Citroën Activa

The Citroën Activa and Activa 2 were two concept cars produced by the French manufacturer Citroën as a means to test and to showcase features intended for future use in their production cars. Both were unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 1988 and 1990 respectively. The name Activa was later used to refer to the production Xantia fitted with Activa suspension.

Eigenschaften

Among the features seen on the Activa models was hydropneumatic active suspension (known as the "Hydractive" system). This married Citroën's famous hydropneumatic suspension system to sophisticated electronics, enabling the handling of the car to automatically adapt to how it was being driven as well as virtually eliminating body roll (one of the main criticisms of Citroën's hydropneumatic system was the amount of body roll). The Hydractive system was soon to become available to the public first in Citroën's XM model, and later in more sophisticated form in the Xantia Activa. The multi-function heads-up display system featured in the Activa cars was also incorporated in some XM models.

Activa 1

The Activa 1 also included four wheel steering, anti-lock brakes and traction control, which were high-tech for the time, while the Activa 2 featured a center console keypad instead of a gear lever and a navigation system.

Activa 2

The Activa 2 was considered for production, but it was eventually decided that Citroën's image would make it too hard to compete with prestigious marques such as Mercedes-Benz and Porsche in the luxury 2-seat coupe market.