Peugeot or Citroen Related SUVs go head to head – with surprising results

VIVE LA DIFFERENCE?

There are many ways in which the Citroën C5 Aircross and Peugeot 3008 are identical. But what matters is the differences between them – which are more than just skin deep

PEUGEOT AND CITROËN have been part of the same corporation for a long time. Recently, that corporation became even bigger when Vauxhall, Fiat, Maserati, Jeep and Alfa Romeo joined the party to create the cringeably named Stellantis organisation. But in the shape of the old PSA group, the two French giants had been united since Peugeot bought a majority share in Citroën back in 1976.

What does this have to do with off-roading? Clearly, the Citroën C5 Aircross and Peugeot 3008 you see in these pictures were not made to conquer the Sahara. But just like certain other 4x4 brands we could mention, Citroën and Peugeot make vehicles these days which trade on their brands’ history.

Talking of the Sahara, did you know that the fi rst vehicle to cross it was a Citroën? A hundred years ago, as it happens, in 1922, using vehicles converted into half-tracks. And if you care to add together the number of times Land Rover, Jeep, Hummer and Toyota have won the Dakar Rally between them, it’s half as many as Peugeot.

Does this translate itself into any of the few differences there are between the 3008 and C5 Aircross? It’s probably fanciful, but perhaps the Peugeot has the sportier image of the two, while the Citroën comes across as more of a practicality-led expedition machine. Actually, now we’re saying that out loud it sounds more than just probably fanciful…

These are two very similar vehicles. Same platform, same engines (as tested), same transmissions, even a lot of the same design quirks and

Power for the C5 Aircross comes from a hybrid system mating a 1.6-litre petrol engine to an 81kW electric motor for a total output of 225bhp and 266lbf.ft. It’ll do 0-62mph in 8.7 seconds and top out at 140 – but the fi gures that matter in this market are 157.2-222.3mpg, 32-41g/km and 33-40 miles on electric power alone

equipment. There are differences, but aside from the obvious they come in the shape of details alone.

The 3008 has a more aggressive front end and a ‘faster’ body shape overall, while the C5 Aircross sits up a little more behind a bluff front end. Both vehicles have the rugged looking black lower body cladding that’s become a signature part of the general SUV look, but on the C5 this is heavily exaggerated as a deign feature along the sills and front bumper. The 3008, on the other hand, treats it as something to be contrasted with by large areas of sharply angled chrome.

We don’t normally talk about vehicles’ styling when we review them, on the basis that you can look at the pictures and see for yourself. It seems relevant here, however – because for the majority of people faced with choosing between these two, it will come down to the one they fancy.

Actually, it will also come down to which you can get the better deal on, and whether there’s one you can get hold of at all. But these things being equal (and they’re unlikely to be far apart), a lot will come down to looks.

Our own view on this subject is irrelevant, because looks are down to personal taste and who’s to say we’re right and you’re wrong. But we did canvass a few opinions and most people preferred the 3008, for what that’s worth. Again, nothing, on the face of it, though it might perhaps have a bearing on how easy you find it to sell the vehicle on again afterwards. Not that either of these should be slow to move at the right price.

Looks familiar? The shape of the engine bay might be a little different, but the 3008 tested here gets its power from exactly the same set-up. This time, you’re looking at 8.9 seconds; top speed and fuel economy are identical to the C5’s, but CO2 is quoted at 31g/km and it’ll do 32-39 miles in fully electric mode

Despite being the same basic vehicle underneath, the C5 Aircross (left) andf 3008 (right) feel clearly distinct from one another inside. The Citroën’s classy brown leather is optional (and expensively so) but even without it, the vehicle’s interior design has the edge. The materials in the 3008’s cabin, on the other hand, feel much better, particularly the plastics from which its dash is made. Neither feels particularly special, but combining the best elements of both would create something worthy of premium status

Talking of being slow to move, or otherwise, each has the same plug-in hybrid powertrain. It’s a 1.6-litre petrol unit mated to an electric motor, with a total system output of 225bhp and 266lbf.ft, behind which an 8-speed automatic box sends drive to the front wheels only.

Yes, we thought that too. With such rich heritage, would it be asking too much to slide a second electric motor into the back and give the vehicles all-wheel drive? The good news is that they do, further up the range, but we’re slumming it here and to be fair, if you’re going to go off-road in the sort of conditions that require two driven axles, are you actually going to choose one of these to do it in?

Anyway, the options list includes Grip Control, which has long been Peugeot and Citroën’s alternative to all-wheel drive. It’s an enhanced traction management system for the front wheels and while it wasn’t fi tted on either of the particular vehicles tested here, we’ve used it plenty of times before and (to our initial surprise, we must confess) it’s very effective.

By ’slumming it,’ anyway, we mean £36,430 in the case of the Citroën C5 Aircross SUV Shine Plus Plug-in Hybrid ë-EAT8 PureTech 180 + 80kW electric motor (honestly, that’s what it says at the top of the spec sheet they sent us) or £38,010 for the Peugeot 3008 Allure Premium HYBRID 225 e-EAT8. Options change things a bit, though: our C5 was specced up to £40,465, whereas the 3008 would only cost you £39,430.

Similar, then, if not quite identical. And it’s the same deal with the rest of the fi gures. The 3008 promises 32-29 miles on electric power alone, CO2 emissions of 31g/km and fuel economy fi gures between 157.2 and 222.3mpg. Top speed is 140mph (84 in electric mode) and 0-62 comes up in 8.9 seconds. The C5 matches this, as you’d expect it would, with 33-40 e-miles, 32-41g/km and, again 157.2222.3mpg. This time it’ll do the 0-62 in 8.7 seconds (a face off between these two would make for edgeof-the-seat viewing from the bank at Santa Pod), however terminal velocity remains the same at 140.

In terms of charging, the C5 has a 6.6kW onboard charger, while the 3008’s is 3.7kW as standard (a 7.4kW unit is on the options list). You can bat the numbers back and forth, but what you need to know is that if you plug either of them into a wall box at home, or a public charging point at work, it will be at 100% well in time for your next journey.

So, is it all just about which one looks cooler to your eyes? No, actually. On the inside, there are differences which mean that depending on your particular four-wheeled needs, one is likely to be much better suited than the other.

The big one is accommodation. If you regularly carry long-legged passengers, it’s got to be the 3008. Here, one six-footer can sit behind another, whereas in the C5 it’s not happening, even with the seats slid all the way back – our editor is pretty much six feet tall exactly and for him to be able to fi t in the back, the driver’s seat needed to be so far forward that he felt like he couldn’t drive properly in it.

The C5’s headroom, on the other hand, is excellent front and rear, as is the view out. In the 3008, on the other hand, tall passengers will feel cramped up top in the rear. At least they’ll be able to get in it in the fi rst place, though.

If it’s children who regularly occupy your rear seats, on the other hand, either of these vehicles will do the job admirably. And if carrying large loads of cargo is something you do a lot, the C5 will take the lead. It has a sophisticated seat-folding mechanism which sees the base fall away as the back drops down, leaving a completely fl at, step-free fl oor which is as long as you could possibly ask for. It’s excellent in this way.

The rear seats also have a 40:20:40 split, which has the potential to add another layer of practicality. Honestly, we found that it just added another layer of complexity and fussiness instead, but we can see ways in which it could be useful. The 3008, meanwhile, is a lot more traditional with a 60:40 split and simple drop-down backs which fold to leave a sloping fl oor.

One area in which the 3008 is a lot better is in its interior materials. This is never more apparent than when you open the C5’s tailgate – to be greeted by

The 3008 was tested on 225/55/R18 tyres, while the C5 Aircross was on lower-profi le 19-inchers. Yet there’s a greater sharpness to the Peugeot in really spirited use – which is balanced out by the Citroën’s smoother, more settled ride on poor roads

As these two images of the C5 Aircross attempt to illustrate, the second row of seats could be enough to make or break your choice between these two SUVs. If you regularly need to carry tall passengers in the back, the vehicle’s legroom (or lack of, even with the seats slid fully back) will put you right off. For cargo carrying, on the other hand, they have a clever folding mechanism which allows them to create a fl oor that’s long and fully fl at. The plastic boot sides feel really scratchy and nasty, though

big swathes of simple, scratchy black plastic trim up both sides of the boot. There’s a great deal of similarly unpleasant plastic on the dash, too, which doesn’t creak much but certainly has the effect of making the vehicle look and feel cheap.

That’s a shame, because the cabin has quite a funky design to it that dares to be different, with vertically stacked air vents around the media screen and an unusual panel of touch buttons below it. Our vehicle had brown leather inserts to match its nappa leather seats, too (these also give you a massage, and not surprisingly they’re where the biggest chunk of the options money went), all of which makes for a bold and quirky interior that won’t be to everyone’s taste but certainly stands out in a crowd.

It also stands out in the practicality stakes, with a central cubby box that’s bigger than the guest bedroom in your typical modern new-build. The 3008 is by contrast generally more conservative, doing the normal things well rather than trying to reinvent the wheel and decorating it all in a nice combination of metallic switchgear and cloth-style elements which conveys a feeling of quality that’s backed up by far better plastics than Citroën’s.

In terms of driving them, the differences are less obvious but they do exist. As we’ve mentioned already, they’re as good as identical performance-wise, but the 3008 feels as if it’s trying to be sportier in its steering and handling. We’re not talking about huge difference, but there’s a greater sharpness to its turn-in – however unless you’re the kind of driver who really goes for it on B-roads, what you’re most likely to notice is that it rides harder than the C5, whose body stays more settled over crummy roads and doesn’t turn as many pot holes into shuddering impacts upon your bottom. Again, though, the differences are no more than marginal.

One area in which both vehicles managed to make us grind our teeth was on the motorway. Both ride smoothly and keep out all but a bit of background on the motorway. Both ride smoothly and keep out all but a bit of background noise, but cruise control is standard – standard and, in each case, next-level annoying. The controls, which include a toggle switch between cruise and speed limiter function, as well as distance control for the radar, are on a separate stalk – so that’s a whole lot of buttons, and guess what? It’s completely hidden from your eye line by one of the spokes of the steering wheel.

As if that’s not ridiculous enough, every time we tried to set the cruise control it knocked us back with a message saying ‘conditions not suitable.’ Driving along on an empty motorway is normally considered suitable, and indeed every other vehicle we’ve ever tested has agreed with our view on this, but perhaps Peugeot and Citroën know something the rest of the entire car industry doesn’t. To be fair on the 3008, we did manage to get it to engage a couple of times in among all the swearing, but with no apparent relation to the actual conditions outside.

In situations like these, we always have to ask ourselves whether we’re being impatient. A test driver’s job is to learn about the vehicle before making judgements, after all. But we also have to recognise things that would be an instant deal-breaker if we were a would-be punter taking a test drive with a salesman sitting next to us, and this was one of those.

That apart, would we go for the 3008 or the C5 Aircross? Our instincts say the former, though we do prefer the Citroën’s superior practicality as a stuff-shifter – and we’re suckers for bold design, too, which is another strong tick in its box. We’re not convinced that its interior plastics will wear well, though – and we prefer the look of the Peugeot. But when it comes down to though – and we prefer the look of the Peugeot. But when it comes down to that, as we’ve said, you really are trying to separate the inseparable. that, as we’ve said, you really are trying to separate the inseparable.