XM Demisting Performance...

[CitroJim]

Is it me?

I've always been a Xantia person and one aspect of Xantia ownership I've always found a bit difficult to bear is their tendency to mist up at the drop of a hat and the somewhat inefficient demisting arrangements that tend to keep them all steamed up. I've never found a good reason why they seem so bad but all then ones I've had are.

Now, on days and evenings when a Xantia would be almost intolerable I've found the XM to be absolutely fantastic in the demisting department. In fact I'd go as far to say the general climate control and ventilation is far superior in the XM than the Xantia.

is this just a feature of the models with the full digital climate control or are all XMs this good?

It's something I really appreciate in my XM

[robert_e_smart]

They are good, especially hatches, after the crap ventilation in the CX, the xm boot vents give a good air flow through the cabin.

[robertmnorton]

Hi Jim, totally agree and the climate control even more effective. In fact first sign of vent fan failure in my experience IS misting up.
robertm

[captainhaddock]

Had loads of problems with the xantia over the years but never had issues with demisting. Maybe the xantia suffered from wet carpets? I don't know how this auto climate control works actually. It's in my VSX but how does it work, is there a sensor somewhere? CX is crap on that front, I agree. Could be better when you've working airco though.

[CitroJim]

I always thought wet carpets were to blame and over the years most of mine have suffered from that. Normally the windscreen scuttle seal letting go - another stupid piece of design

But no, even with a new matrix and absolutely bone dry inside it still happens. My Activa, oddly, is the worst of the lot

The only thing I can ever see is there's not a huge amount of air ever gets to the windscreen even on full demist. The slots aren't very wide. The XM on the other had blows a gale through big wide slots.

The later MK2 with the aircon coupled to the demist function is better.

There's sensors all over the place in the Xantia. Intake, evaporator, face vents and footwell vents if memory serves...

Climate control on the Xantia for keeping you warm works well enough but when warming annoyingly overshoots and bakes you for a bit before cooling to the right temperature. The XM never seems to do that...

[citroenxm]

Ah the BRILL ole XM again ticks another box!

We dont use them for no reason you know! The Best ride, The best status on the road, the best looks, the best seating, the best comfort, the best heating and ventilation.... should I go on??

I do even find my SED with roatry dials for the heater also demists well which is common affair while she's sitting idle at the moment...

[captainhaddock]

XM's are good! Very good indeed ......so far...

[casalingua]

I´ve found my XM to be pretty good at keeping clear of mist; even on a wet day with passengers inside the windows stay dry, with the small exception of a fringe around the rear window's rearward edge. We had a -6 degree morning here last week. The windows were iced up fairly thickly. I started the engine and without having to do a single bit of scraping the front window was clear in 7 minutes. I didn´t rev the engine, by the way. I think this is quite good and not a lot slower than if I had been outside huffing and puffing with the scraper. Overall, the XM seems to have a lot of nicely engineered features and capabilities which you only appreciate slowly and perhaps take for granted until you get to drive an ordinary car. This emphasises again the huge drawback of motor tests which (and how could they) obscure some important characteristics and magnify others.
As someone noted above, there´s a reason we hang on to these cars. Looked after properly they are effective, stylish and pleasant to drive. I don´t regret a cent of the thousands I´ve spent on the car (latest bill €600, paid today!).

[captainhaddock]

So true! Even though I don't have the patience to wait for 7 minutes to have the car clear it' s own windows and do use a bottle of warm water, I did read somewhere of what people thought about or what they were missing in the new DS5.. I was astonished....all they were missing is standard in an XM! It's in another language so I won't bother sending links, but I was really and truly astonished.

[Peter.N.]

I have always found the XM brilliant for demisting, even better if you have aircon. The heating in the CX as rubbish, mainly because it circulated so little air, that combined with the useless handbrake and the failure of about 10 headgaskets while the last one was in my possession would have put a normal person of them, but not me, I thought they were a lovely car.

Peter