Citroen XM Forum

If the new one has been improved over the P38 as much as the P38 was over the classic i can imagine it is a rather impressive bit of kit.
We had new air bags on ours and it didnt make much difference tbh, apart from easing the mind of course, they were rather perished, and leaky .

D

Air leaks are harder to spot than hydraulic leaks... I hope Citroen don't stop doing proper suspension, that would be a shame.

robert_e_smart wrote:Air leaks are harder to spot than hydraulic leaks...

That I will agree with! The number of times I said "I wish this thing dripped green blood everywhere!" whilst sorting the Air Suspension on the Range Rover was unbelievable!!

robert_e_smart wrote:I hope Citroen don't stop doing proper suspension, that would be a shame.

If you drive a C6 and compare it to the XM for instance they've noticable got it wrong already. The C6 had a lot of diagonal pitch to it when in the back roads. There's one spot I go past on my way home every day that got the back to pitch even when driving gently, if you pushed a bit more it started to diagonally pitch too.

In a car that weighs nearly 2 tons it's a bit daunting when it starts to pitch all over the place.

David.

Dean wrote:If the new one has been improved over the P38 as much as the P38 was over the classic

Is this a new usage of the word 'improved' of which the world at large has not previously been aware of? The P38a is a pile of poo compared with the real thing!, nothing like as capable off road (in truth very little is, that's why they are still building it.. but its called a Defender now), and the ride is not as good on the road. It rolls less than a proper one granted but thats about it

zaphod wrote:

Dean wrote:If the new one has been improved over the P38 as much as the P38 was over the classic

Is this a new usage of the word 'improved' of which the world at large has not previously been aware of? The P38a is a pile of poo compared with the real thing!, nothing like as capable off road (in truth very little is, that's why they are still building it.. but its called a Defender now), and the ride is not as good on the road. It rolls less than a proper one granted but thats about it

We've got a 4.6 P38a that we use to tow a livestock trailer in and out of the fields and we've not had any problems with the P38 or the L322.

The P38 was being used throughout the wettest periods and it was going straight in and straight out no bother at all. At some points the mud was around a third of the way up the wheels.

Granted it's probably not as good as the Defender off road as it's lacking it's Diff Locks etc but it certainly does a damn good job considering ours is on standard road tyres. The L322 is better as it's got a locking centre diff and a locking rear diff.

Considering you can buy a decent P38 for £2k these days they're not a bad car. I'd rather have one over a Defender too as on the Defender unless you've got the window down there's nowhere for your right arm to go as you sit RIGHT beside the door. This is even the case on the 10 plate on I had for a week last month.

David.

I had a Classic 3.9EFI and build quality was poor to say the least especialy in the cabin, on road it was ok but nowhere near as competent as the P38 was, off road the classic was a tool and had to be used with skill to make it work, the P38 we had was the 4.6 ,fair enough, but point it at the same sticky clay hill (45deg) and the electronics of the later model made the climb possible at all if it was wet and when dryer made it feel like it had more grip, both were run on the same tyres (perrelli scorpion) but the P38 had bigger rims and lower profile tyres.

The only thing i will say for the classic, like all vehicles of its type (old and English) it was dead easy to work on, get parts for and tuning parts and even spare parts were soooooo cheap and easy to source it made ownership a breeze.
The air suspension of the P38 was fine when it worked and kept the centre of gravity down on the road but when it didnt work , and yes David, finding an air leak is a right pita, but finding a burst bag was easy, they dont half go with a bang if you let them perish and dont keep an eye on them

I hear from reliable sources that the latest range rover will destroy the previous ones on and off road, even when its wearing road tyres, like i say though, ive never even sat in one.

D

David Hallworth wrote: If you drive a C6 and compare it to the XM for instance they've noticable got it wrong already. The C6 had a lot of diagonal pitch to it when in the back roads. There's one spot I go past on my way home every day that got the back to pitch even when driving gently, if you pushed a bit more it started to diagonally pitch too.

In a car that weighs nearly 2 tons it's a bit daunting when it starts to pitch all over the place.

David.

Is there not a sports switch in the C6 ("sky-hook" Vs "road-hook" programmes) and did you try to see if it made a difference?

From the ride I had in yours, and from observing a few driving next to me, they seem to be biased for comfort, but I wonder if the sports programme makes a tauter handler?

G

Dieselman wrote: The metropolis is scheduled for production in 2012, .

But from what I read it is to only be destined for the Chinese market!?

G

Thats where the money is though, and they are probably not so blindly hung up on the German cars as we are in this country.

D

jorgy wrote:Is there not a sports switch in the C6 ("sky-hook" Vs "road-hook" programmes) and did you try to see if it made a difference?

...indeed there is a Sports Suspension setting on the C6.
We've nicknamed the 'normal' suspension mode as 'Waft-mode', as it really does waft along (!), and whenever dad uses the C6, he always has it in Sport Suspension setting - nowhere near as wafty.