Equivalent model to CX2200 Super, with 2.2-litre diesel engine.
Little noise or refinement penalty; valuable gains in economy; reasonable performance.
Good stability and steering, predictable cornering and superb ride comfort.
Excess nose weight gives slight tendency to lock up in heavy braking, but brake response very good.
A potentially long-life low cost car of great comfort and spaciousness

OUR RECENT foreign touring number revealed the tremendous difference between petrol and diesel prices on the Continent, particularly in France where diesel costs only about half as much as derv. With this discrepancy in its favour, as well as the potentially better economy, it is astonishing that almost every Frenchman does not run a diesel car, and even more surprising that it was only last year - following a preliminary announcement at the 1975 Frankfurt Show - that Citroen added diesel cars to their range.

Only one diesel unit is available, known as the M22.621, and it is offered for the Safari estate car as well as the saloon tested here. Derived from a Citroen commercial unit first launched in the C35 van in 1975, the engine is an in~line four-cylinder unit with capacity of 2,175 c.c. It has exactly the same bore and stroke as the 2200 petrol engine, but compression is raised from the normal 9-to-1 of the petrol unit to 22.25-to-1. It is a pushrod ohv engine, with high-mounted side camshaft driven by pinion. As for all the CX range, the engine is mounted transversely at the front, driving the front wheels, and leans forward at an angle of 30 deg to the vertical.

In diesel form, the engine_produces 66 bhp instead of 112 bhp (both figures DIN), and reaches peak output 1,000 rpm lower, at 4,500 rpm. The reduction' in peak torque is much less marked, with 93 lb. ft. available at 2,750 rpm, against the 123 at 3,500 rpm value for the 2200 petrol unit.

Bare comparison of performance figures for the diesel give a false impression that it is a lot slower than it proves to be on the road. An acceleration time of over 20 sec to reach 60 mph from rest is on a par with some of the bigger motor caravans, and is getting on for twice as long as the 2200 petrol car takes. By the time the diesel has accelerated through the gears to 80 mph, the petrol version would have reached well over 100 mph.

For many buyers, however, all out acceleration is not a topic for major concern, and we should emphasize that all the time we had the Citroen diesel we were impressed by its relative liveliness, rather than despondent at the sluggishness implied by the acceleration figures.

To a great degree this is due to the sensible spacing of the gears, which allows the best use to be made of the engine, The indirect ratios are all the same as for the petrol car, but a slightly lower overall ratio is produced by use of 13/62 reduction gears to give a 4.77-to-1 final drive against the 2200’s 4.58. Top gear is a slightly geared-up indirect ratio to give a 3.81 overall ratio in top, and an effective 19.3 mph at 1,000 rpm.

Maximum speeds in the indirect gears are 24 (which is on the high side for a diesel car’s first gear), 42 and 66 mph. By the time these limits are approached one can sense that further revving is of no avail and that a change up is due, and this does mean that one can sometimes feel the engine is running out of revs rather early when overtaking in third. If so, the gear change is so good and positive that no effective time is lost in a quick change up to top.

There is a popular misconception of diesels that they produce a great deal of torque at low revs. This is perhaps owed to the type of vehicle for which diesel engines are usually developed, and in a high speed diesel for car use the reverse is true: response at low speeds is somewhat lacking. The car calls for free use of that very sturdy and easily manageable gearbox to get the best out of it. What is noticed is the effect of the heavier flywheel, whose great inertia enabled the car to surprise the testers with a shriek of wheel-spin when making its full power starts from the line. It helps, for smooth progression through the gears, to keep the throttle partly open.

Diesel cars generally have improved greatly in terms of control simplicity in recent years, and the old days of separate start and stop controls have passed. The Citroen is right up to date in this respect, having just a single key control for the engine combined with a steering column lock. For a cold start it is turned first to the warm-up position, which activates the glow plugs in the cylinder head for initial starting. A red warning light comes on to reveal that the pre-heater plugs are switched on, and the key can be left at this position until the warning light goes out.

On one morning of bitter frost, we left the key at this warm-up position while de-icing the windows, and by the time this operation was completed in four minutes, the light was still showing, yet an immediate start was possible and no doubt would have been much earlier. The tell-tale soon goes out once the engine starts, and in more normal weather we found that a 20-second warm-up spell with the pre-heater plugs was adequate for a first time start. It seemed to help, also, to use the starter without opening the throttle at all. The engine would begin to fire after about three or four seconds running on the starter motor, and was then ready for full power almost immediately. There seemed none of the usual delay associated with a cold petrol engine, and when driving off one notices the lack of water vapour from the exhaust.

On switching off, the key is just turned to the off position, locking the steering, and the engine stops with a slight convulsion as it comes to rest against the heavy compression.

One’s neighbours will soon be aware that one is running a diesel car, and they will hear every departure since the engine is very noisy to anyone outside, especially when it is cold and has not had time for the clearances to reduce with metal expansion. Inside the car, the noise level is extremely well suppressed and is certainly not objectionable. It is a little more noisy than the equivalent Citroen petrol car, but the difference is not very great, and is certainly not sufficient for an unknowledgeable passenger to notice. any difference. When passing between buildings, especially with a window open, the clatter echoed, back reminds one that the quietness inside is owed to excellent insulation of the bulkhead, and that for outside observers it is very noisy indeed.

Ahead of its competitors in many respects, this Citroen diesel is exceptionally smooth; it pulls strongly over a reasonably wide rev range, and there is no snatch or abrupt loss of power when it is taken up to the governed rev limit at 5,000 rpm in the indirect gears. On motorways the Citroen diesel proved well able to sustain the sort of 80-85 mph which is the norm for today’s business car traffic, and its ultimate maximum speed on the level of 89 mph can be exceeded downhill without over-revving since the governor allows a 5,000 rpm maximum engine speed.

Brakes `

Ventilated disc brakes are fitted all round, and there is a pressure limiting valve in the line to the rear brakes. There is very strong servo assistance, such that only 40 lb load on the pedal, which is little more than is needed to work the clutch, gave 75 per cent efficiency. When first tested, on wet roads, this proved almost the maximum obtainable before the car began to skid. On dry roads, a 95 per cent stop is obtainable. Fade tests at three-quarters of maximum speed (68 mph) produced consistent, unaffected results.

A sturdy pull-up handbrake to the left of the driving seats (sic) holds the car securely and coped easily with the 1-in-3 test hill. Surprisingly, in view of the limited power and fairly high bottom gear, the car proved able to restart on this very testing gradient.

Comfort, fittings and equipment

Comments in our recent Citroen Safari Long Term Report need to be repeated in respect of the 2200D, concerning the unsuitability of the car for cold weather. The door locks are so prone to freeze up that it proved almost essential to leave the car unlocked at night, and the output of the heater is slow to build up and is inadequate for a frosty morning. Best delivery is from the central vents on the console, though most people prefer to have the warm air blowing directly on to their feet.

In other respects, the Citroen is a generously equipped, well-appointed and very comfortable car. There is a lockable drop-down glove box beneath the facia in front of the passenger, plus an open pigeon hole to the right of the steering column. All instruments and switches are neatly grouped in and around the broad hooded nascelle (sic), and the single spoke steering wheel (a Citroen tradition dating back to the original DS of 1955) gives an unobstructive (sic) view of the instruments.

The speedometer is digital, its figures being enlarged by a lens in the face of the instrument. A thumb wheel protruding beneath the finger-tip switch block on the right controls its illumination, which is independent of the side lamps. No rev counter is fitted, and the space normally occupied by this on petrol models houses the pre-heater telltale. The background features Citroen’s chevron trademark, and it seems rather pointless for this to be illuminated as well. A clock with second hand is fitted to the left of the speedometer, and a fuel gauge and battery capacity indicator are in the matching square on the right.

The single wiper blade, centrally mounted, clears a large area of the screen, and its switch control is so conveniently placed for trigger operation by the driver’s left hand on the wheel that the lack of any intermittent action or linked wash/wipe system is not a nuisance.

The seats are extremely comfortable, well-shaped, and have a measure of vertical adjustment as well as a lever to provide notched settings of the backrest. The front windows are electrically operated by a switch either side of the gear lever. Matching switches farther back control the heated rear window and interior lamp, which is adequately bright for map-reading at night.

Wind noise level is excellently low, so is the amount of road noise from the wheels on coarse surfaces. We do not consider these assessments to be influenced in relation to the rather higher than usual degree of engine noise.

Where it fits in

In all important respects, the equipment and furnishing of the diesel are the same as for the CX2400 Super; the CX2200 petrol is no longer listed. Exceptions are deletion of the rev counter and (obviously) the choke with its related warning light, and automatic (C-matic) transmission is not available. It is priced between the Super and Pallas versions of the 2400

PRICES:
Basic £4,0l6.00
Special Car Tax £334.67
VAT £348.05
Total (in GB) £4,698.72

Seat Belts, inertia reel standard
Licence £40.00
Delivery charge (London) £27.00
Number plates £5.50
Total on the Road
(exc insurance) £4,771.22
Insurance Group 6

EXTRAS (inc VAT)
Motorola radio* £42.75
*Fitted to test car
TOTAL AS TESTED ON THE ROAD £4,813.97

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