Small Changes Make a Big Impact. Citroen Aircross X First Drive Review

Now, a couple of reasons why Citroen's cars haven't sold as much as they really should in India is that a lot of people just don't know about the brand. And on the inside, the cars have never quite felt as good as the competition. Now, to solve the second problem, you have the new Citroen Aircross X.

Styling, Boot Space

The Citroen Aircross X gets a slightly more premium look on the outside with the LED light clusters and more gloss black on the grille. The squared-off styling and the wheel designs are modern too, but the flip-type door handles still feel quite old school.

The textured look to the rear gloss black trim is smart, and while the light clusters here are modern, an LED setup would have been more contemporary.

With all three rows up, there's really not much in the way of boot space. It's only 33 L. But this is still a practical space. You can fold the second row down with little effort, but the party trick is the especially easy mechanism to lift these seats out completely, which then gives you 511 L. With the second row folded, you get a massive 839 L. The lip is a bit high and the floor a bit deep, but this is about as much luggage space as you might need for a family trip.

Interiors, Practicality, New Features

As soon as you step inside the cabin of the new Aircross X, you realize that Citroen has gone to great lengths to make this car feel more premium and more in line with what you expect of a car of this size and this price. To start with, the dash is completely new, especially the top half of it. It now mirrors the latest design language that you've seen in the C3 that you get in Europe and is quite well done. So you have textured angular patterns, bronze highlighting and soft padding in the major touch points with a bronze finish. The ambient lighting is subtly but neatly done too. So the Aircross X feels more premium when you are interacting with it.

This is also helped by the new controls and switchgear that have been added, like the vents, start button and the logo-embossed wireless charging pad. The 10.25-inch touchscreen and the 7-inch driver display remain the same, but they get new bezels that feel more modern and in line with the new theme. The touchscreen, like before, is a basic unit that works well. Like the driver display, it's logical and easy to get used to. But the game has moved forward in this segment. The resolution and responses could be better on both screens.

But there are some bits that still need work. For example, while you do have cruise control, there's no auto headlamp or auto wipers. Practicality is a bit of a mixed bag. You get a proximity key, so getting in is very easy. Inside, the centre console has been redesigned and is good with its storage cubbies and layout. But the door pockets aren't very large. You can maybe fit a one litre bottle here, along with a few small things. There is also just a single Type-A charger in the front. Now the seats too have changed. They look a lot more premium with the leather upholstery and they're quite supportive. Importantly, they now get a ventilation function, as you can see, along with this very nice leather upholstering.

Second Row, Third Row

The Aircross X, like other cars on this architecture, has quite a narrow opening with the way the door opens and the seats are fitted on the architecture, so ingress and egress can be difficult for those with mobility issues. The wheelbase is 2671 mm and that's par for the course for this segment. But the way that Citroen has managed to carve out three rows here is quite impressive. The second row doesn't slide, but it does recline to a good angle. There is a good deal of knee room for you, and foot room is great too. Refreshingly, there is no sunroof here, so headroom is quite generous, given this SUV's squared-off shape.

Like the front, the seat here is supportive and well padded, and the leather upholstery gives this space a good feel too. But the high central tunnel will make things uncomfortable for a middle passenger. Although the door trim remains quite plasticky and not like the one in front. An odd miss is that there is no centre armrest. But the roof-mounted blowers, along with the common rear vents, do a great job of cooling this part of the cabin. You also have helpful Type-C chargers here.

Now, this top-end variant of the Aircross X comes in a seven-seat configuration, but in effect this is best described as a 5+2 configuration. Getting in is not too difficult if you are of average height, but once inside, you'll realize that the space is best for children. There is not much space to put your legs, and the rear seat base is quite short, as in many three-row cars. But you seem to sit right below the rear structural panels, so headroom is tight and you can't fully sit up straight. The small quarter glass will make adults feel fairly hemmed in too. You do get chargers and bottle holders here though.

Driving

One of the reasons we think that a Citroen should be way higher up on your shopping list is because of how nice they are to drive. And this Aircross X hasn't really changed from the last version. So it retains that positive trait. The visibility is good and blind spots aren't massive. You don't have a telescopic steering, but finding a comfortable seating position is still easy. Visibility front and back is great, so driving this car in tight situations is really not a problem, even though it's a fairly big car.

You can get a naturally aspirated 1.2-litre motor with 82 PS in the lower trims of the Aircross X, but the motor that suits this SUV the best is the 1.2-litre turbo with 110 PS. This makes 190 Nm with the manual or 205 Nm with the AT we are driving here. As we found in our real-world mileage test, this combination is fairly efficient for this type of car, turning out 11.5 kmpl in the city and 15.7 kmpl on the highway. These outputs are stronger than many of the naturally aspirated SUVs that the Aircross X competes with on price, and also more than what you get with many sub-4 m turbo SUVs.

So immediately, the Aircross X has a performance advantage, enhanced by the fact that this engine really is one of the nicer turbo petrols that you can buy in the country, at least in the small displacement category. There's not too many vibrations coming through, even though it's a three-cylinder. And it actually sounds quite nice. It's not tinny or rough like some other turbo petrols might be.

Power delivery is quite linear and easily accessed when you are driving calmly. The motor is also quite responsive to inputs, and performance for building speed is quickly and easily available. The engine revs out fairly aggressively and it's far from dull.

The torque converter gearbox responds reasonably well in most driving situations, and it usually does well to keep the power coming in any driving situation. It may not have the sharpness of a DCT, and in heavier driving can take a split second more to respond than ideal, but the good torque output covers for this well, as the 0 to 100 kmph time of 12 s suggests. It's also quicker than many of the naturally aspirated rivals, as our rolling acceleration times suggest. The old-school gated shifter is a bit fiddly to use quickly though, and paddles aren't available either.

Ride and Handling

Now this could very well be one of the nicer handling cars in its segment, because you notice just how flat and how confident it remains on twisty roads. Even though this is a tall seven-seat SUV, you can really hustle it a little bit. It's composed, and you don't feel that it's wallowing or making you feel underconfident. You can really carry some good speeds. Now, what that means in the day to day is that you have a sense of control around the car, and that is very reassuring.

The steering complements this agile feeling of the Aircross X. It is quite direct and weighs up just as much as you would want in any situation. The brakes work well, even though they have a sharp initial bite that you may take some time to get used to.

With that great handling, even the ride is quite good. Yes, there is a slight firm edge to it in a European sense. So over broken roads, you will notice them a bit more than, say, something a bit softly set up. But it never jars, and there is a smooth sense to the ride over these surfaces. It complements this with a tough, solid feel that has become so important to have on our roads these days.

As you keep going faster, it becomes more supple and quite comfortable. There's also great high-speed stability and control. The Aircross is a highway machine, so road trips won't be too tiring.

Safety

The Aircross X has received a five-star BNCAP rating and comes with six airbags, a dealer-fitted 360-degree camera, which was non-functional in our test car, ESP, hill hold and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror. The camera can be useful sometimes but is too grainy to be fully used to its potential.

Verdict

With the Aircross X, Citroen finally has a car that can be a competitive choice in the segment it competes in. Yes, it should have happened much earlier, and there is still some work to be done in terms of growing the brand and service network. But the great space, comfort and dynamics, as well as a reasonable cabin ambience, mean that you definitely need to take a look at the Aircross X if you are in the market for a family SUV in this price range. Priced at Rs 13.69 lakh on-road Mumbai for this top trim, this Citroen also happens to be a great deal.

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