Citroen C5 - Comfort spheres fitted

bencowell · Post by **bencowell** » 06 Aug 2008, 21:56

Hi All,
After 96k and at 6 years of age, I decided to treat my C5 (2.0 HDI 110 SX, H3, no sport mode) to a set of comfort spheres. The fronts were original, the rears about 3 years old, and were previously replaced with genuine spheres.

Comfort spheres - what a difference. You still feel some bumps, fewer than the new C5, but it is not quite as smooth as a C6. The car still corners well but one passenger (Focus with sport suspension driver) now finds the ride too soft. I disagree though!

The front end rises on acceleration, and dips upon gentle braking. The wheels seem to grip rough road surfaces better than before. Acceleration is smoother and harder to spin the wheels on the typical rough surfaces we have. Braking feels exactly the same (other than the car rises when you lift off the brakes).

If anyone is in Bradford/Leeds and wants to have a ride in it, just ask!

Ben

mooseshaver · Post by **mooseshaver** » 07 Aug 2008, 15:54

Do you mind if I ask how much you paid? Did someone else do it for you?
I keep toying with the idea of doing the same to mine.

bencowell · Post by **bencowell** » 07 Aug 2008, 20:07

The spheres were £36+vat each corner from http://www.aepdirect.com/

They were fitted by an independent Cit specialist for one hour's labour charge.

Ben

mooseshaver · Post by **mooseshaver** » 09 Aug 2008, 11:24

Thanks for that Ben.

They don't seem to do the comfort ones for mine.

bencowell · Post by **bencowell** » 10 Aug 2008, 06:55

I'd phone if you're interested. I ordered on the phone and he checked all the details. Perhaps he could order them in?

The manufacturers catalogue www.wien-vienna.at/images3/KATALOG_FEDERKUGELN_2005.pdf does show Mark 1 2.2 HDI estate comfort spheres.

Ben

reblack68 · Post by **reblack68** » 10 Aug 2008, 10:14

How long are C5 spheres supposed to last? Our 52 plate 62k estate is starting to feel a bit jiggly on what I assume to be its original spheres. It's always had quite a hard ride, I just thought it was another step towards Citroens being just like everything else.

Post by **myglaren** » 10 Aug 2008, 10:52

reblack68 wrote:How long are C5 spheres supposed to last? Our 52 plate 62k estate is starting to feel a bit jiggly on what I assume to be its original spheres. It's always had quite a hard ride, I just thought it was another step towards Citroens being just like everything else.

Mine's the same age and twice the mileage. I am periodically unhappy with it, not sure if it is me or the car but one day it will be fine, another seemingly harsh (compared to my Xantia).

Probably just me as a lot of passengers remark on how smooth and floaty it is, too floaty for some. Maybe I need a hovercraft

bencowell · Post by **bencowell** » 12 Aug 2008, 08:38

How long the spheres last will depend on the type of roads driven upon. Here in Bradford we have loads of speed humps and broken road surfaces. Even being careful results in driving over a lot of bumps.

If I drove all day on the motorway I would expect them to last 3 or 4 times longer as the motorway is generally smoother than other roads.

f00lzz · Post by **f00lzz** » 15 Aug 2008, 08:07

So they work differently to the Xantia Hydractive 2 then.. the spheres on each corner don't affect ride quality in 'normal' mode only the centre spheres !!!

den169 · Post by **den169** » 15 Aug 2008, 18:45

Ben what powerbox do you have on the c5 and what do you think of it.

bencowell · Post by **bencowell** » 15 Aug 2008, 21:54

Hi, the powerbox is a plug in box that intercepts the signals to the fuel injectors.

It came from http://www.psipowerbox.com/ and cost about £400. It makes a massive difference to the performance especially from 1800 revs. Gives around 17bhp more.

I've had the box fitted for 4 years and over 70,000 miles. Our local authorised Bosch diesel specialist said that the boxes that only affect fuelling do not cause any damage. He cautioned against ones that alter boost pressure. (Asked after 2 years of running with the box).

I drive mainly in the town with some motorway driving. I enjoy the extra horsepower (read as I'm not scared of approaching max revs when the engine has warmed through). Car gives 45mpg average which I am pleased with.

I've driven a couple of facelifted C5's with the 138bhp HDI. The 138 feels identical at lower revs but is a little faster at higher revs than my 2.0 110 with the box. The 110 sounds better than the 138 at higher revs too. Maybe that is a 8v vs 16v thing.

If you have any other questions just ask and I will be pleased to answer.

Ben