Citroen dumping hydraulics for good.

[russ92xmsed]

It is a great shame, and it's made even more frustrating when they could have used the hydraulic system on the new DS models. That's where and how to make those cars special. And all this talk of making future Citroens ride well by using a special new suspension system. Well dust off hydractive then....
It was going to happen as everyone is saying. A real shame.... And it does reduce the brand to a badge.

As for new cars, and new Citroens, it's all gone a bit blah. I like very very few new cars. They seem overly aggressive and over the top. And Citroen seems to be in a period of change and really isn't providing anything that appeals. The cactus I like very much, and it's great fun to drive, but the rest of the range is a bit desperate. I would have a C5, but that's getting on now. The DS models are all style of substance and woefully impractical. The build quality on the DS5 I drove was poor. Everything moved and the space in the back.... Argh!

Jags and one or two Audis (A3 saloon, 5, 7) are the better looking cars on the new car market at the moment for me.
Yeah... Stick to the oldies as long as possible.

[Ocellia]

Somewhere I have an article with the famous LJK Setright enthusing -as only he could - above the Genius of the hydroneumatic set up. (And I think he appears saying this in the video on the DS? Car is the star?)
I also recall a time (1980s?) when Citroen totally dismissed all their history and started 'looking forwards'. So was amused when the DS series featured THE DS as part of the heritage, again!
Not to mention the destruction of the spare SM engine blocks scenario!

Having owned two Lexus LS400s, I often said that I wish Toyota had bought Citroen. Join Toyota's 'Kaizen' build quality with Citroen's panache! Perfect!

[White Exec]

Toyota is good, very good, up to a point, but they don't get everything right.

Engines and transmissions and pretty much indestructible, but they (like plenty of other marques) fell completely foul of the dreaded DMF (dual mass flywheel) for their diesels. Made by Valeo (I believe), these broke up in their thousands, taking clutches with them, but not before having made hill-starts on steepish gradients almost impossible without incinerating the fibreglass and resin friction plate. I know, I went through two, where the flywheel assembly simply burst apart, shredding the clutch plate. (Our D4D RAV now has a traditional SMF (conventional) clutch, from Blueprint, which just works as a clutch should do: smoothly and controllably.)

Toyota mechanicals/chassis and electricals are fine, but, unfortunately, this excellence did not extend to the teams that were responsible for bodywork trim. Hundreds of different and indifferent plastic clips attempt to hold body trim panels in place, and the result is loose wheel arches, spare wheel covers, and even bumper assemblies. Thank goodness, a different team were obviously responsible for the interior, which is, by contrast, really well screwed together.

After 12 years and 170,000km, is the RAV reliable? Very much so. Always starts (its third battery fitted only last year), and with formidable full-time 4WD traction. Apart from the repeated DMF failure, the only other mechanical hitches have been chronic gear-stick vibration in 5th gear (a revised 5th gear cluster sorted this), and two - yes two - front roll-bars snapping. It now runs without one.

Hats must be taken off to Toyota, though, when it comes to "recalls". If there is a problem (shifting driver's floormats, wonky steering column bushes, sticky throttles...) the recall is done by the million, and f.o.c. This even extended to the 180bhp version of the D4D which could use rather a lot of oil. Thousands of short engines were simply replaced, again f.o.c., if they used more than 1L of oil per 1000mi. When it comes to owning up when there's a fault, Toyota takes some beating. With a certain other French manufacturer, you'll be lucky if the fault (however many owners have it) is even acknowledged.

The French, however, could teach Toyota a thing or two about quiet diesel engines!

[Ocellia]

I suppose I was being a bit elitist and thinking of the Lexus bit. Where the paint guys have to pass scrupulous testing every 3 months, the guy who checks the switches has 3 set of 'fingernails'.....leather from cows kept in barbed-wire free fields...plus that engine in the LS400 Ser 4!
When I owned one, I loved it; just wished it looked like a CX!

Diesels? I share Setright's views....