Citroen C5 Aircross Hybrid

FIRST DRIVE Impressive new family SUV offers buyers a wide range of powertrains, but could the hybrid be the pick of the bunch?

- By Phil McNamara

CITROEN'S positivity about occupant comfort is laudable but – like the England cricket team or Rachel Reeves' Budget – eventually it'll make contact with a brutal reality, in this case British roads. We're driving the entry-level version of Citroen's big SUV, the C5 Aircross, through the Chilterns countryside, where potholes seemingly outnumber villages by a factor of 100.

This is the Hybrid 145, costing from £30,495 in You! spec. It's five grand more than the cheapest Dacia Bigster 1.2 manual, but you get a slightly longer car, slightly less boot space and an automatic transmission mating charismatic three-cylinder petrol and e-motor power with the front wheels.

The Advanced Comfort suspension, fitted with Citroen's clever hydraulic bump stops, is standard – and cushier than a nepo baby's first job. The body surfs over crests and dips, and in 90 minutes of driving, it crashed through just one crater, while the body only felt a touch floaty on a single 70mph stretch where undulations came thick and fast. The suspension contains roll pretty well in corners too.

First contact with the steering is less impressive: at urban speeds, it feels light and languid turning off dead-ahead. But response is more direct at higher speeds when heavier weighting kicks in. Like your lip after a dental injection, it's functional but numb.