If stereotyping were an Olympic sport, South Africa would take gold, silver and bronze because we have the uncanny ability to turn even daily coincidences into full-blown generalisations quicker than politicians can order million-rand official cars.
I suppose it shouldn’t upset me that most Saffas still believe in stereotypes, but it is a tad startling when journos become so adept at this repulsive sport. For example, have you noticed how several cricket and rugby writers have us all believing that every player of colour is a token addition to whatever team they’re reporting on and is therefore less capable than any of their melanin-deficient team-mates? Interesting how the same isn’t said of non-black football players.
TV media is also guilty of stereo-typing as evidenced by SABC3’s new show Man, which would have us believe that all South African men are puerile, misogynist cretins. (Read the bitingly sardonic hayibo.com review of Man.)
Even motoring scribes — perish the thought — are guilty of this behaviour as some of us will have you believe that only Germans make decent cars, all American cars are crap, hybrids are for bunny-hugging eco-terrorists who hate cars and French cars are full of hot flair and not much else.
The new Citroen C5 breaks the above stereotype as convincingly as JZ breaks the idea of senior citizens growing old gracefully.
Citroen is revitalising its brand in South Africa after taking over operations from Imperial Motor Holdings from the beginning of this year in a joint partnership with Peugeot. It was nice to hear Citroen executives not beating around the bush about negative perceptions of their brand — they have already established a dedicated customer care hotline to engage customers, hopefully to solve problems more efficiently.
While highlighting other company improvements, the flagship C5 was launched ahead of about three new models still to come to South Africa this year.
The C5 will be fighting with the middle-of-the-range Audi A4, Merc C-Class and BMW 3-Series, as well as the Honda Accord, Lexus IS and Mazda 6. Given that the Teutonic trio control up to 83% of this segment, the C5 would need to score high marks in every category to warrant even being given a chance.
After driving both models on offer — a 2.0-litre turbo diesel and a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel, both automatic — over a fair distance I can assuringly report that the new C5s are cars of substance.
The explanation behind only diesel options is that Citroen predicts more people in South Africa will take to diesel passenger cars; the diesel to petrol ratio in Europe is somewhere in the region of 70:30.
And given that our government is dead set on pressing ahead with emissions taxes for vehicle manufacturers, (which simply means more taxes for the car-buying public) despite our fuel not being up to scratch for the most fuel-efficient engines manufacturers have developed, it makes sense to bring in diesel vehicles, which have lower CO2 emissions.
When you factor in how eerily quiet both the C5 engines are, how there’s barely any turbo lag to speak of and how far you can stretch a tank of fuel (6.8litres per 100km for the 2.0-litre and 7.4litres per 100km for the V6), then diesel doesn’t really seem as second-rate as you might think.
The standard specification list for both cars is pretty high with the 2.0-litre coming equipped with leather seats, heated electronic front seats, multifunction steering, ABS with EBD, traction control, seven airbags, cruise control, Bluetooth-compatible MP3 stereo and more, and the 3.0-litre comes with Hydractive III+ suspension (more on this later), adaptive headlights and automatic hazard light activation among other features.
I drove the 3.0-litre V6 (177kW and 450Nm) first and was immediately unsettled by the fancy new suspension system, which continually adjusts itself to ensure the car is at a constant ride height for optimal stability regardless of the load. The soft mode, which is the default setting, is a bit too comfortable for me although the sport setting limits body roll and exhibits a more dynamic feel — this was the mode I chose.
There’s nothing wrong with the soft mode — it just felt too comfortable and I’m not fond of the wafting sensation these suspensions sometimes create. I also didn’t enjoy the soft suspension mode on a R1-million German sedan so my suspension preferences obviously lean towards a more sporty, responsive set-up.
The C5’s sport mode felt great, though the steering could have felt a little sharper.
The general handling and ride quality felt pretty good and the fact that I drove about 300km without feeling at all tired says a great deal about how comfortable and spirited the C5 V6 is.
The 2.0-litre (120kW and 340Nm) didn’t feel far off the V6 and was similarly energetic and rewarding. The C5 has ample space for five adults and the rear seats fold flat to transport extra-long baguettes and such.
The 2.0-litre costs R369 000 and the 3.0-litre V6 costs R465 000 — the price includes a standard three-year/100 000km warranty and a five-year/100 000km service plan as well as three years of roadside assistance.
What it all comes down to is whether you’re the kind of person who’s capable of original thought — of deciding whether something is good or not by yourself — or whether you need to be told how to think and feel about everything. If you’re the former, give the C5 a try because you’ll be pleasantly surprised and if you’re the latter, I hear there are financial incentives attached to the Darwin Awards these days.