Saw a couple reg CX 25 gti turbo today. The rear axel must be 6 inches narrower than the front and it was wiggling all the time I saw it.

Were they typically unstable or did this one have a fault?

Just curious.

Probably both...

I'm confused. Did you see a Ctroen CX or a Citroen Axel? They're completely different models!

I would have thought, given the design, the car should be very stable, as it's suspension set up was found in something a lot more prestigious.....

Sounds like a hatchet job, or someone has given it a knock......I had a peugeot that seemed ok from inside driving it, but a mate picked up that it was crabbing ever so slightly.  turned out it was shorter on one side than the other (hub-to-hub).

I had one in the mid 90's and it was just over 10 years old then,

it was properly fast and handled pretty good for its size, it handled better than most cars of the 80's..

I swapped it for a 12 year old Peugeot 504 which i liked better for towing with, and which was simpler and cheaper to run.

 

No idea what one handles like when near 30 years old, 

but i think a good one, properly maintained & as was,  will be as good as it was in the 80's,

 It could or should be put on better tyres now.

If it is as original & running 30 year old tyres now it might be a little bit dodgy.

 

george

I worked part time in the 80's for an airport transfer company, and sometimes had to use the bosses 7 seater version of the CX estate.

 

Absolutely brilliant car and unbelievably comfy.

The slightly over aggressive power steering, with its squishy noises, and brakes took some getting used to though mind.

Edited 27 November, 201312 yr by Mr Ree

The CX is incredibly stable when set up right. A wobbly rear suspension is probably due to worn rear trailing arm bearings, a fault that can affect just about every Citroen and Peugeot built in the last 40 years. It usually happens at about 150k+ and causes the back wheels to start pointing in at the top, and all sorts of strange creaks and groans from the rear of the car when going over bumps. In extreme cases it tends to make the handling very scary too, as the back suspension develops a sort of 'self-steering' effect with a mind of it's own!

Thanks all. So probably a fault causing it to wobble up the dual carriageway then

There's a guy in Hull that has this cx and it's very quick,lot of engine work done to it,think with the nitrous it's about 400bhp ish

http://m.flickr.com/photos/23626711@N06/2252779488/lightbox/

There's a guy in Hull that has this cx and it's very quick,lot of engine work done to it,think with the nitrous it's about 400bhp ish

http://m.flickr.com/photos/23626711@N06/2252779488/lightbox/

Not usually that fussed on modded cars, but THAT looks absolutely monstrous! 

If you see a Citroen CX, offer to buy it !

 I had a CX 25GTI Turbo, series 1, and it was the best car I have ever owned ( I have had over 100, probably nearer 200....)

 I had a hankering for another not so long back, but the ONLY one I found for sale in the whole of Europe was 25000 Euros....If I had the money, I would have bought it.

My boss used to give me a lift to work in his CX GTi turbo, the comfiest car I have ever sat in and quick as well.

In answer to the OP, the front track is about 6 inches wider than the rear track, so they look odd from the rear. The wobbly ride was probably caused by a failed suspension sphere, or incorrect ones fitted ( they all look the same, but the front and rear are different, as is the compensator, fitting the wrong ones makes the handling strange, when it should be awesome..)

 I remember once sneezing whilst negotiating a roundabout briskly, and my passenger nearly had a heart attack because the self centering steering worked when I took my hands off the wheel momentarily....

The wobbly ride was probably caused by a failed suspension sphere, or incorrect ones fitted ( they all look the same, but the front and rear are different, as is the compensator, fitting the wrong ones makes the handling strange, when it should be awesome..)

.

It occurred to me after posting that what the op was describing was probably a problem with the spheres rather than the arm bearings. Really bad rear spheres on a Citroen almost give the car the appearance of hopping along the road!

In answer to the OP, the front track is about 6 inches wider than the rear track, so they look odd from the rear. The wobbly ride was probably caused by a failed suspension sphere, or incorrect ones fitted ( they all look the same, but the front and rear are different, as is the compensator, fitting the wrong ones makes the handling strange, when it should be awesome..)

 I remember once sneezing whilst negotiating a roundabout briskly, and my passenger nearly had a heart attack because the self centering steering worked when I took my hands off the wheel momentarily....

Viciousness wasn't in it!  :evil:

Saw a couple reg CX 25 gti turbo today. The rear axel must be 6 inches narrower than the front and it was wiggling all the time I saw it.

Were they typically unstable or did this one have a fault?

Just curious.

 

No, they were perhaps the most stable production saloon car ever made. Rear axles aren't like the Peugeot ones and don't create the same problems if the bearings wear.

 

If the whole car was wiggling then there's a possibiltity the steering wasn't set up correctly (it's effectively a steer-by-wire system, except instead of electronics it's hydraulics, naturally) or the driver was unable to re-program his brain to drive a car with genuinely accurate steering. You only realised how lousy car steering is when you first drive a CX, since the brain insists you carry on 'correcting' as you have to in anything else, so the CX wiggles up the straight road until your brain realises you can keep the wheel still if in a straight line.

 

It's totally awesome (Pug-Citroen use it in their rally cars to this day) but your average Sierra driver had problems, so blamed the car instead of his inability to re-learn. If you've sailed a boat or piloted a plane, or even ridden motorbikes, it's not a problem in the slightest since your mind quickly realises there's no need to behave as if in most other cars.

 

If they were galvanised I'd drive one still, eveyday, Utterly, utterly amazingly good cars, to the point many people just couldn't adjust to the brilliance. Comfort of the best sofa on a motorway combined with sports-car sharp handling when needed and stability leagues ahead of anything even today - I covered journeys in times which I could never replicate. It was like being the Wizard of Oz, barely exerting any effort to make amazing things happen - except the clutches, which were a little heavy. Someone once suggested this was to put off occasional female drivers.

Edited 6 April, 201412 yr by spotty

One post wonder, shame...

 Bring back the CX, and proper cars.

 Yes. I know it's a dead thread, but why not.

Edited 22 June, 201411 yr by Mr Grumpy