American Reacts to Old Citroën Suspension torture Testing VS other cars 

Fun fact: In 1981 Rolls-Royce got themselves a license to use Citroëns hydropneumatic suspension, so their cars used it for many years, or maybe they still use it.

Citroen xantia activa holds the world record to this day at a handling test called the moose test even supercars havnt matched or beat it! All while the suspension is super comfortable for bumps too thanks to it being hydraulic

When I was a kid in the 1970s, my dad used to love watching horse racing on TV. I was always fascinated by the long shots of the race showing a Citroen DS with a camera mounted on the roof, driving along the grass or gravel at the side of the track. When it cut to the close up of the horses galloping, the camera shots had barely any shake because the DSs suspension was so good.

It's a real shame that Citroën doesn't make this suspension any more. It was costly, required a lot of maintenance, but man... the car feels like floating on air! So comfortable!

"That's a weird looking car" Every first impression of old Citroens ever.

I worked for Citroen for many years and the hydropneumatic suspension was so successful that today all commercial aircraft carry this Citroen patent system.

The car at 0:28 is a Citroen GS which was their mid-size model at the time. It's quite interesting in that it was originally designed to have a wankel engine, but the oil crisis put a stop to that and instead it ended up suffering the same underpowered faith as most other Citroens with either a 1L or 1.3L engine. At 2:38 you get a glimpse of the legendary SM which was powered by a Maserati engine.

I used to have a Citroen BX 19 GTI. Best car I've ever owned. It handles turns, bumps and rough roads perfectly. And with the 1,9 ltr engine, I had no problem leaving BMW's and Mercedes behind me on Norwegian mountain roads. I really, really miss that car. It's as good as pictured in this video, if not even better. It's no exaggeration in this promovideo from Citroen.

The suspension of Xantia activa , incridible.

You nailed it : there are cars, and there are Citroëns. They definitely have something the others don't have, and will never have, no matter how hard they try. And oleopneumatic systems are totally reliable, don't listen to stupid parrots without a clue repeating stupid and false rumors. I drove hundreds of thousands km in Citroëns, more of 500000 km as a driver myself and never had any problems. The DS, the CX and the BX I owned all reached well over 320000 km and they were not scrapped, I sold them. Also owned a 2CV (my first car of course), 2 Xsara Coupé and a C4 Coupé. If you've just discovered Citroën, let me tell you mate : you've just stepped into a much more interesting world ! Browse RU-vid for videos about the whole history of the brand, including its creator. You won't be disappointed.

9:00 when my brother emigrated from Europe to the US over ten years ago, not being able to own and drive a Citroën was one of the few things that came close to persuading him to stay 😅

Dad had the 1969 D Series Citroen ID20, gave it to my mum when he passed, still to this day, it is the smoothest car I have ever driven in. I now own a Citroen C5 2004 model, which is smoother than most new cars that I have ridden in recently, but nowhere near as smooth as the ID20. Those cars where ahead of thier time, 1969, a version of power steering (one that reduces assistance as you speed up), and no brake peddle, just a manual button valve on the floor that as you push on the button it releases hydrolic pressure into the braking system. Disc brakes on the front axle at the transmission end of the axle (centred under the engine) and not near the wheels, conventional drums at the back. No shock absorbers, no springs. Another interesting part is jacking the car up to change a tire. No Jack in the car, just a steel mount. You would raise the suspension to full high, put in the mount into the correct location then lower the suspension full low. It will then pick the tyre up off the ground that is closest to the steel bar. By the looks of it the car in the shot at 1:32 is an ID20, looks the same as a 1969, but they made a few years models that looked similar as well as a few different ID numbers that look similar. The tread on tyres of the ID20 is also interesting as its an asymetrical thread pattern, its different on the outside of the tyre to the inside of the tyre. Also the headlights turn with the steering, so when you turn a corner say to the left, the left headlight turns to point the direction you want to go, same for the right headlight, it turns as you turn the steering. 8:20 even in my 2004 C5 wagon, getting it to skid in wet weather... nearly impossible. The 1969 D series, was in it when Dad was driving in heavy wet weather once, and he had to break hard, I just remember feeling like the car was about to embark on some form of ballet routine standing on its nose, but it never slid or locked its tyres. Citroen definitely have some good braking power, that 1969 D series, the front discs had pads that cover a good 90% of the size of the rotor, the pads are huge, just imagine discs almost the size of a current day performance 6-piston caliper, with pads that are bigger than the calipers you see on say the current day mustangs. The rotors are not as wide, but they are still fairly large.

I saw a commercial where a Citroen car was raised up to full suspension hight and then lifted one wheel up so the tyre could be changed if you got a flat. This was in Australia.

Camera crews used the Citroën's DS, CX and XM as camera cars for horse races. Those were the only cars they could drive around the track on the infield and still have a steady recording.

Moose Test! About the logo, on a trip to Poland in 1890, Andre Citroen discovered a gear-cutting process that was based on a chevron-shaped design. Citroen saw this as the means to start his career in manufacturing, so in 1919, when he began making vehicles, he adopted the double chevron as his logo. Great stories about other manufacturer logos as well. Could be a cool video.....

At 11:15 that's a CX, the successor of the DS. CX is also shorthand for the air resistance factor which was quite good for the time with the CX. Apart from that it later had bigger engines and also very reliable 2.5 liter diesels. The most interesting variants were the 'Loadrunner' sixwheelers used for international newspaper deliveries between Paris and down to Munich or even Milano as far as I know.

Some of the Citroens had great suspension, I used to own a Citroen Xantia with hydropneumatic suspension which is the same system they used in the DS. By far the most comfortable ride I have ever had in a car. It even automatically lowered itself when on the highway to reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency.

My first Citroen was a Xantia 1997 and was also famous for his adjustable suspension wich make this car very luxurious. Today i drive a New C4 that have a modern reactive suspension wich make me very happy , because i am living in Belgium and our country is famous for his bad roadconditions. Citroen is thatway the best car we can buy.

This hydrolic suspension, Citroën was known for, is kind of an acquired taste. My uncle used to own a DS, and this was the only car where I needed a paper bag ! That sensation of gliding over everything... 🤢

Don’t forget that the suspension was self-levelling - no sagging at the back when full of luggage, no hitting the bump stops, no diving under full braking. My parents had a GS Club Estate, they ran a hotel and had to get extra crockery for Christmas. I rode with dad in it for 50 miles to Norwich with nothing in the back at all. Arrived in Norwich, folded down the rear seat (the luggage compartment was completely rectangular with no intrusion and the bumper (fender) lifted with the tailgate so no awkward lip. We filled the rear from behind the front seats to the rear with crockery and almost to the top of the doors. Crockery is HEAVY. Dad started the engine - after the usual clicks and whirs, the GS rose to its normal height. More throttle than usual was needed to pull that weight but the ride didn’t change one bit from an empty car! Incredible. It did lean more into corners and was not as responsive - I mean, inertia and all that, but no other car than one with hydropneumatic suspension could have done that.

Except from the SM we had all of the Citroëns in our family. Really comfortable cars if the roads aren't perfect or outright bad.

hello, i am french and we have a lot of citroens in my family. I had an uncle who had a cx. In this car there is a lever to activate or not the suspension. And on Sundays with the family, my uncle put all the moms in the back, he activated the suspension and deliberately aimed for the holes and the bumps in the road. We jumped softly, we laughed a lot, these are good memories. My companions when I met him had a zx, we kept him for a long time. I didn't like her, she wasn't the prettier Citroën and I always wanted to sleep on board. Good evening from 🇫🇷.

My dad had a 1976 CX2200 and it was a lovely car, a super smooth ride and had interesting gimmicks like one window wiper, a roller ball speedometer. I recall us being blocked in by a merc, and my Dad raised the suspension as he had a caravan hook on the back, he pushed the merc back and then drove away.

During my childhood and teenage years, my parents had some kind of Citroën. All holidays in the 2CV were fantastic. Standing in the backseat with my head out of the roof... I know nothing about cars, don't even have a driver's license, but I still recognize the sound of a Citroën.

I had the privilige to own 2 Citroën hydropneumatic cars (BX and Xantia). I have a childhood experience from the DS23 Pallas (one of two ever built, because of the options on it). The comparison between the Audi, Mercedes, Fiat and Citroën was not a commercial, but a test by TV journalists for a German?/Dutch? TV show.

10:20 Citroen CX. I remember this TV series "Telemotor" from the late 70s and 80s on 2nd German Television (ZDF). See the sticker on the car's sidedoor. Most cars were tested by a former belgian race car pilot (Formula 1 etc) named Paul Frère. A very cool & skilled driver. I also liked his nonchalant french accent when speaking german. RIP.

The one you did not know is a CX, which came as a follow up to the DS. I have owned 3 of them (still drive a Citroën) and the film is absolutely right. Their roadholding was fabulous and the ride pure luxury.

One of the reasons for soft French suspensions is the "chaussee deformee' uneven road surfaces of French B roads... I can remember hurtling through the French countryside in my Citroen CX PRESTIGE with DIRAVI power self centring steering and the car running dead true with one finger guidance with the uneven road beneath totally ignored.. very fast on the cyclops eye Speedo and Tacho.

I was the Citroen importer/Dealer for Jamaica in the mid 1990's. I brought in the Xantia, 2.0lit mid size and the smaller Xara, 1.8 and 2.0lit and the Saxo 1.6lit. They were all fabulous cars. Only the Xantia had the hydraulic suspension, the other 2 used a MacParson suspension like the Peaugeot, they both operated on the rough potholed Jamaican roads. Both Peaugeot and Citroen shared the same engines, Peaugeot went racing and Citroen went Rallying with Sebastian Loeb who racked up 8 World Championships, and countless other Wins.

As Citroën driver for few decades (XM, C5/1, 2x C5/2, now C4 aircross, total ca. 2,5 mil. km), I can say: Once Citroën, always Citroën.

You need to check Citroen Xantia V6 3.0L with active hydraulic suspension tests. Mind blowing. Btw. the evasion test calls "Elk Test" - I think Xantia is still holding the 1th place.

I have 2007 Citroen C5. Yeah, the suspension is the most interesting part. Some people criticise it for being unreliable. I don't know, but my C5 will be celebrating 10 year anniversary of staying with me this May. The only thing I've done was to clean brushes of hydraulic pump motor. No other parts have worn down regarding the hydraulics. Of course, I need to replace a worn out joint or stabiliser, but that's usual car stuff. I like, that I can lift it up and go off-roading. Good thing, when I want to check my grain fields. I was literally competing with crossovers (those cars, which kind of have a body of SUV, but they lack an all wheel drive) in snow and poor condition road and my little C5 won, lol.

o, btw. ... CX had the wildest dashboard of the mainstream cars of mid 70-ties!!! and if you saw one live, you would love its design, cause compared to other cars launched in 1974 it had almost as "extraterrestrial" design as DS had in mid 50-ties 😋😁

10:45 Citroën CX, IIRC, i think it was the replacement for the DS and was designed to have the best aerodynamic penetration possible at the time for a classically shaped sedan.

They drove those CX's in the Paris-Dakar Rally. And in recent years, there's been a Dakar Classic which runs along side the Dakar Rally, but all with Dakar cars from the 90's and older, including a Dutch team with a rally prepared factory CX in the same colour scheme as the original rally car.

If you have the opportunity to get behind the Citroën CX steering wheel, you'll probably be so mesmerized by its dashboard you might change your mind about its exterior looks, especially its unique rear windshield...

After a number of Mini, BMWs and Golfs from 1966, I got a special offer of new Peugeot 306XL (Diesel) in Denmark and it was a revelation how well suspended it was (I have driven French (Diesel) cars since then)! The French really knows how to make a comfortable suspension (And very economic cars. I was past 29 km/l on a full tank in one! I have fuel books from many years of driving) ! And the mostly smaller engines was a result of the French Taxation System. The sadly late French luxury Car Brand: "Facel Vega" had a huge American engine, as taxes wasn't a problem for this segment of cars!

I always liked the shape of the CX, especially the quirky inversed curve of the rear window. On the GS it was the Wankel that intrigued me. And driving the DS, I’ve always felt it really needed that special engine André Citroën had planned for it. They attempted to compensate that later with the SM, but I think it’s not quite the low center of gravity flat 6-cilinder (boxer) he had in mind. Fascinating stories, expensive engineering choices. Sad that the reliability was so bad. Still mighty impressed with the BX’s handling in the curvy Ardennes roads on a trip from Spa area to Saint-Hubert area on only B-roads and smaller.

The 2cv is an absolute lesson in clever simplicity and structural efficiency. They don't care about speed bumps, and the engine doesn't have head gaskets. Also one of the best gear shifts i've ever used. They all handle really well, but have a different kind of rhythm to them when compared to other cars. If you ever hear anyone saying they just lean and understeer/push, they've either never driven one or were doing it wrong. The slalom one which got cut off when the Ford was doing it is a good one, an XM keeps up with a Lotus.

Here are some of its notable Citroën innovations: 1. the front-wheel drive of the engine hence the citroen traction 2. Hydropneumatic suspension: The hydropneumatic suspension is an emblematic innovation from Citroën. It was first introduced on the DS in 1955 and offered unrivaled comfort at the time. This suspension was able to compensate for load variations and road irregularities, providing an extremely smooth ride. Even rolls royce bought the patents I believe. What we just saw on your video . 3 Citroën has also Invented the directional headlights: The directional headlights were introduced for the first time on the Citroën SM in 1970. The headlights followed the movements... The 2cv car cheap and easy to manufacture I invite you to watch videos on this subject In summary here is Citroën. I am a Frenchman who came across your video and on top of that I restore these cars in a collector's car garage

That big sedan is Citroen CX, I had one of them, all models from Citroen that you shown on this video have Hydropneumatic suspension except 2CV, on Hydroupneumatic system there are no springs or shock absorbers instead they have a Nitrogen spheres on each wheel that acts as spring and shock absorber and a hydraulic pump will support the whole system, on this system you have auto level correction and you can manually change the height of the car and because of that you see that CX goes for a little offroading. also that hydraulic pump supports the brake system and steering system too, there is no vacuum booster or master cylinder, hydraulic pressure will go directly to the brakes on the wheels and because of that different brake system they are very stable on braking in bad condition roads. also the brake pressure on rear wheels are variable, more weight on the rear seats and trunk means more power on rear brakes. steering system also in all CX and SM and some other models are self centering means that when you turn the wheel and take your hands off the steering wheel steering will go back to the center automatically. 2CV`s they have no hydraulic suspension instead a completely different system, on 2CV each side front and rear wheels are connected to each other mechanically so when front left side wheel goes up left side rear wheel will forced to go down and with this act the body will be stable.

I am french and I have known the car CX With the suspension hydrolic sphere....The best suspension at the world...

I had a Citroen BX many years ago, and it was like was like being on a flying carpet, you hardly felt the road, but at the same time stayed nicely in control.

everytime i see a old citröen i think of "PHANTOMAS" loved that film back in the days when i was a kid

Had big Bmw, Mb, Gm…still missing my CX. Best ever. Interior and controls with gauges would blew your mind.

The Citroën models you saw in this video were the 2CV, the DS, then the CX, GS and SM. The latter is a subject to discover, as it's both one of the greatest Citroën cars - and their death knell (Peugeot took them over after that adventure). Citroën bought Maserati and decided to combine their great technology of the DS with the prowess of a Maserati engine. (If the DS was lacking in anything, it was a true sports model. The SM was supposed to be that.)

The weird-looking car is a CX. A friend who owns a CX always said: you don't park a CX, you berth it.

The model at 2:20 is the GS. Fun car. 1L or 1.2L (45 or 60bHp respectively) 4cyl air-cooled boxer engine. The crank for the small jack can actually be used to crankstart the engine. (The hole is just below the double chevron logo in the grille) The luxury edition was the GS Pallas(Yes, named after a goddess) and included a black vinyl coating on the roof to look like a soft top. My first car... I would NOT take it offroad. (Besides the 2CV, of course. It was designed for it) When you raise the height of a Citroen the suspension stiffens up and the ride gets uncomfortable(I drove my GS on tractor tracks a lot, but hardly ever needed to lift it) and at 'top' there's no flex at all. It's ONLY for changing tires or garage work. In fact, it's highly advised in the user manual NOT to drive it at faster than a walking pace in that setting. 2CV design requirements were 'able to cross a plowed field without breaking the eggs transported in a basked on the rear seats, cheap to manufacture, easy to repair, room for even tall people(Andre Citroën himself tested this by wearing a tophat when he got into it.) They supposedly even tried a pull-start, but a secretary broke a nail, and they went back to electric starter. Take a look at the rear of a Citroën CX. The rear window is curved the 'wrong way'... Many models (GS, CX, BX among others) have the window washer nozzles placed on the wiper arm. Incredibly effective.

If you didn't know btw, Citroen's Hydropneumatic suspension system was so popular that RollsRoyce for a time even licences the use for it on the Silver Shadow, it inspired the Mercedes 600 (grösser) to use hydropneumatic suspension as well AND it inspired BMC/Leyland's hydragas system, which though it sadly never got to prove its full worth, was a pretty damn good iteration on the concept as well. Not to mention that the Hydractive suspension (introduced on the Xantia and XM) was ahead of its time by a few decades; being one of maybe a handful of brands that could claim to have active suspension and certainly the only one at the time using it on more mainstream models. (well...as far as one could call the citroen's mainstream)

André Citroën, the founder of Citroën, embarked on a world tour in 1924 that became a legendary journey in the history of the automobile industry. The tour was an ambitious marketing effort aimed at demonstrating the capabilities of Citroën cars, promoting the brand globally, and gathering information about the automotive markets in different countries. The tour started on July 4, 1924, from the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris and ended on February 26, 1925, covering a distance of 48,000 kilometers across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Citroën used several of its newly designed vehicles for the tour, including the Citroën B10 and the Citroën C3. The journey was not without its challenges. André Citroën faced numerous obstacles, including treacherous roads, extreme weather conditions, and mechanical breakdowns. However, he persevered and successfully completed the tour, becoming the first person to circumnavigate the globe in an automobile. The world tour of André Citroën was a remarkable achievement that helped to establish Citroën as a global automotive brand. It demonstrated the durability, reliability, and innovative engineering of Citroën cars, and helped to establish the company as a major player in the automotive industry. The tour also laid the foundation for Citroën's continued success in the years to come.

The White and the Red Citroën in the video was the CX, the replacement for the DS. The CX was produced from 1975 to 1991 and was fitted with 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3 or 2.4 Ltr gas engines depending on which country it was o be sold in, or the alternative was a 2.5 Diesel engine. Although it looked like a hatchback, it was actually a Sedan. There was a Station wagon variant available which was called the Familiale. (The DS station wagon was called the Safari.)

The Citroën cars from today are either a hit or miss. I had a C3, with an automatic transmission. I think they called it the sensodrive, basically a transmission without real gears. Driving it was awesome, but the number of technical problems with it was just insane. So much that the dealership didn’t know how to fix the car and sent it to another dealership, who sent it to the factory. They replaced so many things and still, I always had to have at least one major issue. We went on vacation with it and they gave me a choice: no cruise control or no airconditioning… I chose the no cruise control. What do these two issues even have in common? The gearbox was replaced, all the wiring, the fan, the air intake and many more. Everything seem to break down. In the end, I drove it less than a year. Never again!

I understand that in the UK back in the day they used to use Citroëns as camera cars during horse races simply due to their rather refined ride quality.

In the 90s they made a performance version of the suspension, in a model called Citroen Xantia Activa, which you could get with a V6 engine as well, but those things had a performance focused version of the suspension, and they'd basically corner leveled and is fascinating to watch.

Plus and cons of Citroën hydropneumatic suspension: - plus: if you're a smuggler at the Switzerland border, thank to the self leveling suspension, the custom officer can't tell at first sight if your Citroën is overloaded with gold bars 😂 - cons: in hydropneumatic, there is "hydro", and the feeling is similar to a boat at sea. I still have painful memories of seasickness as a child in our family DS 🤢

there's a reason why Rolls Royce, Bentley, Mercedes, used Citroen suspensions for decades, it took 50 years to develop something superior to the hydraulic system with "conventional" ones. I wonder if someone will improve the system to actually make it cheap enough now to be competitive, the ride was just so fantastic.

A few CXs were exported to the US but for Legal reasons the name of Citroën had to be removed as Citroën had removed its activity from the States. So the importator had just to slightly modify some aspects of the vehicle. Without trademark it was difficult the CX to be a comercial success there.

Their modern era cars are pretty good too. We had a 2002 Picasso, a very "Bulbous" looking car, really roomy, really comfortable, loads of storage, ideal family car. Driving down through England to the ferry and down through France and Spain with camping gear and three kids. Comfort all the way, a high driving position too meant you knew perfectly where each corner of the car was. Utterly reliable too, pity it got wrecked by careless elderly Audi driver.

remember Citroën as a kid watching horse racing on TV, it was the only car that could follow the race and still manage to keep the camera steady.

The Citroën CX 25 GTI Turbo 2 is a 168 HP car with a top speed of 217 KPH or 135 MPH and the SM had a top speed of 228 KPH (142 MPH) so they're not really slow cars. But they are expensive especially the SM.

The greatest Citroën ever was something called the Pluriel. Absolute beast 😂

Driving a 2cv6 is so much fun. Originally designed to carry farmers, sheep and eggs across a ploughed field without breaking any eggs. Feels totally unique if you have never been in a Citroen. I could maintain my speed (not the fastest) around corners and catch up to struggling BMW's around corners on countryside track roads full of potholes and debris. They are fun to drive on the beach too, the Citroen Mehari used the same suspension and similar Chassis and was used at the beach in the 1970's and 1980's.

I learned to drive in a VW Golf. On a speed bump, the car would take a right, and you had to anticipate and counter steer. And generally, you really had to slow down for them. Not so in the BX. In the BX you'd take a speed bump at the local speed limit. And the car would track dead straight.

Do you remember the 90' tv show : "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" ? We could see one of the characters, Larry Kubiac in a 2CV!!

French here. We used to say that the only way you could roll a 2CV was when driving it in reverse. Citroën models in this video: 2CV, DS, SM, CX, GS, maybe GSA. Other models produced later: BX in the 80s and 90s (farmers' car, unbelievable), AX, ZX, then XM in the 90s, Xantia, Xsara, Saxo, and then came the end of the hydropneumatic suspension and Citroën cars became really bad, from the 2000s onwards. We're still waiting for them to right this ship and bring their suspension back, but they don't want to.

The model at 2:17 is the GS. The DS was Citroen's flagship model, the GS was a more mid-market, middle class car but it had the same hydropneumatic suspension as the DS. Interesting bit of trivia: the 2CV didn't have the hydropneumatic suspension, it was a conventional coil spring system but in a very unique and clever setup. The 2CV was actually designed before WW2 when rural France was still very poor and with terrible roads, many of them unsealed. Andre Citroen wanted to build a simple, cheap car for those farmers, peasants and rural people and, famously, the instructions he gave to his engineers were that a 2CV owner should be able to put a basket of eggs in his car and drive to town to the farmers' market on the then-existing country roads without any of the eggs breaking.

As a Frenchman I can tell you a little bit more on Citroens : The one you couldn't identify was the CX which came in replacement of the DS in 1974. The one in the begining of the video which looked a little as a CX but a bit smaller was the GS (created around 1970) One point regarding the 2CV is it had been first elaborated during WWII was germans were in France, but this project was kept secret from them. When they reactivated it after the war, this car was intended for peasants (at least for rural persons), and par of the specification was : "This car has to be able to go across a fied, with a bag of eggs inside it, without breaking a single one", for the rest, it was designed to be very cheap and minimal even though it was not as small as Fiat 500. Even if we don't talk of pneumatic suspentions, the Citroen Traction was the first car produced with high volumes with front wheels traction, and it was quite revolutionary at the time (1933), there was a gang of robbers named "le gang des tractions" who were using these cars because the police wasn't able to catch them as they were very fast on small roads compared to traditional cars with rear wheel propulsion. Also the brand badge is the "chevron" which is the shape of the gears inside the gearbox, which was also invented by Citroen to be smoother, and more robust. (back in the 1920's) Citroens have always been cars with a very good chassis, and always seeking for innovation on this part, and were looked in France as engineers cars but the drawback was regarding the engines which were not as developed as the competitors, and the fact that their innovation was too quick and gave them unreliability reputation (The DS had many issues with their suspensions at the beginning, and the average mechanics in France was not able to repair them, so the reputation went bad and remained bad even after these cars became very reliable). This is the reason why even though they should have become the main brand in France due to their technical quality, Citroen suffered from unreliability reputation and had to be purchased first by Michelin, and then by Peugeot because of financial difficulties (good engineers but poor administration). Hope this was not too long :)

The Fiat model is a Croma. Citroen's hydropnuematic suspension has to be the best suspension in the world, no matter how much weight you carry, it will always remain at the same height. A trapped gas is the best spring you can have. The Citroen CX is a really amazing car, in the video with the Audi, Mercedes and Fiat is a mk2 CX and the video afterwards is a mk1 CX

People who called the Citroen suspension "unreliable" didn't take into account how often car's with conventional suspension break a spring, blow a shock etc. I had many Citroens with the Hydropneumatic suspension and never had to do more than recharge the spheres or replace the odd corroded hydraulic line (brake).

EXCELLENT! I'm glad you reviewed this video - note how the 2cv never lifts a single rear wheel even when hard cornering. The next step is for you to get the chance to drive a hydropneumatic (HP) Citroen and I can guarantee you'll enjoy every single mile of it. What you want to set your sights on in these tests are the relation between the bumper or roofline and the fixed roadside or any other fixed horizontal background as a reference to see just how they absorb all the bumps on the road and keep the body of the car horizontal. Another thing you'll want to see is how they maintain the same ground clearance no matter how heavy the load, where normal steel sprung cars will sink down as they have no means to compensate for the extra load. The HP Citroens in this video are the DS, CX, GS (estate/station wagon) and also the SM which was their luxury grand tourer with the complete glass front covering the bank of six headlights and numberplate and with a 2.7 litre V6 Maserati engine (Citroen owned Maserati at the time). The SM's main downfall was the oil crisis in the early '70s. I had a lovely 1986 Citroen CX 25 GTi Turbo 2 (which was exactly a 2.5 litre engine with intercooled turbo) which is like the white 2nd series one in the video that went off road with the suspension on its highest setting. The CX replaced the DS in 1975 - the CX being the first Citroen with a transverse engine. The XM (which replaced the CX in '89 to 2000) was also featured at the end of that video, although you cut it out. I also had two XMs and to be honest, I didn't like them as they were incredibly unreliable with both electronic problems and hydraulic leaks (plus the 3.0 V6 engine's noisy hydraulic tappets and the automatics that slipped when going into 3rd gear), even though they were more practical being hatchbacks and were the last Citroens to have the single spoke steering wheel which was ditched in the 2nd series in the mid '90s with the introduction of airbags (although there was an ugly two spoke steering wheel used on some late 1st series XMs). The XM to me was more style over substance and it felt more German than the big Citroens that came before it as everything seemed to be firm and dare I say, more 'normal' and dumbed down in many respects, rather than being daring like previous models. Sadly the XM was game over for me.

Hi, recent big fan of your channel from Paris here! The big white Citroën sedan, on track and off-road also in red color at the end of the video is a CX (named after its good Cx, coefficient of penetration in the air, I remember it was the best at its time), it was the top-of-the-range model in the 70s. The other white, with similar front lights and with a station wagon body (we say 'break' in France) is a GS, a mid-range model from the 70s and 80s as well. I saw on RU-vid that there are a lot of Citroën fans in Canada who preserve models like the CX along with DS and other older iconic models. If you like the 2CV I recommend looking info for the Méhari version, it uses the same chassis and engine but with an ABS body that you can configure almost like old Land Rovers (folding windscreen, pick-up body with optional rear seats and a plastic tarp and roll bar that you can mount over the front seats and optionnaly on the bed - with just one wrench....) The Méhari was also used by the French army. It's a very collectible, I had one in the 80s when I lived on the Mediterranean coast of France and believe me, no sandy beach and no dunes could stop it! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_M%C3%A9hari

Up untill the mid 2000s these old citrons was used to film horseraces in the uk, as they was so smooth to film off. They was only replaced when rail mointed cameras became a thing.

The model you didn't know at about 28 seconds into the video was a Citroen GS. I had two of these, a fastback and a station wagon. Absolutely great cars, 1300 cc, aircooled, very economical. The GS and GSA also had the famous hydropneumatic suspension. At 1:03 you see the station wagon. (Times are of the original video, not your reaction.) The one at 6:20 is a CX, the follow-up to the DS.

As you explore the automotive topics, you are at some point bound to stumble into the Citroen rabbit hole, discovering just how different they really are

Nice ! thanks ! Look at the french Citroën "Traction Avant", the world’s first unibody front-wheel-drive power delivery car. A revolution at that time. Also four-wheel independent suspension. And crash resistant. In fact the first modern mass-production car. Produced from 1934 to 1957. Greeting from France wikipedia : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Traction_Avant

I would really like to see american cars of the same era doing the same tests on the same track.

When I was a child, my father had a GS, and it was totally different to anything else on the road, inside was even more crazy than the outside. Is the first car I have memories of and I remember waiting to watch the car go down on the suspension after being parked for a while. There were cars and then there was Citroen thinking totally out of the box.

as a matter of a fact; the citroen suspensions were so smooth that it made lot of people sea sick. I couldn't count the amount of times during my childhood when I puked after trips in BX, CX, or DS. Driving in such cars is like being on a boat.

In France , the cameraman use cx citroen to film the horse race around the stadium because the suspension are very good . At first they used mercedes but it was impossible to film correctly

My family had a 6cv and a BX Turbo. The 6cv was one of the best cars to go on all types of terrain xD very fun and reliable, despite its low power. The BX is simply the best car I have ever traveled in, it was like a spaceship to me. What a childhood I had traveling with them.

Mum’s first car 50 years ago was a GS estate, like the one near the start here, she use to think nothing of opening a gate to a field and driving us down to the river bank and having a picnic, makes a mockery of the X1 she has now.

Citroën _HY_ _van,_ you've got to have a look! If not for a video, then at least see some pictures. I just absolutely love the thing.

The car at 2:17 is a Citroën GS… (1970-1986). At 2:40 it is a Citroën SM Maserati (1970-1975) it had a Maserati V6 engine. At 6:47 it is a Citroën CX 1974-1991). At 10:45 it is still a CX.

Fantastic video! Old Citroens are indeed very rare in the USA. But I somehow managed to drive or be driven in the following old Citroens over there: 2CV, DS, SM, GS, CX and XM. I will also proudly state that I own (and drive regularly) several Citroen models featured in this video: 2CV, CX and several GS-es (plus some other Citroen models). I will keep on driving them forever!

I had a CX like in the video ( the white one ) for four years, it was more like flying then driving. So incredible smooth. You didn't even feel speed bumps. It was a 2.5 liter turbo diesel, top speed 125 mph

There are multiple accounts of people driving at high speeds, bursting a tire and not realising until they pulled over at the tank station. Also, which makes total sense, I read a comment by someone claiming he lost a wheel while driving at 70-80 km. and the car drove on perfectly stable on TRIPOD mode allowing him to pull over slowly and safely. How this technology never made it mainstream is one of those reasons why I know we should never trust quality standards over financial.

A bit of history - The cars did develope a 'bad' reputation after launch due to a number of reasons - but it bascially boiled down to the availabe materials, specifically rubber, not being up to the actual technoloy of system. If they had waited unit 1962 or so - the vast majority of those problems would never have occured. As to reliability - so long as one kept to the recommended service - greasing, changing fluids, checking suspension spheres etc, the cars were extremely reliable. As to changing out one of the suspension units, the greatest amount of time involved was typically just in lifting the car off the ground with a jack.

Being from the UK, N Ireland, I wish we could get these cars now, as they'd outsell everything else out there, as a lot of our roads are starting to resemble the Citroen test tracks! The mid sized sedan in the vid was the GS range starting with the 1050cc gradually going up to the GS Pallas and GSA with a 1300cc in a flat 4 air cooled layout. 13:21

The 2CV has a pretty unique suspension as it is interconnected under the floor back to front and uses mass tuned damping

The 2CV and similar Dyane, Ami 6, Ami8 have an inertial choc absorber on each wheel. It is a closed cylinder with a floating mass inside it that moves up and down in opposite direction of the wheel. The motion of the mass is controlled by springs on each end and oil that leaks controlled trough holes in the mass. The design of the inertial choc absorber was a huge math duty at a time when computers did not exist.

Funny stuff about this video is about discovering that there’s many way to make a car and your design, once it’s on, tell a story. Citroen had a way of thinking out of the box and curing no sales corner, you love them or hate them, but they are not the same. Nowadays it seems sad when you look at modern cars when a spreadsheet can tell you which one is better.

There was a great ad in the 80s here in the UK where they drove a Citroen between 2 trucks at speed and blew one of the tyres with an explosive to prove it would still drive straight even in a high speed blowout.

citroen is the farmars car. it was decined to be able to get eggs safly over a feald in speed and not have them cracked. and the same system that made it posible alsow made all the controles more sencetive. in a older modle when you put more then a towe on any pedal you will gett a shock, (break=face inplant, throtle=crash, klutch=emurgensy stop, and wheal= incane g-force) but when they changed moste syctems from hydrolics to elecrik it beceme a pergot (the sister car without hydrolics).+ the hydrolics alowde a anouther featger as well, you can shoose the groundclerance (perfekt fore caravaning or towing or offrode)

citroen standed out with their hydraulic suspensions, invented rotating headlights , were turning right or left when turning right/left. also the faster you were going, the faster your wipers were going. later on, citroen did crazy Rally cars! (but they are a subdivision of peugeot now..) now they are like a rebranded basic peugeot . but their design is OK for citroen and very nice for DS (citroen premium).

For the 2cv car, the specifications said that the car should travel a field at 50km/h, with a pack of eggs inside the car, and no eggs should broke. Thats why the suspension are so wide

My father drove a 2cv as a work-car, in late 70's/80's. He says it was absolutely great. The only problem for him was to change a tire: he says that he thought the wheel would only lift once the car tumbles.. But no, it's just a crazy angle needed.

You know it's the 70s when the test drivers are riding with their arm out the window. I bet they were smoking cigars and enjoying a whiskey on the rocks all throughout the test as well.

The advantage with the 2CV was that, even if it did fall over, it was tough yet light enough that if you got some help - you could just shove it back up and drive away.

They were thought to be unable to tip over. There was a competition, if you could tip it over you won the car, until someone worked out, doing a reverse j-turn would be able to tip it.

About the model in minute 2:16 it is a Citroën GS; (launched in 1970, front engine 4 cylinders flat 1222 cm3, 65 PS; hidrodynamic suspension).