2021 Citroen C5 Aircross review, road test

The gearbox has been internally codenamed EAT8 which stands for ‘efficient automatic transmission 8’, but does this transmission aid fuel economy as its name suggests? In our city driving cycles, the Citroën managed a rather impressive 10.3kpl. Owing to its impressive responsiveness in the city, you will seldom need aggressive throttle inputs to make quick overtakes or dart into gaps in traffic. Aiding city efficiency further is an automatic engine start-stop function that is seamless, responsive and vibration-free in its operation; hence, you won’t mind leaving it on while the car is stuck at a traffic light for a long duration. A peculiar behaviour we noticed is that this feature is a bit too eager to perform and often switched off the car while slowing down, even before coming to a halt.

The story is a bit different when it comes to highway fuel economy, which is 12.6kpl; with eight gear ratios, you’d have imagined a much higher figure, especially after the tall city efficiency. However, the good news is that this automatic is spinning at a lazy 1,500rpm in eighth gear while cruising at 100kph, but what’s interesting to note is that only the seventh and eight gears are overdrive ratios.

So, in a scenario when you are cruising at a steady pace, the C5’s efficiency will be higher. However, on two lane highways where speeds aren’t constant, the C5 will often be in lower gears to make quick progress, and that takes a toll on its fuel efficiency.