Citroën AX

The Citroën AX is a small car, built by Citroën from 1986 to 1996 (or 1998, sources vary). It was launched at the 1986 Paris Salon motor show in 3-door form, with 1.0-litre, 1.1-litre and 1.4-litre engines. It was joined by a 5-door model and a 1.4 diesel version shortly afterwards.

The car was very economical, largely because of excellent aerodynamics for its class of car (drag coefficient of 0.31) and a very light weight of around 650 kg for the basic version. In 1989 it managed a figure of 112.01 mpg (2.7 l/100km), totalling over 1000 miles from Dover to Barcelona. This was the longest ever distance travelled on 10 gallons of fuel and earned it a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the most economical production car.

The fastest production model was at first the AX Sport, replaced in 1992 by the AX GTi, which has a 100bhp fuel injected version of the 1.4 engine.

The Proton company of Malaysia produced a version of the Citroën AX, the Proton Tiara, from 1996 to 2000.

The car's replacement, the Citroën Saxo, is heavier mainly due to emissions legislation (catalytic converter, etc.), better crash protection and safety equipment such as airbags.

Preceded by: Citroën Visa

Succeeded by: Citroën Saxo

External links

Citroën AX fan site http://home.att.ne.jp/wind/ax/ Site about the Proton Tiara http://home.zonnet.nl/citroens/proton-tiara.html