CITROEN'S new flagship the C5 Aircross arrived in the early part of this year and was clearly designed to offer style and comfort rather than SUV machismo.

Priced from £23,22 it is availale in a choice of three trim levels, Feel, Flair and Flair Plus and there is also a large choice of familiar PSA group turbocharged petrol and diesel engines.

The C5 Aircross provides comfort and practicality and is extremely family friendly

All versions getlots of equipment and there is stacks of space for five to travel stress free along with a huge amount of luggage.

With the rear shelf in place you can have 580 litres, remove it and you can have up to 720 litres anda staggering 1,630 litres is available if you collapse the fold flat three rear seats.

The interior space is truly impressive and also features lots of storage areas.

Sat Nav is standard on all versions except the entry level model and the Aircross also features a multi-mode instrument panel which can be configured in a variety of ways to suit driver tastes or needs.

Progressive Hydraulic Cushion shock absorbers means that the Aircross handles the worst of our roads with ease and the ride can only be bettered by cars costing thousands more and fitted with air suspension systems.

Citroen has also spent money producing really comfortable seats to make things even better and the cabin is also very quiet thanks to a number of other measures.

Safety is another area well catered with 20 safety and driver aids taking care of you.

These includeCitroen's first semi-autonomous driving set up which holds the vehicle's position on the road automatically and on automatic models an adaptive cruise control system allows the car to stop and move off without the driver having to do anything.

Other goodies include land departure and blind spot warnings, automatic parking and a surround view camera system.

Citroen's ConnectedCAM dash cam is fitted to the two top trim levels and is a worthwhile £200 option on Feel versions. As you would expect all models are fully smartphone compatible and a MirrorLink function enables you to see your phone's contents on the car's eight-inch colour display screen.

I sampled petrol and diesel powered cars on the launch and was impressed by both but recently I have had the opportunity to spend more time with the 1.5-litre diesel in top Flair Plus trim.

It delivers 129bhp with 108g/km emissions and is good for up to 56.3mpg on the combined cycle. I did not manage that in a week of mixed driving but still averaged 50mpg - great for a vehicle of this size.

It can sprint to 62mph in 11.8 seconds and has a top speed of 117mph and there is plenty of grunt for overtaking. The eight-speed automatic gearbox made for smooth changes and the engine is also fitted with stop/start and brake energy recapture.

The C5 Aircross may be an SUV but it is not an off-roader and does not have an all-wheel-drive option. However for £400 owners of automatic versions like this can add the PSA group's Grip Control electronic traction system which gives assistance on mud, sand and snow but if you need to tackle the rough stuff this is not the car for you.