Citroen dumping hydraulics for good.

[captainhaddock]

I rented a C5 mk 3 but didn't get one because the didn't have one in the rental fleet at all so they wondered why I was 'surprised' since the C5 was even printed in picture on the voucher....
Instead I ended up with a C4 Picasso that had about 6K kilometre so brand new. But the airco stopped working all together the next day, not so great with temperatures up to 36 degrees celcius.
The suspension of this car is not bad, not good just fine, no more no less. (coming from the XM that is...) so probably rather good for most people.

Interesting to read about the Cactus' suspension so you think it is utterly dreadful...ouch I never drove one so I don't know..

[southerner]

Citroen hydraulics is what made the car, dumping the hydraulics makes it no different from any other car apart from a few, Another good point Car thief,s tend to stay away from Citroen,s with the hydraulics they took that little bit longer to nick

[White Exec]

If nothing else, hydropneumatics will remain something that will impress a number of owners, and a good few of their passengers. It's down to us to perpetuate this!

It will also remain, until something better (magnetic levitation?) arrives, a benchmark for ride comfort and control.

As we've discussed before, the jiggle on broken surfaces can be minimized by being careful not to over-inflate tyres, to the point of only checking them when cold. Over-inflation wrecks the ride, I've found.

The effect of tyre temperature on ride seems considerable. Here, with daytime temperatures currently 25-30C, if I check/set tyre pressure accurately to spec at 20C first thing in the morning, I get a comfortable enough ride across a few km of rural tracks (dirt roads) early morning. But, after then driving 50+ km by motorway, followed by 15km on local tarmac, the return ride over the rural tracks can only be described as noticeably more jiggly. This even extends to the way the car exits from raised humps and ridges on tarmac.

My guess is that two things are at work here: tyre pressure, elevated by the drive, and the temperature of the LHM. For the latter, the damping effect at the sphere apertures probably reduces when the viscosity of the LHM falls. LHM certainly gets warm, the reservoir being where it is.

EDIT:
Re: the last paragraph, I have had second thoughts about the effect of hot LHM on the suspension. If anything, thinned (hot) LHM will actually damp suspension movement LESS, thus contributing to a more compliant - less harsh - ride.
The chief factor remains the tyre pressure, then, as things hot up.
C.

[Ciaran]

I recently went on a bit of a rant elsewhere and said that if PSA were going to scrap hydropneumatics, the very thing that makes the Citroen brand unique, then why goto the expense and effort of keeping the brand alive at all, if the cars would essentially now be Peugeots, why not be done with it and ditch the Citroen name altogether?

I didn't expect it to happen quite so soon, but the other night I saw a TV ad for the DS 5.

It stated 'The new DS 5 has arrived', 'Drive the DS 5', and a few other references to DS, usual tedium.

However what really got my attention, was that neither the car, nor the advert, had a single chevron to be seen.

The ad ended with a black and silver DS logo with 'DS Automobiles' written beneath it, not one reference to Citroen anywhere.

Ciarán

[Ciaran]

http://www.DriveDS.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I challenge anyone to find a single reference to the Citroen name amongst all the bumph on that site.

Wow.

[xmexclusive]

Hi Ciaran

If you go into the heritage section you will find chevrons on the boot of De Gauls DS.
If you go into the used cars section you will find and option to search for a used Citroen DS5's near you.

Obviously Pug's proof reader was not allowed to Photoshop Presedential photos and his word search missed the Citroen in the used car bit.

John

[White Exec]

But, on the opening page of the link above, the first major dramatic photo is of a Citroen DS headlight.....obviously designed make an impact on those reading the site.
Talk about milking your heritage while denying it at the same time!
Pehaps nothing more than Rover did towards the end.....Remember the Rover Kensington and 100 ?

PSA currently have three principal brand names in operation: "Peugeot", "Citroen" and "DS".

[White Exec]

The Comments at the end of this Car article are worth a read,
http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/i ... ---report/
and explain quite a lot.
_____

Hydro - as in Hydraulique...
BTW, I guess the often mistaken use of "hydropneumatic" in place of the technically correct "oleopneumatic" is simply a result of a sloppy anglicisation of the original French term "hydraupneumatique", which occurs everywhere in original literature, and in the French media. Hydraurincage is another such.

[captainhaddock]

It's a shame and that's it.

And, it's history repeating itself again and again and again. How many times, did Citroen get it wrong....quite remarkable if you think of it!

It's like your favorite political party wiped out at an election: nothing you say can change that.

So in this case, better concentrate on keeping your old citroen on the road. And/or never buy a new citroen again

I for one don't intend to because I don't like them anymore. At all. I've completely lost interest. I'd prefer a Peu now over any new citroen but will go Volvo when the time comes and they are: Chinese.(!)....too bad. Funny that a Chinese company can make quite good designs whereas the old French Citroen brand goes for the Chinese market trying ugly and uninspiring cars without any good practicality or inventiveness in mind. I even like Dacia's and Opels and Audi's designs more nowadays.
In the future I could of course stumble across a nice old Rover or a Jag or try something with a really hard drive but at least a nicely styled Alfa Romeo. I don't know yet but I don't worry about Citroen anymore. I'll just keep liking their past, not their quite doubtful future.

Don't worry too much!

[White Exec]

Yes, you're right. Sad. Political parties, Rover, many examples.
Often a failure to communicate to the "punters", whose support is indispensible.

Technical excellence can be sold as a virtue, but so can gloss and glitz. Look how many small cars have, as their principal listed features, just the gizmos....bluetooth, satnav, a USB socket. No mention of what's under the bonnet (or what might, or might not, be in the boot).

Popular cars today are just another consumer goody, often bought with about the same level of research as a new tumble dryer. Beko can outsell Bosch, LG outsell Sony. Many don't even expect their purchases to last, but are already looking forward to the next replacement.

OK, things do get 'better' as time goes on, but (with the exception of safety devices such as airbags, ABS...) often only at the level of gadgets and 'features'. And it's these that sell, and which advertisers, and much of the motoring press, major on. But take a look at the fuel consumption figures, for instance, and very little has changed over decades.

Maybe many of the car manufacturers have twigged that it pays them not to publicise technical advances and sophistication. After years of not doing this, most of the buying public have no appetite and little real understanding of the possibilities involved. Years of dumbing down - by manufacturers, press and media - have paid off. We no longer want to know, and most have even forgotten how to ask the questions.

So, a significant percentage of BMW series 1 cars do not know their car is RWD. Surprise, surprise! But then, why did they buy such a car in the first place? My guess, probably something to do with the black and blue thing.

Snob? No. I just appreciate technical accomplishment and performance. So it's often Sony, Sennheiser, KEF, Dell, Bosch, and the like. Used to be Rover, too, until that all ended in tears as well, amid management ineptitude and corporate greed.

It is still possible to amaze friends with the XM's ride, as the CX and even the BX did before. And it's nice to be able to chat with others who enjoy this too, even if it seems like it might become just another bit of 'yesterday'. Maybe a feeling one can get used to, but not without - as you say - a tinge of sadness.