TODAY'S estate cars are most definitely the movers and not the shakers.
Gone are the days when a journey in the station wagon version of a comfortable saloon had you heading for the local dentist to put right those fillings loosened by the suspension designers' lack of feeling for passenger comfort.
Today's load lugger has nothing at all in common with the veritable vans with extra windows and seats of yesteryear and I've just been testing one of the many excellent examples around in the UK marketplace, the Citroen C5.
These days, estate cars come in all shapes and sizes, but what the front runners all have in common are versatile spaciousness with plenty of volume and the ability to produce an on the road performance as good as their saloon or hatchback stablemates.
The Citroen C5 estate's bootroom passes all the required tests of an upmarket load carrier. The wide-opening tailgate reveals a huge and cavernous aperture, while a user-friendly loading lip gives access to a flat, symmetrical load area which suffers from very little wheel arch intrusion.
Should all this not be enough for individual loading needs, the C5 Estate's secret weapon is in the self-levelling suspension with which, while stationary, using a switch inside the tailgate, you can raise or lower the standard ride height to ease in or out the proverbial kitchen sink and the like.
There are some clever underfloor compartments too, in a luggage bay which also houses a good complement of nets and tie-downs to keep things in place. And, if moving shedfuls of stuff should be on your agenda, the seat-up configuration in the rear can be changed to seat-down to create an even more cavernous hold while those last-minute small omissions can easily be popped inside via the separate opening tailate window.
Like its hatchback stablemate, the C5 estate comes in three trim levels, LX VTR and Excutive, all being endowed with progessively generous levels of kit. Even the LX entry model weighs in with air con, electric one-shot front windows, heated and electrically adjustable door mirrors, speed sensitive wipers and the rest as standard. To assist the unwise and the unwary, all models have on hand as standard ABS braking, Electronic Brake Force Distribution and Electronic Brake Assist.
Engine choice is six-fold, three petrol and a trio of diesels. The VTR-trimmed test car housed the 2.2-litre HDI, a fantastic oil-burner which belies its diesel heritage, being refined in performance and both environmentally and wallet-friendly in its CO2 emissions level.
This common-rail, 16-valver works with a smooth-changing six-speed gear change and does its work in refined fashion, eating up the motorway miles unobtrusively. Healthy low range torque adds its weight to the VTR model's sporty credentials, already much in evidence courtesy of the 16-inch Hungaro alloys.
The adaptive Hydractive Suspension adds to the overall ride comfort, automatically lowering ride height at motorway speeds and reversing the process on badly shell-holed road surfaces, while helping to nicely subdue road noise within the cabin.
The quietude of the C5 Estate's performance perfectly complements the comfortable ambience of a cabin in which there is room aplenty in all parts with good head, leg and shoulder room in the rear catering well for the long and the short and the tall.
There is a harmonious relationship between the seat, steering wheel and pedals, and, for those in pole position, seat height adjustment and steering wheel height and reach adjust combine to provide a fine driving position to suit most drivers.
Instrumentation has been logically laid out and the dials are user-friendly, particularly with the red-needle effect.
With individual looks which tend to grow on you, the C5 Estate is a hugely comfortable, practical family and business mode of transport with a great deal to offer.
FAST FACTS
Citroen C5 VTR 2.2 HDI Estate
Price: £18,800
Mechanical: 136bhp, 2,179cc 16-valve common-rail turbodiesel engine driving front wheels via 6-spd manual transmission
Max speed: 125mph
0-62mph: 10.6 secs
Combined mpg: 44.1
Insurance group: 10
CO2 emissions: 169g/km
BiK rating: 19%
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles