Citroën BX

Citroën BX
Overview
Manufacturer	Citroën
Production	1982—1994
Assembly	Rennes, France Vigo, Spain
Designer	Marcello Gandini
Body and chassis
Class	Large family car (D)
Body style	5-door hatchback 5-door estate
Layout	Front-engine, front-wheel drive / four-wheel drive
Related	Peugeot 405
Powertrain
Engine	1124 cc XW I4 1360 cc XY I4 1360 cc TU3 I4 1580 cc XU5 I4 1905 cc XU9 I4 1905 cc XU9 J4 16V I4 2142 cc N9TE 16V turbo I4 (BX 4TC) 1769 cc XUD7 diesel I4 1769 cc XUD7TE turbodiesel I4 1905 cc XUD9 diesel I4
Dimensions
Kerb weight	870 kg (1,918 lb) - 1,220 kg (2,690 lb)
Chronology
Predecessor	Citroën GS
Successor	Citroën Xantia

The Citroën BX is a large family car that was produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1982 to 1994. In total, 2,315,739 BXs were built during its 12-year history.^[1] The hatchback was discontinued in 1993 with the arrival of the Xantia, but the estate continued for another year. The BX was designed to be lightweight, using particularly few body parts, including many made from plastics.^[2]

History

The Citroën BX was announced in June 1982,^[3] but its commercial life really only began in the Autumn of that year,^[3] with a Paris presentation on 2 October 1982^[4] under the Eiffel Tower. The BX was designed to replace the successful small family car Citroën GS/GSA that was launched in 1970, with a larger vehicle (although the GSA continued until 1986). The French advertising campaign used the slogan "J'aime, j'aime, j'aime" showing the car accompanied by music written specially by Julien Clerc. The British advertising campaign used the slogan "Loves Driving, Hates Garages", reflecting the effort of Citroën to promote the reduced maintenance costs of the BX, over the higher than average maintenance costs of the technologically advanced GS/GSA; while still performing in the Citroën style on the road.

The angular hatchback was designed by Marcello Gandini of Bertone, based on his unused design for the British 1977 Reliant FW11 concept and his 1979 Volvo Tundra concept car. It was the second car to benefit from the merger of Peugeot and Citroën in 1976, the first being the Citroën Visa launched in 1978. The BX shared its platform with the more conventional 405 that appeared in 1987. Among the features that set the car apart from the competition was the traditional Citroën hydropneumatic self-levelling suspension, extensive use of plastic body panels (bonnet, tailgate, bumpers), and front and rear disc brakes.

The BX dispensed with the air cooled, flat four engine which powered the GS, and replaced it with the new PSA group XY, TU and XU series of petrol engines in 1360 cc, 1580 cc and, from 1984, 1905 cc displacements. A 1124 cc engine, very unusual in a car of this size, was also available in countries where car tax was a direct function of engine capacity, such as Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Greece. The 1.1 and 1.4 models used the PSA X engine (known widely as the "Douvrin" or "Suitcase Engine"), the product of an earlier Peugeot/Renault joint venture, and already fitted in the Peugeot 104 and Renault 14.^[3] The 1.6 version was the first car to use the all-new short-stroke XU-series engine.^[5] It was produced in a new engine plant at Trémery built specifically for this purpose, and was later introduced in a larger 1.9-litre version and saw long service in a variety of Peugeots and Citroëns.^[3] The XUD diesel engine version was launched in November 1983. The diesel and turbo diesel models were to become the most successful variants, they were especially popular as estates and became the best selling diesel car in Britain in the late 1980s. Despite being launched on the continent in the autumn of 1982, it wasn't launched onto the British market until August 1983, initially only with 1.3 and 1.6 petrol engines, although further engine options and the estate model would arrive later, and it was one of the most popular foreign-built cars there during the second half of the 1980s. However, just 485 examples were remaining on Britain's roads by February 2016.^[6]

All petrol engines were badged as 11, 14, 16, 19—signifying engine size (in some countries, a weaker, 80 PS (59 kW) version of the 1.6 L engine was badged as the BX15E instead of BX16). The 11TE model was seen by foreign motoring press as slow and uncomfortable. The 1.1 L engine with engine code H1A was specially tuned for Italy, Greece and Portugal. It was fitted to the cars made from 1988 to 1993 and produced 40 kW (55 hp DIN) at 5800 rpm.

A year after the launch of the hatchback model, an estate version was made available. In 1984 power steering became optional, welcome particularly in the diesel models.^[7] In the late 1980s, a four-wheel drive system and turbodiesel engines were introduced.

Citroën BX Break (estate)

In 1986 the MK2 BX was launched. The interior and dashboard was redesigned to be more conventional-looking than the original, which used Citroën's idiosyncratic "satellite" switchgear, and "bathroom scale" speedometer. These were replaced with more conventional stalks for light and wipers and analogue instruments. The earlier GT (and Sport) models already had a "normal" speedometer and tachometer.^[8] The exterior was also slightly updated, with new more rounded bumpers, flared wheelarches to accept wider tyres, new and improved mirrors and the front indicators replaced with larger clear ones which fitted flush with the headlights. The elderly Douvrin engine was replaced by the newer TU-series engine on the 1.4 litre models, although it continued to be installed in the tiny BX11 until 1992.

1988 saw the launch of the BX Turbo Diesel, which was praised by the motoring press. The BX diesel was already a strong seller, but the Turbo model brought new levels of refinement and performance to the diesel market, which brought an end to the common notion that diesel cars were slow and noisy. Diesel Car magazine said of the BX "We can think of no other car currently on sale in the UK that comes anywhere near approaching the BX Turbo's combination of performance, accommodation and economy".^[9]

In 1989, the BX range had further minor revisions and specification improvements made to it, including smoked rear lamp units, new wheeltrims and interior fabrics.

Winning many Towcar of the Year awards, the BX was renowned as a tow car (as was its larger sister, the CX), especially the diesel models, due to their power and economy combined with the self levelling suspension.^[10]

The biggest problem of the BX was its variable build quality, compared to its competition. In 1983, one quarter of the production needed "touchups" before they could be shipped.^[11] The last BX was sold around 1994, by which time its successors had already been launched. It had been partially replaced by the smaller ZX in early 1991, but its key replacement was the slightly larger Xantia that went on sale at the beginning of 1993.

Performance models

Sport

As well as the normal BX, Citroën produced the BX Sport from 1985 to 1987. During this period, Citroën produced 7,500 BX Sports; 2,500 in the first series, then an extra 5,000 due to its sales success. Rated at 126 PS (93 kW) at 5800 rpm and equipped with dual twin-barrel carburettors, the BX Sport was the most powerful BX in production at that time. The engine modifications, including a reshaped combustion chamber and larger valves, were developed by famous French tuner Danielson.^[8] It also stood out with its unique body kit, alloy wheels later also used on the GTi, a unique dashboard and Pullman interior. The seat fabric was the same as that used on the CX Turbo at the time. The body kit included a rear wing, side skirts, and fender extensions that added 10 cm to each side of the car in order to accommodate the larger wheels. The car was only available in LHD, so it was not sold in the United Kingdom. Period road tests complimented the ride quality (as usual with Citroëns) but complained that the driving characteristics were not all that sporty as a result, even though the suspension had also been modified.^[8]

GT

1985 BX GT

The BX GT was launched in 1985 and featured a 1.9 L Peugeot-sourced engine, in general a Sport engine with only one twin choke carburettor. Max power is 105 PS (77 kW). That same year, Citroën produced a "Digit" model, which was based on the BX GT. It featured a digital instrument cluster and an onboard computer. Citroën only produced 4,000 BX Digits in 1985.^[12]

4TC

Citroën BX 4TC

Citroën entered Group B rallying with the BX in 1986. The specially designed rally BX was called the BX 4TC and bore little resemblance to the standard BX. It had a very long nose because the engine (a turbocharger fitted version of Chrysler Europe's Simca Type 180 engine) was mounted longitudinally unlike in the regular BX. The engine was downsleeved to 2,141.5 cc (from 2,155 cc) to stay under the three-litre limit after FIA's multiplication factor of 1.4 was applied. The rally version of the BX also featured the unique hydropneumatic suspension, and the five-speed manual gearbox from Citroën SM.^[13] Because of the Group B regulations, 200 street versions of the 4TC also had to be built, with a 200 PS (147 kW) at 5,250 rpm version of the N9TE engine.^[13]

The 4TC was not successful in World Rally Championship competition, its best result being a sixth place in the 1986 Swedish Rally. The 4TC only participated in three rallies before the Group B class was banned in late 1986, following the death of Henri Toivonen in his Lancia Delta S4 at the Tour de Corse Rally. Already discouraged by the car's poor performance in motorsport and the demise of Group B, Citroën was only able to sell 62 road-going 4TCs; build quality and reliability problems led Citroën to buy back many of these 4TCs for salvage and destruction.^[14] With only a fraction of the original 200 examples remaining, the 4TC is now highly sought-after.

GTi

An uprated version of the BX GT, the BX19 GTi was fitted with an 1.9 L eight-valve fuel injected engine producing 122 PS (90 kW) (this engine also fitted to the Peugeot 405 SRi, and being very similar to the engine also fitted to the 205 GTi, however the BX19 GTi and Peugeot 405 SRi used a different inlet manifold and cylinder head to the Peugeot 205 GTi,), a spoiler and firmer suspension spheres/anti-roll bar than the standard model; it could reach 198 km/h.^[15] There was also a special export model, the BX16 GTi, using the 113 PS (83 kW) XU5JA engine from the Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6. Top speed was 194 km/h.^[16]

16V

Citroën BX 16 Valve (Phase 1)

In May 1987, a 16-valve version of the GTi was launched. This was the first mass-produced French car to be fitted with a 16-valve engine. A DOHC twin-exhaust port cylinder head, based on that of the Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Group B rally car was bolted to an uprated version of the 1905cc XU9 8v alloy engine block as fitted to the BX GTi and Peugeot 205 GTi. The result was the XU9J4; a naturally aspirated 1.9 L engine, (also fitted to the phase 1 Peugeot 405 Mi16) producing 160 bhp (120 kW) and 177 N·m (131 lb·ft) of torque. More specifically, it produced a specific output of 84 bhp/litre, which for a fixed cam-timing, naturally aspirated engine was fairly impressive at the time. This helped rocket the BX to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 7.4 seconds and then 160 km/h (99 mph) in 19.9 seconds before then finally stopping at a top speed of 220 km/h (140 mph). Anti-lock brakes were fitted as standard. Its side skirts made it easily recognizable from all other BX models. In 1990, the facelift of the 16V gave the car a new lease of life. The updated car came with new fibreglass bumpers, anthracite painted wheels, smoked taillight lenses, and a redesigned rear spoiler. These cosmetic changes made the car look even more distinctive from other BXs. There were also a few subtle changes made to the car's performance, the most noticeable being harder suspension and a thicker anti-roll bar, which improved handling. The BX 16V was found to be faster around a race-track than the "in house" competitor Peugeot 405 Mi16 in a test in the Swedish motoring magazine Teknikens Värld.

Gallery

• 
  1985 Citroën BX 19 D
• 
  1986 Citroën BX 19 GT Digit
• 
  1991 Citroën BX 16 TGI
• 
  1993 Citroën BX 19 TZI Break
• 
  Citroën BX TRD Turbo
• 
  1987 Citroen BX GTi (8v)

Engines

See also

• Anadol FW 11 (1977)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Citroën BX.

• Citroën BX 16-valve Club
• BX links Citroën World
• web based UK BX owners club