Suspension spheres had gone flat.
Accumulator valve sticking.
ABS sensor not working.
A mechanical component of the turbo didn't always work (i.e. sometimes no boost!).
The first thing you need to know about *any* Xantia is the cost of replacing the suspension spheres. This should be done every 3 years or so. You will know if the spheres have gone "flat" by the crazy way this car bounces everywhere, rendering it undriveable. The spheres cost approximately £20 each and there are four of them. Add £50-100 for labour.
The second thing you need to know is that *as long as the spheres are not in need of replacement*, any Xantia will beat virtually any other car for ride quality. I don't care whether you drive a 406 V6 or a BMW 5-series, the Xantia's suspension works better at suppressing bumps and jolts.
Speaking of which, be prepared to take quite a few in the Xantia Activa, the only sports model in the line-up. The Activa is powered by a 2.0 constant torque turbo engine borrowed from the Peugeot 406 SRi.
Power figures are 150bhp @ 4000rpm and 173lb/ft @ 4000rpm approx. Acceleration 0-60mph is around 9.3 seconds, 1/4 mile time is around 16.5-17.0 seconds and top speed is a flat-out 130mph. It won't match a Prelude in a straight line, but the Xantia Activa was built to go round corners. And does it do well on the winding roads?
Let's put it this way: a well-driven Xantia Activa *is* good. The car has staggering ability through chicanes. It corners totally flat - there's less body roll than an Audi S4 - and I read somewhere that the car's lateral acceleration is 0.94g. That is 0.01g harder than a Honda NSX.
It's a cornering force boy racers in their hot hatches can only dream of. This is not an old man's car, and anyone who thinks otherwise needs to go back to their Clio to drive around shopping centre car parks with their stereos on loud. The Activa is a good - a very good - attempt at hardcore.
However, the Activa has a number of flaws. For a start its engine produces nowhere near enough power to take advantage of its handling. It's not fast enough on the straights, although it does feel quick, and its lack of equipment (another problem) makes it light for its class. You should be looking at 180-200bhp for a sports saloon weighing 1300kg.
The Activa suspension has two settings, Sport and Comfort. The Comfort setting loses all of the car's inherent sharpness. It's lumpy, wallowy and numb, making me wonder what it is for. By contrast the excellent Sport mode brings the car alive in a way other Xantias aren't, but it is extremely noisy on poor ground, lots of clattering. This is a problem on sportier cars of its age though -- you can't have performance suspension without some compromise.
The car is reliable *providing* you spend money maintaining its suspension system. You need to keep this car serviced, as believe me, any Activa you come across (if you can find one) will have been hammered almost to death. As a fleet car it won't have been looked after since its previous owners knew they could just get another car at the company's expense.
If you can keep the car in decent condition, it's as reliable as anything else on the road -- another Xantia myth exploded.
Fuel economy is average at best with a tenner fetching 50-70 miles in semi-urban environments. This does improve on long journeys.
Re-sale of the car is a nightmare. You will probably sell a 406 turbo without too many problems, but the Xantia Activa is strictly enthusiast only. You need to advertise this car with a full MOT and assurance the suspension is sound. Good luck getting rid of it once you own it, especially if it's having problems!
Believe it or not, modifying a Xantia (or a petrol 406) will boost the re-sale appeal of the car as long as you're smart. Nice 17" wheels, a custom exhaust and a higher boost setting will work wonders.
I never thought much of these cars, until I got one as a courtesy while getting my saxo MOT'd and serviced. It was a 1.8 16v. Performance was OK-ish, but fuel consumption was poor I thought. Still it had 130,000 miles on it. The equipment level and ride quality I found to be excellent. It seems to float along the road. It would roll a lot on corners, but still seemed firmly planted to the road. To be honest I was glad to get the saxo back a few days later, as the Xantia isn't really my thing. All in all though it was a good, interesting car.
I've had my Activa, a 2.0 turbo from 2000 with leather interior, for nearly two years now, and have covered 50 000 km in that time. It is now just past 180 000 km, and I absolutely love it.
It was a bit sorry-looking when I found it, with lots of stone chips and flat hydraulics, at a ridiculously low asking price.
I replaced all 10 hydraulic spheres, ran cleaning fluid through the system, and refilled with fresh LHM oil. That helped quite a bit, but it also needed replacement of the bushings in the anti-roll system itself.
A partial respray, new wheels and tyres, and a fair amount of elbow grease helped the looks.
Adding high-output bulbs and relays to the headlights helped the night-time view from inside the car.
Chip-tuning it to around 190 hp helped it move along, and a new stereo system sweetens the deal when stuck in traffic.
The Activa drives like nothing else on the road. On a motorway on-ramp, very few cars can keep up with it. Those select few are things like Honda NSXs and 911 Carreras, which have the same level of grip, but also more power. On a slalom course, it just settles down and sweeps through completely unfazed. Twisty roads are dispatched at high speed with very little drama. Lift off slightly, and it tightens its line, floor it, and it drifts wide. Once out of the twisties, the suspension goes supple and just soaks up bumps. It is unreal how well it sticks to the road, how agile it turns in, and how it still manages to be very comfortable on a six-hour journey.
Overall, the car has been quite reliable. There is no rust (galvanized body), and the engine uses no oil whatsoever. The engine seems likely to last another 200 000 km or so. The only major incident was when it threw its ancillary drive belt, cutting off the drive for the alternator and the hydraulic pump. Tow truck time, but nothing really serious.
There are, on the other hand, any number of little electrical gremlins and the occasional hydraulical one. Gauges going haywire, lights inside and out working to their own schedules, and so forth. The hydraulics are reliable, but far from maintenance free. When something wears out, it will manifest itself in ways unknown to other cars, such as gently rocking from side to side when idling. The hydraulics have been leak free so far, except for an occasional cold weather seepage at the rear Activa ram.
Is it cost effective? Certainly not, if you compare to sensible Japanese family sedans of the same age. Its thirst for fuel and need for maintenance makes that very clear. On the other hand, it is far cheaper than any of the cars than can outrun it on a twisty road, and far more practical, too. The resale value dropped like a rock once it left the dealership the first time, so there is really not much depreciation left in a used one.
The Activa is a rare bird. Only some 10 000 were built, making it rarer than a Citroën SM and much rarer than machinery like BMW M5s and Porsche 911s. If you manage to find one, just remember that it is an exotic that happens to look like a smallish family sedan, and that it needs specialized, competent care and feeding to work its considerable best. Once it does, it is magic.
Anyone having any idea on safe mods for '98 Activa, please let me know at: itsgeorge@hotmail.com.
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