citroen c5 sport button

[dudarus1]

hi im thinking about buying another c5 but want one with a sport button. just wondering if anyone knows what models come with this button as it seems to be abit random, going to be getting a car from 2001 to 2004 year range

thanks in advance
jake

[waynedance]

Not sure what models do but it is a great option. Works great at speed when there are high cross winds.

I would guess Exclusive models and I think the VTR models did.

[mooseshaver]

I think you need to check potential cars. I've seen a mk1 exclusive without. My sx 2.2 and my exclusive 2.2 have it.
My 1.6 vtr did not.

[hmvt]

Sport button is from the cars with hydractive 3+ suspension.

In Portugal the only ones with that option where the ones with 2.2 engine.

All the others, even the exclusive version (very sadly, mine included) where equiped with hydractive 3.
Good luck and good buy...

[SaabC5]

Sport button only firms up the suspension anyway. It does corner better but the luxury ride quality is gone when its pressed, its something i rarely use tbh. Hydractive 3+ has more spheres to replace than the standard set-up as well so its no real loss.

[mooseshaver]

I think the 3+ floats more than the 3 and others who have gone in the cars have said the same.
Do you think 3+ is made softer because it has the extra spheres to switch in and out for sporty driving?

[dudarus1]

Sport button only firms up the suspension anyway. It does corner better but the luxury ride quality is gone when its pressed, its something i rarely use tbh. Hydractive 3+ has more spheres to replace than the standard set-up as well so its no real loss.

[hmvt]

Softer???
I believe thats exactly the oposite...
The suspension runs harder so the car remains more stable...
Yes, It has more spheres, and the pression in wich one is different, but I guess I wouldn't mind having the car a little harder but much more stable...
In a Spanish forum there is a user that replaced the spheres on a Hydractive 3 for the ones from Hydractive 3+. After that he said that the car became harder (and not so confortable), but much more stable on turning (especially in motorway...)

[mooseshaver]

Not softer in normal and harder in sport? I remember the steering was different in sport. Not had a chance to play in my new one

[SaabC5]

Where have we got softer in sport from? Its harder to give better handling, nothing else changes in the MKI C5 as far as i can detect, steering the same, throttle response the same. In my 9-5 the sport button sharpened the throttle pedal response meaning a shorter pedal push for immediate oooomph.

[mooseshaver]

I meant softer in normal mode, than the ones without the sport button. It's probably subjective. But the first thing a friend said shortly after getting in my vtr was that the old one was more wallowy and floated more.

[dudarus1]

Sport button only firms up the suspension anyway. It does corner better but the luxury ride quality is gone when its pressed, its something i rarely use tbh. Hydractive 3+ has more spheres to replace than the standard set-up as well so its no real loss.

this didnt work on my phone earlier but i meant to say the c5 i have at the moment definatly needs its suspension firming up from time to time. if you throw it into a bent it just leans

[Longyear]

I drive permanently in 'Sport' suspension mode..... makes a HUGE difference to steering, cornering and seems to considerably reduce body roll on 'fast' (A-Road) roundabouts.

A great feature.

(unlike the 'Sport' mode on the automatic transmission which is as much use as toffee, holding gears to 4,000 when there's no power left on tap!).

PS... I have a 52 reg 2.2HDi SX. (Auto)

[Citroenmad]

So to clear things up a bit then!

Sport mode is not spec dependant, it is engine dependant. If you have a 2.2HDi (either 136 or 173), a 2.0 16v petrol, 2.0 HPi petrol (Avoid!) or a 3.0 V6, then you will have the sport mode.

1.6 110, 2.0 90 & 110 and 2.0 136 engines do not have the sports mode, in any spec level.

Sport mode firms up the damping. It is the same as hydractive 2 in a Xantia/XM. The car will change between sport and normal dependant on driving conditions and driver input. Press the sport mode and it will cut into sports mode faster than it would in normal but it is not in sports full time - like a S1 XM would be with hydractive1.

A C5 without sports mode is just like a non-hydractive Xantia, other than their ability to change height at different speeds/road conditions, they are not really hydractives at all.

The extra two spheres on a sport mode'd C5 are softer than the corner spheres. They give the supple ride, when the sports mode comes into play the centre softer spheres are cut out of the system, making the car ride on the firmer corner spheres. As you would expect, the corner spheres are not the same as those on a non sport mode C5.

[RichardW]

and 2.0 136 engines do not have the sports mode, in any spec level.

Pretty sure my mate's 2.0 136 Exclusive had H3+....

Pretty good description, Chris - H3+ also reduces body roll - in a 'normal' hydraulic Citroen body roll is enhanced becuase the fluid can flow from one sphere to the other. When the hydractive cuts the centre sphere out, it also isolates the left and right spheres from each other, thus reducing the ability to roll.