I spent a few days in the Helsinki region just to drive and maintain the Xsara. Prior to driving down, I sourced a cheap set of C5 steelies as my old set had gone with the 205, and those would have had too low profile tires anyway. The nearest junkyard provided me a decent set of 2013 Nokian Nordman SXs in 195/55 size. They're actually fairly good and have 6-7 mm of tread.
Anyway! I drove to Posmo's garage and he graciously lent me the use of a Xsara-sized patch of his yard and some tools so we could do the 2010 vintage cam belt and tensioner on it. The TU5JP engine is not the most complicated unit for learning on, and I'm really happy about getting the job done - redlining the car no longer includes a slight fear in the back of my mind about the old belt possibly letting go. Luckily it wasn't in horrible condition at all.
The car is really great to drive right now. The light wheels and better suited tires make it very eager to turn, the engine is a pleasure to wring out with the light-feeling shifter, it sounds brilliant especially past 4000rpm and yet it's comfortable and decently economical. The last tankful, which I used with a lot less gentle driving than the earlier commute run, produced almost identical fuel economy readings at 6,579l/100km. There are very few annoying things about using the Xsara, as there's just a weird suspension/running gear related rumble that was also present with the old wheels and didn't go away with the needed drop link change; the central locking is still bad but can be defeated and the car can be locked from the passenger side, and the bit of MIG wire that's used to pop the trunk open from the inside sometimes chafes on the inside of the trunklid. That's about it. Stereo still works, speakers still work, the car doesn't burn oil and I just love beating on it to get it going, trying to get all the power out of it so I can pass that long truck rig before the overtaking lane ends. Great purchase.