Reprinted from AUTONEWS, New Zealand - Special Feature - March, 1993

A TALE OF TWO CITROËNS

Forget the old notions of Citroëns as cars for eccentrics. The ZX is quite remarkable, and the Diesel Turbo version is the best in its class in the world.

Some things in life are Absolute Truths. Mount Everest is tall. Eggs don't bounce. Politicians bend the truth. Rugby players drink beer. Soccer players kiss each other. Rugby players don't (publicly). Madonna is tacky. Madonna is ugly. Madonna has a dreadful voice. Grass is green. That sort of stuff.
But one of the greatest, most Absolute Truths of them all is that Citroën builds very unusual and clever cars that are so unusual and clever they fall out of the mainstream and become almost eccentric but are much loved by the French who buy them in great numbers and by others in other places around the world who buy them in smaller numbers but who value their oddness, their excellence, their innovation as a means of self-expression. Obviously, that is a somewhat longer Absolute Truth than Roses are Red, Water is Wet, or Ayrton Senna thinks he's God, but it's perhaps the most Absolute Truth of them all. Or it was.
The newly arrived-in-New Zealand Citroën ZX changes all that. It's a car that has been both praised to the moon and cried-over in Europe and Britain. The praise has largely been universal. The ZX has been lauded for every aspect of its form and function. But the tears have been from the die-hard, bohemian, Citroën enthusiast for the ZX is almost none of the things that Citroën has stood for over the past sixty years. It is virtually a totally mainstream car. Just as the Japanese took British cars as the basis to learn about the modern motor industry and then refined and refined and refined that knowledge to the edge of perfection, the Europeans have done the same with Japanese cars. Almost every European car we have driven in the past two years has tasted more of the Toyota or Nissan way of doing things than of Goggomobile or Renault 16 style. The huge change in the European way of approaching automobile design was never more evident than when we stacked the Peugeot 405 GTD up against the Citroën BX TZD mid-way through last year. They were stable-mates. Peugeot and Citroën are owned by the giant PSA Group but their commonality only extended as far as their sharing of the identical turbo diesel motor. The Peugeot 405 is a superb, modern French design. It outJapaneses the Japanese in terms of refinement, ease of finding your way around the car and making driving excellence available to the majority. The Citroën BX was one of the last European hurrahs. It oozed personality, it creaked with quirkiness, it groaned with eccentricities and it was loaded with distinctive character. It was as different from the Peugeot as Ruth Richardson is from Rachael Hunter. But could a company like PSA continue to profitably make excellent conventional cars like the Peugeot 405 alongside artistic rebels like the BX? The answer was clearly No, and the evidence was already there in the form of the AX range of smaller, absolutely conventional, Citroëns.
Citroën traditionalists may shed a quiet tear over the arrival of the ZX but suddenly, a small, exclusive club, has changed its membership rules and has opened its doors to a far, far wider audience. The ZX is a truly remarkable car. A truly remarkable, more conventional car that still carries the Citroën name. The transformation can be equated as being identical to the 1960s when Rover introduced the incredibly advanced, space-age technology, 2000 after decades of handbuilding museum pieces. Last issue we may have confused you when we described the Citroën ZX as looking like a refined, and modernised BX. That may have suggested that the ZX is a replacement for the BX. It's not. The BX replacement is only just being released and called the Xantia and we previewed that in the January issue. The ZX replaces nothing that is immediate history from Citroën. It is the first car in this smaller/ medium sized class since the GS which pegged out back in 1983. While there is an overlap in some engine options the ZX is a smaller car than the BX. But, in appearance, there is that family resemblance, and heritage, to the BX that we noted last month.
The arrival of the ZX into New Zealand coincides with a major restructuring of the company that imports the cars. Citroën, Alfa Romeo and Volvo are all imported by companies that are part of the Moller Group. Up until the end of 1992, each marque had its own office, manager and administration staff. Those operations have now been slimmed down and streamlined and all three brands are now handled by the one office under the control of Mike Apthorp who previously looked after Citroën. The changes are more than just administrative. Already there are signs of a more aggressive marketing approach and this is typified by the belief that Moller staff have in the new Citroën ZX. The car is coming to New Zealand in four models. Nothing compared to the huge variety of models and versions available in France but it is still more than we have ever seen from Citroën in New Zealand before and shows the determination with which Mollers are going after the mainstream new car buyer. Three Aura versions of the ZX are available in New Zealand plus the Volcane . And there's a strong emphasis on the diesel Aura versions. Briefly, the New Zealand ZX range begins with the 1.6 litre petrol
Aura with 89 bhp in manual or automatic form. Second up is the 1.9 litre normally aspirated diesel with 71 bhp and with manual or automatic. The third ZX Aura is the turbo version of the diesel with 92 bhp. All ZXs being imported into New Zealand, at this stage, are five door versions. The car is relatively straight forward and there's nothing about the car to frighten away people who are new to Citroën. Underneath you will find conventional steel springs rather than the magic bag of tricks called hydropneumatics of bigger, and also the older, model Citroëns. But Citroën designers have included something that they are calling "Programmed Rear Self-Steer" into the suspension. The principle isn't totally unique and, like the rear suspension on the new Nissan U13 Bluebird, is virtually a passive rear wheel steer system without being linked by electronics or mechanical means to the front wheels as in, say, the Honda Prelude. It is a compromise between the technology, and expense, of a full, four-wheel-steer system and a dead rear axle but it works, beautifully. The body styling is also relatively conventional for a Citroën but is another small move down the inevitable road to a single box, or mono-shape, body style. Viewed in profile the ZX is more than just a medium sized hatchback. It's almost a station wagon. In fact, the plastic fifth door is referred to as a "tailgate" in Citroën promotional material.
We start our road test with the Volcane GTi with 130 bhp from the 1.9 litre motor. Lift the bonnet on either the 1.6 Aura or the 1.9 Volcane and techno-nuts may be disappointed. There's a single overhead camshaft and just two valves per cylinder. The hottest of all the ZXs is the 1 6V which does have four valves per cylinder and twin camshafts. It comes with three-door fast back styling but isn't available in New Zealand - at this stage. A very brief drive in an 89 bhp 1.6 litre Aura had us hankering for a bit more flame under the boiler. The 130 bhp of the 1.9 litre Volcane provides that extra performance . The ZX is an integrated, good looking car. The Volcane with its alloy wheels, and bigger profile tyres, deeper front spoiler with built-in driving lights, side mouldings and high mounted rear spoiler looks even better.
Inside you feel as immediately at home as you would in any Japanese car. The only giveaways are the arrangement to set the rear vision mirrors, the fact that only the front windows are electrically operated and the transposition of indicator and windscreen wiper stalks. The offside rear vision mirror is electrically adjusted by a single button on the dashboard, while the driver's side mirror is adjusted, manually, by a small stalk inside the car on the window frame. With electric gadgetry for things like the electrics for rear vision mirror adjustment costing about as much as a chocolate fish today, we can only be perplexed at the Citroën decision to have a manually operated driver's mirror! We can only think that this is a decision made by the old Citroën design team who insisted on some quirkiness. The interior is light and airy, the sports seats with their deeper side and seat bolsters and the leather bound sports wheel are all comfortable and have a good feel about them. The predominant interior colour is grey with a thin red line across the dash that looks like it's been squeezed from a toothpaste tube and that is complimented by thin red trim lines on the steering wheel and seats. It's all a carry over from the external decorations. Our test car is silver with thin red inserts in the side mouldings and bumpers. It's integrated. All gauges are carried in a small, rectangular binnacle directly ahead of the driver. There is the usual array of instruments with the revcounter red-lined at 6500rpm. The first driving impression is one of lightness. The power assisted steering is wonderfully light and accurate and the gearchange is possibly the best we have ever used. Certainly it's in our Top Three. There is no air conditioning but there is a first class, security coded, Blaupunkt sound system fitted. And it comes with its own, hinged, cover so that it can be hidden from public view.
Even with 130 bhp in a car that weighs just over 1000 kgs the Volcane GTi doesn't feel a Big Performance car. There is not that attack on your perceptory senses that we got with, say, the Mitsubishi Galant GTi-16v. But the figures aren't to be denied. Standstill to 100 kph in just a smidgen under eight seconds isn't exactly hanging around waiting for the world to overwhelm you. Frankly, the acceleration figures surprised us. The car simply did not feel that fast. Effective soundproofing, a smooth power curve and well-selected gear ratios obviously combine to give the Volcane effortless, relatively high performance. Top speed should be purely academic in these days of aggressive use of the Hawk by our Traffic Police, but, if you insist on broadening your knowledge we can tell you that that Volcane runs out of breath at around the 206 kph mark. And it's easy on fuel - the Volcane returned us 28 miles to the gallon driven reasonably quickly and making full use of the 7.9 second 0-100kph acceleration figures. More reasonable drivers could expect up to 35 mpg. Where the Volcane really surpasses all expectations is in ride and handling. It is not a large car - 4.08 metres long with a 2.54 metre wheellbase. Yet it rides like the proverbial Packard. Undulations, potholes, and corrugations are all disposed of without the ZX turning a hair or upsetting the calm of the cabin. And it turns cleanly into corners with little body roll. Pushed really, really hard, the enterprising driver will be rewarded with a final touch of oversteer which is a pleasure to find in today's army of East/West engined, front wheel drive Mini Minor clones which almost always inevitably understeer off the edge of the world. The oversteer is easily controlled and is something that is experienced only at the very outer limits of adhesion. And those limits are extraordinarily high. The fifth gear ratio of 12/40 combined with the final drive ratio of 16/61 gives the Volcane 31.82 kph per thousand rpm. That is not high by today's standards. Consequently at the Legal Limit the rev counter shows almost 3500rpm which partially accounts for the engine noise that was audible. But there's more to it than slightly lower-than-usual gearing. There's very little wind noise at any speed with the ZX and the absence of road noise was remarkable. In almost any other car a slight engine noise and slight transmission whine would have been masked by wind and tyre roar. While all three ZX Aura models have front disc, rear drum brake set ups the Volcane has ventilated discs at front and solid discs at the rear but lacks ABS. We would prefer to see ABS but obviously this, plus air conditioning, would push the retail price up to a level where Mike Apthorp and his team feel they would be amidst competition they would sooner be without. The ZX is not a big car physically but it does offer plenty of interior room and an acceptable amount of luggage space in the boot. Boot space is 12.1 cubic feet but the ZX range has something quite unique and that is a rear seat that is adjustable. Slide the rear seat fully forwards and you may decrease rear passenger leg room but you increase boot space to 14.8. The rear seats are split and if both sides are folded down the ZX then offers 32.7 cubic feet of load space. With a name like Volcane you expect something devastating, or explosive, at least. The Volcane is more refined than that. It certainly offers satisfying performance but it's no volcano demanding the skill of Alain Prost to control. But it's a remarkably competent and balanced car with a quality of ride and handling that is nearunmatched on Planet Earth. It's apparent that the new, streamlined Moller team are expecting bigger things in the New Zealand market place from the ZX range than we have seen in New Zealand from Citroën since perhaps the heady days of those first, quite remarkable, Citroën DS19s. While we were mightily impressed with the Volcane, Mike Apthorp is expecting the Aura 1.9 Turbo Diesel to attract plenty of interest. And that car is next as we take a close look at the Citroën ZX.

THE Citroën ZX AURA 1.9 DIESEL TURBO

Keep this one a secret. This car is so good that we want one! This is exactly the car that all New Zealanders should be driving. Look, we were asked by Mike Apthorp which version of the ZX we wanted to drive first. We chose the Volcane with it's sporting image and 130 bhp. As you will have read, we were impressed. We didn't exactly fall over ourselves when the 1.9 Diesel Turbo Aura arrived. After all, we had spent plenty of time with the Peugeot 405 Diesel Turbo last year and we were expecting more of the same. The ZX shares basically the same motor as the Peugeot, it's refined a little but still basically the same and it's fitted in a body that is within a few kgs in weight of the Peugeot. But, in the final analysis of things the Citroën ZX is another major step up the ladder of automotive excellence. Compared with the Volcane it's a dressed down car. It doesn't have the spoiler kit, the driving lights or the alloy wheels. It also doesn't have four wheel disc brakes. The interior is a little gloomier than the Volcane being dark grey without the red pinstriping and the seats don't have the extra deep side and seat bolsters of the Volcane and the steering wheel and gearlever aren't tailored in leather. But this is one delightful car and is, without doubt, the best diesel car in the world. But its delights should endear it to others than just confirmed diesel addicts or enthusiasts. Its big pluses are that it marries the superb chassis of the Citroën ZX with the economy of a diesel engine. That isn't always a marriage made in heaven and too many such liaisons suffer through compromise and the result in a car that gives the word sluggish a new meaning. The Peugeot 405 GTD is marginal in outright performance. Where it scores is in the outstanding roadholding that allows a driver to cover long distances without having to lift off the accelerator for too many corners and then gather pace again. With the Peugeot you just wind on the lock and turn the corner. With the ZX Citroën you get a chassis that is marginally better and a great deal more oomph. The straight line, outright performance levels of the ZX Diesel Turbo are almost in the Hot Hatch category. One hundred kilometres per hour from standstill in 10.1 seconds in a diesel car is quite incredible. And that translates into a superb road car with absolute bags of torque. Point the ZX Diesel Turbo at a motorway, hit fifth gear and stand on the gas at 80 kph and you get instant acceleration that makes you think you are in fourth, or even third, gear. The secret to all of this is the 92 bhp that the engine cranks out at just 4000rpm and the remarkable torque figures - 148ftlbs at 2250rpm or 130ftlbs at 1750rpm. The petrol engine Volcane has a fifth gear that sees the car travelling at 31.82 kph per thousand rpm. The 1.9 Litre Aura Diesel Turbo has a slightly higher fifth gear that does 32.34kph per thousand rpm. None of us who drove it could find serious fault with the design, the concept, the execution or what it delivered back to the driver. Citroën have obviously paid considerable attention to soundproofing. From within, there is seldom a hint that you are driving an oil burner. It is only when you have a window down and drive in a confined space at low speeds that you get the diesel rattle. We drove the car hard in urban and open-road conditions. Constant stop/start driving in the city will give you at least 40 mpg! Head out on the highway and drive at a reasonable pace and you will get 60 mpg. Hit the pedal hard and you might get that figure down to the low 50s. But to achieve that you're going to have to work very hard at it. With a 56 litre tank (12.3 gallons) an average driver will cover huge distances (1000 kilometres or close to 650 miles) between refuelling and even then a tankful is only going to cost you around $30 ! Some petrol addicts have winced on hearing that the price is $39,995. And when you consider that the 1.6 litre petrol Aura is $32,995 (an absolute bargain surely) and don't understand diesel you may think twice. Diesels are always expensive compared with petrol engined versions because of the low volume runs and the expense of building a diesel engine. It's not for us to justify the pricing structure of any car, but to people who are more conversant with diesel vehicles and diesel prices the Aura Diesel Turbo is simply not expensive. In fact, we considered the Aura Turbo diesel to be an absolute snip! We are suckers for a pretty face along with the rest of us and while we might like the body kit, the alloy wheels and the other sporting tiddly poms of the Volcane the outstanding advantages of the Diesel Turbo in terms of performance and economy would force us to come down in favour of having the latter in our garage. This is a car that has changed our entire perception of what the automobile should be all about. It offers a body style that is unique, a chassis that is remarkable for ride and roadholding and a diesel engine that offers levels of performance allied to frugal economy that border on the unbelievable.It's the first diesel car in the world to completely satisfy the demands of the enthusiast.