shape, the rear seats can be folded flat using levers in the boot area, the rear bumper is made from scratch-resistant black plastic, and there isn’t much of a lip to negotiate.
Multimedia system
The C5 X uses a new generation of software that is shared across the Stellantis brands and was first introduced on the Peugeot 308. They all put their own visual skin on it, but the shared bones are obvious. And that’s not a bad thing at all.
The system lets you customise the home screen, the digital gauge cluster and the head-up display with various widgets. It takes a bit of acclimatisation to learn what works for you, but once you do, the interface is very logical. The screen responds quickly, and there are at least a couple of physical buttons to go to the home screen and to access a number of configurable shortcuts.
The TomTom navigation is user-friendly, too, and proved fairly adept at choosing the right route and avoiding traffic. The same reservations about toggling auto-zoom functionality that we have observed in tests of other cars with the same set-up apply.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto work wirelessly, there are four USB ports, and wireless phone charging on upper-level models. ChatGPT voice-recognition AI software was added to the car as an option from spring 2024, but we've yet to test it.
