Citroen C8 2.2HDI 173hp Exclusive Auto has arrived !!!

[londonirish]

OK we dropped our "Suzy Silver" 2003 Peugeot 807 2.2HDI Executive on saturday ...
and picked up the new one : C8 2.2HDI Exclusive Auto

Same colour so not much difference...

Well sorry, yes a few differences and the list starts...
- Only one light in the boot on the left side instead of two . One on the right and one on the left.

- No rear sun screen rollo. The gutter to lock it is there on the rear plastic panel but the curtain is no more.

- Drive is very silent and quiet but the car feels a bit stiffer than 807.

- Auto box is cool to play with as I spend my time shifting it in 5th at the soonest. 6th only picks up as of 45mph.

- 7.2l/100kms consumption on the drive back from Derbyshire to London.

- Beloved wife has already taken it over for the daily school run and consumption has gone up to 9.5l /100kms.

- Black leather is nice but I worry how the kids will treat it as the seats look like they are much deeper than previous ones.

- OEM RD3 radio is still as worthless as before. A/V installation will take place this summer !!!

- Key is square instead of round one.

- You can STILL close the windows when you lock the door. Press on the lock sign for 3secs and it works !

- The doors and dashboard material is alcantara-like and black ! I really really really worry for how long it will remain black...

- 7 seater instead of an 8 seater. Not much difference yet as we haven't needed the 8 places.

- Car has higher pitch than previous 807.

- Only one exhaust pipe of bigger diameter than previous 2 pipes.

- New Auto function position on the lights switch.

- New Park switch next to ESR switch but can't confirm as manual does not exist in english !!!

- No car MANUAL for the present C8 as the only one available dates from 10/2006 and the 2.2 HDI bi-turbo is not even listed in the booklet.

- Front and back PDC triggers a display on the dashboard screen.

- Orange background instead of green

- New floor mat at the front - black...

- Steering wheel feels like the leather is not as shiny as before.

- Luggage cover for 5 setaer now also supplied on top of 7 setaer rear parcle shelf.

- Roof bars do not work and do not slide. Dealer is working on a replacement.

- Engine is a pleasure to dive as I can comfortably drive without exceeding 2000rpm in town and still change speed with enough torque.

- Pullling power feels like being much lower than on previous 2.2HDI. We had to push to 2000 rpm to switch gear whereas now 1500 rpm is largely enough.

- 2500rpm for 70 mph on single turbo and 2000rpm for the same 70mph on the bi-turbo !

- Consumption is similar but I have not pushed the beast

- We are going to feed the engine on 50% Biodiesel 50% Diesel. Has anyone tried this already ? B90 and B30 are widely available in Deutschland, no ?

Nothing else to report for the moment... Smile still on my lips !

[tjskd]

Congrats to your new car!

I'm sure you will love it every day.....more and more.

And you will find some small features more, like possibilitly to disable rear whipers or pdc function, follow- me- function etc...

Thats with the missing light in the trunk is a shame!

The screen rollo on the back window is to order extra!

So if you are are the third driver odf a french branded car with the same engine/gerarbox and a lower consumption as we Lanisti have there should be a difference in the adjustment of the brands or drivers behaviour!

The auto.closing of the windows will only work in the first 10-15 sec. after leaving the car (stupid).

You will see first fault will be the paint of lock handle inside the door will peel of. I'm sure.

[kalleh]

Originally Posted by londonirish

....
- New Park switch next to ESR switch but can't confirm as manual does not exist in english !!!

- No car MANUAL for the present C8 as the only one available dates from 10/2006 and the 2.2 HDI bi-turbo is not even listed in the booklet.

Hi,

the manual is online @ Serveur protégé
(you can register for free and use some of the funtionality for free too (one beeing the online documentation)

"P(OFF) - Activation/Deactivation
You can activate/deactivate parking assistance by pressing the button on the dashboard. If parking assistance is inactive, the warning lamp is lit.
The activation or deactivation of parking assistance is memorised when you stop the vehicle."

Not sure about the diesel mix. ...I thought that the FAP hinders us to use a higher mix than 5% (RME)?
(althought Peugeot states that there is a special 30% mix for large customers (with own stations) that is very specific which can also be used.)

Regards,
Rainer

[Peter1]

Originally Posted by tjskd

Thats with the missing light in the trunk is a shame!
Indeed - this already was (is) the case on my 2005 C8. Don't know why but think because of the possibility of a leak of the rear window washer pipe which passes in that corner.

....

You will see first fault will be the paint of lock handle inside the door will peel of. I'm sure.
Really?? why change things when they were good - never had the pbl on my 2005 C8 so I can expect this item on my new P807, too?

Also I hope the "chromium-plated" outside door grips will not peel of again, as it was the case on my 2003 C8..... - again, why change things when they're good?

[Peter1]

Originally Posted by kalleh

Not sure about the diesel mix. ...I thought that the FAP hinders us to use a higher mix than 5% (RME)?
(althought Peugeot states that there is a special 30% mix for large customers (with own stations) that is very specific which can also be used.)

I don't think the bio diesel idea is very good for the HDi engine.
I'd never try it on my car.

Peter

[Werner807HDI]

Congratulations!

You are very brave to use Biodiesel!

I won´t do this!

[londonirish]

Kalleh, I have read the same that taxi fleet in London will be fed on Bio-diesel B50 as of Jan 09.
I do not believe that Citroen will refuse to sell a few C8 because of the fuel used by such a "corporate" customer...

Read that Audi A8 with the 3.0TDI runs without issue on B90 in Deutschland... So why would VW be different from PSA of Ford who share the same engine range (almost).

The Galaxy and S-Max of some minicab's (private taxi) are already running on bio-diesel in Southampton and Newcastle. They also use the 1.6tdci and 2.oTDCI which (correct me if I am wrong) are the same as the 1.6HDI and 2.0HDI...

at £108 a fuel tank it is getting a bit on the dear side.
At the same time I will change the fuel filter at 10000 miles isntead of 20000 miles at least at the beginning to see what impact the biodiesel has on the engine.

The tail gate sun curtain is not available even as an extra. I checked again...

Thanks for the tip where to find the car manual in english.

Booze trip to France next w-e to refill before the summer parties ... We will refill at €1.30/l instead of £1.30/l... Difference is around 25% at present...

Has anyone tried to change the air filter and put something like a K&N or similar ?
Have seen the positive effect on 407 2.0HDI but do not know impact on our new engine... Lower consumption ? Better response ?
Tips anyone ?

[Peter1]

Originally Posted by londonirish

... at £108 a fuel tank it is getting a bit on the dear side.
At the same time I will change the fuel filter at 10000 miles isntead of 20000 miles at least at the beginning to see what impact the biodiesel has on the engine. please keep us updated - on the other hand yesterday evening in the Belgian News Bulletin on TV the message that the food prices are rising because of the production of Bio Fuel.......

... We will refill at €1.30/l instead of £1.30/l... Difference is around 25% at present... is the UK that expensive ??

Has anyone tried to change the air filter and put something like a K&N or similar ?
Have seen the positive effect on 407 2.0HDI which positive effect? more power, less consumption?

I'll be very interested in your experiences with bio diesel.

[londonirish]

Peter1

Diesel has gone up again yesterday £1.36 per liter !!!

Biodiesel has also gone up in three months from £0.85 to £1.05 per liter.

Effect on the neighbour's 407HDI is not so much consumption, nor power but silence... Yes the engine is much softer possibly due to the combustion of vegetal versus mineral oil...

Consumption is almost the same. He saw a decrease from 48 to 47 miles per gallon on his last trip to Wales end of June. He is a sales rep so drives around 35k to 45k miles a year...
Obviously his cost base has also gone down since he shifted his purchase from mineral to bio-diesel. He saves around 30 Pence per liter.

Price is expected to go up to around £1.50 per liter of diesel by the end of August....

[DirkS.]

Congratulations. Enjoy and keep us posted!

[FuliHdi]

Originally Posted by londonirish

Has anyone tried to change the air filter and put something like a K&N or similar ?
Have seen the positive effect on 407 2.0HDI but do not know impact on our new engine... Lower consumption ? Better response ?
Tips anyone ?

Hi,
This is an interesting topic and I just thought of posting a new question when I saw your's! Regarding from the "engine's" viewpoint the air is as precicious as fuel and I wonder if a better filter could (visibly) improve response ?
Rgds Bor

[londonirish]

FuliHdi: Agreed and valid point.

Can anyone suggest a model and type of air filter that would fit our EV2 and not be extortionately expensive to replace ?

[giulivo72]

Originally Posted by londonirish

FuliHdi: Agreed and valid point.

Can anyone suggest a model and type of air filter that would fit our EV2 and not be extortionately expensive to replace ?

Hello. My experience with K&N on my Elk (V168 A170CDI) is no noticeable difference in consumption or performance. I like the fact that the oil filter needs regenerating every 100k km or so as opposed to changing every 20-40k km, but that's it really. It does not justify the steep price. Moreover, in the UK where your QuikFit or National Autocentre has standard fees for servicing, which include air filter, it makes even less sense.

The point is, in turbo engines, the bottleneck for how much air gets into the cylinders is in fact the turbo pressure limiter, and not the air filter. With a normally aspirated K&N may make a difference and help the engine "breathe" better, but with turbo that's not the case.

In short, don't do it.

[londonirish]

giulivo: OK thanks for the info so K&N airfilter has no impact on turbo engine...

Diesel has gone down to £1.24 per liter and biodiesel at £1.05 per liter...

Squash colleague has MB C220CDI on 50% biodiesel and LR Discovery on 100% Biodiesel. No impact after a few month other than burned gas smell which is "different"...


Gruess