Citroën C5 Aircross review

Leg room is ample in the front of the C5 Aircross, and head room is decent if you avoid the panoramic sunroof (optional on Flair, standard on Flair Plus). Even with the head room- sapping sunroof, our 6ft-plus testers weren’t exactly hemmed in. If you’re really tall or just like wearing a hat when you drive, a Mazda CX-5 has even more clearance for the top of your head. 

Between the seats are a couple of cupholders that’ll each take a giant cup of coffee with ease, plus there’s and a wide, comfortable armrest. Underneath said armrest is a space big enough to, well, stick your whole arm into, which is good, because the glovebox is pretty small. There are plenty of other storage spaces dotted around as well.

The panoramic sunroof we mentioned above really eats up head room in the rear, to the extent that anyone tall will have to cock their head to fit in. If yours is a lanky family, we’d certainly recommend sticking with a standard metal roof, which rules out top Flair Plus trim entirely. Head room is much better without the sunroof, but you still wouldn’t call it one of the car’s strengths – the CX-5 is far better here.

Leg room is passable rather than generous, too; there’s enough knee space for a couple of six-footers to sit, albeit perhaps with their knees lightly brushing the backs of the seats in front. It’s similar to the CX-5 in this respect, so if you want more rear leg room, opt for the Honda CR-V or Skoda Kodiaq. It’s good, though, that opting for the Hybrid doesn’t reduce affect the amount of rear space one bit.

Unlike in many of its rivals, there’s no seven-seat option for those occasional extended family outings; the C5 Aircross is a five-seater only. If you need seven seats, look at the Peugeot 5008 or pricier Hyundai Santa Fe.

This is an area the C5 Aircross really excels; all models, including the hybrid, offer three equally sized rear seats that all fold, recline and slide back and forth independently of one another, so you can prioritise boot space or rear passenger space any in any number of combinations.

The front passenger seat has basic adjustment, including for height, but you can’t vary the lumbar support, nor can you fold the backrest flat to accommodate really long loads. This handy feature is available in the Skoda Kodiaq.

We were able to fit nine carry-on suitcases below the parcel shelf and that’s a very competitive tally for the class, albeit one equalled by the five-seat Honda CR-V and Skoda Kodiaq. If you need even more space, we’d point you towards the Hyundai Santa Fe or Peugeot 5008. 

The large, load area is flat when you fold down the rear seats and it's very easy to feed bulky items in through the large boot aperture and get them back out again. Helping here is a standard two-level boot floor that can be raised to effectively flatten the loading lip, or can be lowered to increase overall space. 

You don’t get that false floor in Hybrid models, though, and these lose a big chunk of boot space as a result, but the total boot capacity still eclipses that of the MG HS. There’s some underfloor storage for the charging cables, too, and the fixed floor is level with the loading aperture.An electric tailgate with hands-free opening – you simply waggle your foot under the rear bumper and it pops up – is optional on Flair trim and standard on range-topping Flair Plus.