Citroen suspension question
Jeff Benjamin
tootle around in. They're still making Citroens with the funky
pneumatic(?) suspension, and I was curious about what the different
settings were for. However, the manual in the glove box was in
Dutch, which I can't read.
Can anyone (maybe from the other side of the pond) give me a quick
description of the Citroen suspension settings and what they're good
for? Thanks.
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Jeff Benjamin {ucbvax,hplabs}!hpfcla!benji
User Interface Technology Division be...@fc.hp.com
Hewlett Packard Co. Fort Collins, Colorado
Brutus Thornapple
You must be referring to the lever to raise and lower the suspension.
One can raise the suspension for additional ground clearance, useful
when there's a foot of water on the road. I think there's yet another
setting for maximum height when you want to change a flat.
I'm sure our resident Citroen freak will have more to say.. :-)
eliot
RouE
Low is yer basic driving setting, whereas high is particularly for driving
over rough ground - because it increases the suspension travel you get a
smoother ride. I undertsand that if you're on the high setting and go above
thirty miles and hour, it automatically goes to the low setting - could be
interesting if you're travelling at around 30, in which case the car
would be going up and down a lot. Anyone care to confirm?
RouE
--
Jason L Saunders [ RouE ]
email: ma...@csv.warwick.ac.uk
snail: Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
--
Jason L Saunders [ RouE ]
email: ma...@csv.warwick.ac.uk
snail: Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK
Payman Khalili
In article <tmzc...@csv.warwick.ac.uk> ma...@warwick.ac.uk (RouE) writes:
>Basically you have three settings: low, high and wheel change...
>
>Low is yer basic driving setting, whereas high is particularly for driving
>over rough ground - because it increases the suspension travel you get a
>smoother ride. I undertsand that if you're on the high setting and go above
>thirty miles and hour, it automatically goes to the low setting - could be
>interesting if you're travelling at around 30, in which case the car
>would be going up and down a lot. Anyone care to confirm?
>
We used to have a Citroen BX when I used to live in Spain.
Actually, I remember the beast that I drove had 4 settings:
(1) Low: There was no pressure in the suspension. This setting was
used for storing the car for long periods, etc. You should
not drive the car in this setting.
(2) Normal: Normal height of the car. For everyday driving, etc.
(3) High: For driving in places which required high clearance. In this
setting, the suspension was quite rough and the ride was
uncomfortable. It was not recommended to drive at high speeds
with this setting.
(4) Very high: For changing the tire. In this setting, the car would
go very high and you weren't supposed to drive in this mode.
This setting also comes in quite handy if you want to check
out a babe wearing a miniskirt in the car next to you at a
stop light. ;-)
The Citroen BX which I drove did not lower it's height if it was in
the high setting and you drove over 30mph. The car did not come with
any sophisticated electronics (this was a 1986 model) to do this.
I believe that the hydraulic system just tried to maintain a constant
height at whatever setting.
Of course, it is possible that the fancier Citroens adjusted their height
according to the speed. After all, the BX was kind of the "poor man's
Citroen with hydraulic suspension".
The car would go up and down a lot when braking and accelerating. The
braking/accelerating would sometimes cause the tail of the car to
rise/lower (accodingly). Then, the height sensitive hydraulic system
would adjust the height.
-Payman
Chris Cooke
>
> We used to have a Citroen BX when I used to live in Spain.
>
> Actually, I remember the beast that I drove had 4 settings:
>
> go very high and you weren't supposed to drive in this mode.
It's said that if you don't have a spare tyre, you can manage to drive
the car on three wheels for a few miles, quite successfully. Useful
for getting to the nearest tyre shop...
--
-- Chris. c...@dcs.ed.ac.uk (on Janet, c...@uk.ac.ed.dcs)
Kosmas I. Pentakalos
>While in Europe a couple of weeks ago, I rented a Citro:en BX to
>tootle around in. They're still making Citroens with the funky
>pneumatic(?) suspension, and I was curious about what the different
>settings were for. However, the manual in the glove box was in
>Dutch, which I can't read.
>
>Can anyone (maybe from the other side of the pond) give me a quick
>description of the Citroen suspension settings and what they're good
>for? Thanks.
>
>-----
>Jeff Benjamin
I 've driven 5 Citroens since I was 12! but not a BX.
As it has been mentioned already there usually 4 settings and I would
like to expand on this since some folks who may have never seen the car
may not understand what the "tire change mode" might be.
Simple, :) Citroens with hydropneumatic suspension do not have a
jack! They have a simple adjustable stand. When you have a flat, you
raise the car to the max, place the stand at the flat tire corner of
the car and then lower the car. This lets the car sit on top of the stand
and also lifts the wheel of the ground.
But say you have a citroen and you have no spare!
You get out and follow the tire replacement except for leaving two
good wheels in the front and one in the back!!!!!
Yes, the car will ride on three wheels and the hyd.pneu. suspension
will never let the hub touch the ground.
Some Citroens had 5 settings too, like this late DS23Pallas I drove.
The 5th position was between low and normal for high speed driving
and better stability and handling. In other words, a lowering kit which
would allow the car to go over 2 feet deep floods!
In the past before the DS/ID years, Citroen guaranteed their cars 100%
for not rolling. If you would roll your Citroen and came out alive you
would get a new one. Of course it would have to happen without external
help :)
How fast were these cars? Well the DS23 I mentioned above was doing
110 mph. in an Autostrata with 5 adults and three suitcases on the roof
for hours without any vibration or instability. It was powered by a
2.4 f.i. engine and burned very little gas for its size. The only problem
was the Alfa Romeo 2000 in the back which had to stop for gas WAY TOO
many times to catch up with only two adults!
This same model Citroen was the reason Citroen went bankrupt and had
to be saved by the French government. Their cars were TOO GOOD to be
profitable. Their safety set records and standards for the automobile
industry and forget that propaganda about Volvo. Their bodies were made
out of duraluminum (an expensive aluminum-iron alloy used in the aircraft
industry). If the car was wrecked and the door panel would go in 6",
it would pop-out again with minor paint cracks.
The roof was made from fiberglass and if the car rolled down a hill
a sharp rock would go through but the roof would not cave in and kill
everyone inside.
Mercedes attepted to purchase the suspension system for their 600
abd Rolls Royce for all their products, but the requirement of having
Citroen written all over the car and manuals threw them back :)
VIV LA FRANCE and their ingenuity.
Kosmas
John Davison
High setting for rough terrain.
High setting, stick the prop under the car, then switch to low setting and the
wheels "retract" lifting the two on the prop side off the ground, letting you
change a tire without ever getting the jack out.
ID 19s and DS21s also had the rear fenders attached by only one bolt. It was
possible to swap fenders in about 5 minutes.
--
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"Give me six lines written by the most honorable of men and I will find in them
an excuse to hang him." -- Cardinal Richelieu
Roland Faragher-Horwell
I emailed the original poster directly, but you are essentially correct
about the hydropneumatic suspension on the DS, GS, BX, CX, and XM.
The resident Citroen freak,
Roland Faragher-Horwell