Citroen Xantia Activa????

[300bhp/ton]

This is a car which seems to have passed me by......

....in fact, if I'm brutally honest I don't think I'd heard of it until a few days ago


But it seemed to garner quite a bit of interest and talk in the Moose Test tread recently and looking on Youtube there seems to be no real shortage of clips of them - on track, off road or doing other motorsporty type stuff.

I've also read some reviews on them and they make quite stark reading tbh. Each and every single thing I've read about them says they are in a different league to normal cars!

Can anyone vouch for this?


And if it's true, what does the PH massiv' think of the Xantia as a club level competition car? Thinking along the lines of autosolos, gymkhana's and rally style events.

In my experience so far, handling and nimbleness seems to count for more than HP or 0-60mph times at such events.

With it's fancy suspension and anti roll capabilities I'd have thought it'd be quite good......


.... anyone actually know?

Edited by 300bhp/ton on Tuesday 2nd November 09:39

[Muzzer]

I have to hand it to you 300, you're nothing if not 'eclectic' in your car world.

Would I use a Citroen Xantia for autotesting and gymkhanas?

Feck no.

Get a small car like a Fiesta or something.

My old boss had a Xantia back in the day. It was a 2.0 petrol so went quite well but was made from chewing gum, was definitely not 'sporty' and was "comfortable" rather than "nimble"

[300bhp/ton]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

[300bhp/ton]

Muzzer said:

I have to hand it to you 300, you're nothing if not 'eclectic' in your car world.

Would I use a Citroen Xantia for autotesting and gymkhanas?

Feck no.

Get a small car like a Fiesta or something.

My old boss had a Xantia back in the day. It was a 2.0 petrol so went quite well but was made from chewing gum, was definitely not 'sporty' and was "comfortable" rather than "nimble"

I never like to conform....

Would be more autosolo than autotest and there are usually classes for different size vehicles so less of an issue.

The rally stuff would be more about handling rough ground and varying surfaces. Stock passive suspension is ok, but I was wondering how the Activa (not normal Xantia) would stack up as it has auto leveling hydrolic suspension and anti roll bars.

According to a Scandinavian mag the Activa out does many a sports car (Elise/911) in it's Moose handling test. And early I watch a vid where one was doing a slalom course at the same speed as a Lotus Elan but looking far more composed and both a lot quicker than a Sierra.

[kambites]

It's certainly an interesting system and from what I've read (I've never driven one) it works very well in terms of eliminating body roll. In my experience, though, body roll is quite useful in a road car; I can't imagine that it has a particularly feelsome steering system (being a warm hatch) and the active suspension will only make that worse because you wont have the changing suspension geometry to make the grip loss more gradual.

I'd love a go in one though.

Edited by kambites on Tuesday 2nd November 09:38

[kambites]

I think reliability might be a concern too, knowing the electronics in French cars of that era. You really wouldn't want the rams used for self leveling to suddenly decide to reverse direction in the middle of a corner.

[Chris_w666]

I don't think something like an Activia would be much use for Autosolos or Autotesting the better cars seem to be very lightweight Caterfield type things, RWD old school stuff like MK1/2 Escorts, or really short fiesta/nova/mini sized cars. I have seen lots of people try in bigger cars and they just never do as well. The activa handling on something like a time-trial around a circuit would be interesting assuming you could equip it with stickier/wider tyres and more power.

[kambites]

Chris_w666 said:

The activa handling on something like a time-trial around a circuit would be interesting assuming you could equip it with stickier/wider tyres and more power.

I don't know whether you could uprate the suspension to deal with the extra grip. It's not like you could just fit stiffer springs and dampers to compensate like on most cars.

[300bhp/ton]

kambites said:

Chris_w666 said:

The activa handling on something like a time-trial around a circuit would be interesting assuming you could equip it with stickier/wider tyres and more power.

I don't know whether you could uprate the suspension to deal with the extra grip. It's not like you could just fit stiffer springs and dampers to compensate like on most cars.

I'd assume it would sort it all out, it measures pitch and roll, not too sure it knows or cares about the actual tyres.

[300bhp/ton]

kambites said:

I think reliability might be a concern too, knowing the electronics in French cars of that era. You really wouldn't want the rams used for self leveling to suddenly decide to reverse direction in the middle of a corner.

That would be a concern.

[ad551]

Doesn't the handbrake operate on the front wheels on a Xantia? Not good for autotesting surely!

[Chris_w666]

kambites said:

Chris_w666 said:

The activa handling on something like a time-trial around a circuit would be interesting assuming you could equip it with stickier/wider tyres and more power.

I don't know whether you could uprate the suspension to deal with the extra grip. It's not like you could just fit stiffer springs and dampers to compensate like on most cars.

Good point I am not sure how it would work, but it would be interesting to see how one coped against something with lots of mechanical grip like an Exige assuming both could be wearing the same tyre brand and given equal power/weight ratios.

[300bhp/ton]

Chris_w666 said:

I don't think something like an Activia would be much use for Autosolos or Autotesting the better cars seem to be very lightweight Caterfield type things, RWD old school stuff like MK1/2 Escorts, or really short fiesta/nova/mini sized cars. I have seen lots of people try in bigger cars and they just never do as well. The activa handling on something like a time-trial around a circuit would be interesting assuming you could equip it with stickier/wider tyres and more power.

Show me a Caterham or MK1/2 Escort for £500-1200

Also I don't think a Caterham is ideal for rally type events and an Escort would need lots of mods.

I hear where you are coming from, I currently use my TR7 V8, but it's a bit too tidy and the V8 (and the volume of the exhaust ) prohibit it from some events. Looking at alternative cheap competition cars.

RWD would be my preference....

-Porsche 924
-Mazda RX-7 Gen 1
-Mazda MX-5

Are my main ideas at present.

-MGF is another option as they are cheap and should be quite solid and newer than the others for the same money.
-BMW e30, although I don't see why I'd go for one over the front 3 candidates.
-Rover Metro/100 as a small fwd alternative.

But the fancy suspension on the Activa just got me thinking.

My cousin competes in similar events in his 2.0 stock TR7. But rough ground does take its toll on the car and getting a setup that works well on mixed surfaces is quite challenging.

I do think a Xantia is a bit big and heavy, although with a stripped interior I suspect no much heavier than many other cars. It's bulk would be a concern, but if it corners like it shouldn't, then does that outweigh this?

[Smike]

"Car" magazine used one at their annual handling day at Thruxton in 1996. Its lap time was 1/10 of a second faster than the P11 Primera Sri with 25ish bhp less.
I think their summary was along the lines of "very able on a B-road, could do with some roll to find the limit on a track".
E36 Compact 318ti was quite a bit quicker and might do better in an autotest perhaps?
Anyway, December '96 issue if you even care....

[300bhp/ton]

ad551 said:

Doesn't the handbrake operate on the front wheels on a Xantia? Not good for autotesting surely!

Why does everyone on PH think autosolo is exacty the same as autotest??

Wouldnt be using the handbrake in an autosolo but cheers I didn't realise th Xantia handbrake worked on the front wheels

[Chris_w666]

300bhp/ton said:

But the fancy suspension on the Activa just got me thinking.

My cousin competes in similar events in his 2.0 stock TR7. But rough ground does take its toll on the car and getting a setup that works well on mixed surfaces is quite challenging.

I do think a Xantia is a bit big and heavy, although with a stripped interior I suspect no much heavier than many other cars. It's bulk would be a concern, but if it corners like it shouldn't, then does that outweigh this?

What kind of rallying are you thinking? It just seems like a car that probably has limited potential unless it is for sprints around a circuit or tight hill climb course, wikipedia (the font of all knowledge) quotes the xantia weight between 1250 and 1430kg meaning you would need to shed a lot of stuff to get it under a ton as I think the heavier figure is the Activia, and I have no clue how tuneable the 2.0 turbo lump is.

[ajprice]

Martine McCutcheon would approve of your project .

[Chris_w666]

300bhp/ton said:

ad551 said:

Doesn't the handbrake operate on the front wheels on a Xantia? Not good for autotesting surely!

Why does everyone on PH think autosolo is exacty the same as autotest??

I knew the difference but my experience of Autosolos is limited to 2 events both of which suited short cars due to being tight circuits.

[LuS1fer]

ajprice said:

Martine McCutcheon would approve of your project .

I wouldn't want anti-roll with her.

[300bhp/ton]

Chris_w666 said:

300bhp/ton said:

But the fancy suspension on the Activa just got me thinking.

My cousin competes in similar events in his 2.0 stock TR7. But rough ground does take its toll on the car and getting a setup that works well on mixed surfaces is quite challenging.

I do think a Xantia is a bit big and heavy, although with a stripped interior I suspect no much heavier than many other cars. It's bulk would be a concern, but if it corners like it shouldn't, then does that outweigh this?

What kind of rallying are you thinking? It just seems like a car that probably has limited potential unless it is for sprints around a circuit or tight hill climb course, wikipedia (the font of all knowledge) quotes the xantia weight between 1250 and 1430kg meaning you would need to shed a lot of stuff to get it under a ton as I think the heavier figure is the Activia, and I have no clue how tuneable the 2.0 turbo lump is.

Mixed events tbh upto stage rallies of some sort is the plan.

I think think the 1430kg kerb weight is the V6 and/or diesel versions. There was also an esate Xantia.

I've read the Activa suspension only added 17kg over a stock Xantia. And 1200kg is not so far off a Porsche 924 or even a 5 speed TR7 if you can get it down to that weight.

HP isn't really a concern, unless you have long straights, which few grass roots club events have due to reg and permit restrictions.

I mean, a stock 924 or MX-5 aren't speedy either.....


Honestly think a RWD coupe is what I'm looking for (probably early next year to prep for next season). But I was just interested and curious with the Xantia.