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The start point for the best source of fleet information |
C5 final shot
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Downsizing can be a tricky business if you need a certain number of seats and a big boot for much of your working and private life.
One solution is to downsize on power rather than physical dimensions, saving on P11D, tax and fuel in the process.
We took that choice with the Citroen C5 Tourer 1.6HDI SX, which came after our outgoing Ford Mondeo Estate 2.0 TDCi Titanium X. The two cars have similar dimensions (the Ford is wider and the Citroen slightly longer) and comparable load-lugging ability: Ford's min/max figures are 554/1685 litres while Citroen's are 563/1658.
While the C5's 1.6-litre engine sounds small for a large family estate car that feeling is more psychological than actual. The 110PS unit has proved thoroughly able. The bite of the clutch takes getting used to on early morning starts and you can't expect instant and electric overtaking in all gears on the motorway, but overall, most drivers will hardly notice, least of all feel short-changed.
Indeed, picking the smaller engine and trim is where the savings really kick in: nearly £7k on list price, 6g/km on CO2 to 150g/km, equating to a 21% company car tax and band C VED (vs. 20% and band D for the 2.0-litre Mondeo). And in real world driving we've been getting better fuel economy with the C5 - 40.0 vs. 49.6mpg official - compared to 36.6 vs. 47.9mpg with the Mondeo.
Of course some of the list price saving relates to a higher spec (more of which in our final report), but the engine-downsizing route still has merit as a cash-saving exercise with little real hardship. Maybe it could work for your fleet too?
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