Citroën Xsara

Citroën Xsara
Overview
Manufacturer Citroën
Production 1997–2006
Assembly Rennes, France
Madrid, Spain
Vigo, Spain
Barra de Carrasco, Uruguay (Oferol)
Wuhan, Hubei, China
Cairo, Egypt (AAV)[1]
Body and chassis
Class Small family car (C)
Body style 5-door hatchback
3-door hatchback
5-door estate
Layout Front-engine, front-wheel-drive
Related Peugeot 306
Citroën Xsara Picasso
Dimensions
Wheelbase 2,540 mm (100.0 in)
Length 5-door: 4,167–4,188 mm (164.1–164.9 in)
3-door: 4,167–4,188 mm (164.1–164.9 in)
Estate: 4,350–4,369 mm (171.3–172.0 in)
Width 1,705 mm (67.1 in)
Height 5-door: 1,405 mm (55.3 in)
Estate: 1,420 mm (55.9 in)
Chronology
Predecessor Citroën ZX
Successor Citroën C4

The Citroën Xsara is a small family car produced by French automaker Citroën from 1997 to 2006.

The Xsara was a development of the Citroën ZX and Peugeot 306, which shared a platform and running gear.

It came in three and five-door hatchback and five-door estate body styles; the estate was marketed as the Break and the three-door as the Coupé. The styling shared cues with the larger Bertone designed Xantia, but was regarded as bland by the motoring press. The straight-4 engine range includes 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0-litre petrol engines as well as 1.6, 1.9 and 2.0-litre turbodiesels, and in some countries, a 1.5-litre TUD diesel engine.

The Xsara was 1998 Semperit Irish Car of the Year in Ireland.

Chassis design

Pre facelift rear

The familiar range of PSA powertrains drove the front wheels of a seemingly conventionally designed chassis. At the front was a standard MacPherson strut layout with anti-roll bar, while the rear used the PSA Peugeot-Citroën fully independent trailing arm/torsion bar set up that was first introduced on the Peugeot 305 estate. However, PSA's chassis engineers employed some unusual features, including passive rear wheel steering, though less than on the ZX, (by means of specially designed compliance bushes in the rear suspension), and in-house developed and constructed shock absorbers. At high mileages this is prone to wear of the axle mounting bushes which is easily fixed. It is also prone to wear in the rear axle trailing arm bearings, which then wear the trailing arm axle tubes, requiring an expensive rebuild or a replacement axle assembly.[2][3][4][5][6] The diesel and larger capacity petrol engines are canted as far back as possible in the engine bay, in an effort to put as much weight as possible behind the front axle line, also reducing the centre of gravity, while improving weight distribution and minimising understeer.

Overview

Pre-facelift

The original Xsara was launched in 1997, and was available with different engine choices:

Facelift

Post-facelift Citroën Xsara
Post-facelift rear

In 2000, the Xsara was facelifted. The car was now stiffer (safety and handling improved), had a new front design and some interior modifications (i.e.: new steering wheel). The facelift also saw the introduction of multiplex wiring. However, the wiring used was too thin, resulting in multiple wires breaking with frequent use, especially in the driver's door, thereby rendering the driver's door window, central locking and interior lights unusable. Citroen do not acknowledge this as a problem, and do not issue door wiring harnesses as a spare. New 1.6i and 2.0i 16-valve engines were being introduced and 1.8L were removed. Now Xsara is offered with following engine choices:

The 2002 model had slight interior modifications (e.g. a different way of controlling the sound system from the steering wheel). In 2003 there were also some exterior modifications (e.g. new front bumper).

The Xsara hatchback was discontinued and replaced by the C4 in late 2004. The Xsara continues to be produced for the Chinese market by Dongfeng Peugeot-Citroën Automobile, a joint venture with the PSA Group.

The Xsara Picasso small MPV was continued, concurring its successors.

Xsara WRC

Citroën Xsara WRC
Jesús Puras with a Citroën Xsara Kit Car

The Xsara World Rally Car, based on the road-going Xsara hatchback but ultimately having very little resemblance to it under the skin, was one of the most successful cars ever to compete in the World Rally Championship. In 1999, the WRCs predecessor, the two-wheel-drive naturally aspirated Xsara Kit Car, won overall in Rallye Catalunya and Tour de Course. This car was considered the best car in the class. The late Philippe Bugalski placed seventh overall and won the Kit Car F2 class. In 2001, Kit Cars category disappeared and was replaced by Super 1600 and Super 2000. Citroen Xsara competed in the category of World Rally Car. In 2002, French driver Sébastien Loeb was supposed to win the Monte Carlo Rally but he was penalized for an illegal tyre change, but he later won the Deutschland Rally. In 2003, the Citroën Xsara was more competitive. In Wales GB, the leader Richard Burns suffered a blackout and withdrew from the rally. Sébastien Loeb made some mistakes on the last round and unfortunately he lost the championship by just one point. However, the Citroën won the manufacturers' title and in 2004 Sébastien loeb won the championship. The car took Sébastien Loeb to 28 rally wins, three consecutive Driver's Championship titles from 2004 to 2006, and Citroën to three consecutive Manufacturer's Championship titles in 2003, 2004, and 2005. Although it is the Frenchman who has proved the archetype Xsara WRC pilot virtually since its 2001 conception, Jesús Puras, Carlos Sainz and François Duval are the other drivers who have won.

2003 world champion Petter Solberg drove a 2006-spec Xsara for the majority of the 2009 season, which was entered by his own Petter Solberg World Rally Team.[7]

The car was replaced in 2007 by the Citroën C4 WRC.

WRC victories

 #  Event Season Driver Co-driver
1 France 45ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France 2001 Spain Jesús Puras Spain Marc Martí
2 Germany 21. ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2002 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
3 Monaco 71ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo 2003 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
4 Turkey 4th Rally of Turkey 2003 Spain Carlos Sainz Spain Marc Martí
5 Germany 22. ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2003 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
6 Italy 45º Rallye Sanremo – Rallye d'Italia 2003 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
7 Monaco 72ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
8 Sweden 53rd Uddeholm Swedish Rally 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
9 Cyprus 32nd Cyprus Rally 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
10 Turkey 5th Rally of Turkey 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
11 Argentina 24º Rally Argentina 2004 Spain Carlos Sainz Spain Marc Martí
12 Germany 23. OMV ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
13 Australia 17th Telstra Rally Australia 2004 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
14 Monaco 73ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
15 New Zealand 35th Propecia Rally New Zealand 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
16 Italy 2º Supermag Rally Italia Sardinia 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
17 Cyprus 33rd Cyprus Rally 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
18 Turkey 6th Rally of Turkey 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
19 Greece 52nd Acropolis Rally 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
20 Argentina 25º Rally Argentina 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
21 Germany 24. OMV ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
22 France 49ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
23 Spain 41º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada 2005 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
24 Australia 18th Telstra Rally Australia 2005 Belgium François Duval Belgium Sven Smeets
25 Mexico 20º Corona Rally México 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
26 Spain 42º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
27 France 50ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
28 Argentina 26º Rally Argentina 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
29 Italy 3º Rally d'Italia Sardegna 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
30 Germany 25. OMV ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
31 Japan 6th Rally Japan 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
32 Cyprus 34th Cyprus Rally 2006 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena
Awards
Preceded by
Peugeot 206 WRC
Autosport
Rally Car of the Year

2003, 2004, 2005
Succeeded by
Ford Focus RS WRC

Sales and production

Year Worldwide production Worldwide sales Notes
2012 1,800[8] TBA Total production reaches 3,364,000 units.[8]

See also

References

  1. "Arab American Vehicles Co". Aav.com.eg. Retrieved 2010-03-25.
  2. "Zx Volcane Rear Suspension". Citroen Owners Club. The citroen cars forums.
  3. "ZX rear swing arm bearings - Technical matters - Back Room Forum - Honest John". honestjohn.co.uk.
  4. "Citroen ZX Suspension and steering". Docstoc.com.
  5. "ZX Radius arm bearings - French Car Forum". frenchcarforum.co.uk.
  6. "A B Axles - Reconditioned and Refurbished Peugeot & Citroen Rear Axles". sspengineering.co.uk.
  7. "World Rally Championship – Rallies". Wrc.com. Retrieved 2009-10-06.
  8. 1 2 "Memento Mars 2013" (in French). PSA Peugeot Citroën. 21 February 2013: 50. Retrieved 31 July 2013.

External links

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