There’s a question that hovers over the DS like a drone: is this a proper premium car or a case of fur coat and Penneys undies?
You get a good feel for the lure of a car in the shopping centre car park. There are some cars you could park across the doorway and they wouldn’t attract the attention of the local dog. Then there are those that act as motoring magnets.
DS leans towards the second category, thanks in part to the efforts of its stylists. The larger DS No 8, which set the new naming and design trend, proved to be a motoring magnet. Petrolheads in a BMW near Newry were so interested I feared we were about to get carjacked.
The No 4 is less eye-catching, but distinctive enough to lure in a local or two. “That’s pretty smart, is it Chinese?” was the first encounter. News that it was French and branded DS didn’t seem to clear things up.
A bit of a lurch into history and he recalled the old DS, but as the adage goes “if you’re explaining, you’re losing”. His questions had moved on to price before I had even got to the fact this was no longer a Citroën.
And here’s where the No 4 gets interesting. At €35,995, DS doesn’t have to persuade BMW and Audi buyers to defect. But it does have to persuade people to notice a brand many still don’t understand.
That’s getting harder. With the wave of new Chinese brands arriving, the noise of the motoring market is deafening and only set to get louder. Alongside this is the perennial problem of creating a genuinely premium French car brand.
This is a nation that can sell the world €25,000 handbags and perfume at €200 a drop and not bat a false eyelash, yet it can’t crack the luxury car market. Perhaps it’s down to preconceived stereotypes that associate France more with elegance than engineering nous.
But it raises a question for the Stellantis chief executive: aside from creating a car for the French president of the day, is there really any point in France investing in a premium car brand?
DS moves up a gear in its bid to pit French luxury against dominant German cars
Stellantis bosses have the cost-cutting shears out, so the clock is certainly ticking on DS proving its worth.
DS has done an impressive job with No 8 – even if its perfume-inspired naming convention is silly. Can it do the same with a hatchback?
An all-electric version is offered, with a claimed range of up to 450km, but our test car was the petrol hybrid variant. Its 1.2-litre hybrid petrol engine is mated to the 21kW electric motor to deliver a combined 145hp. That proves decently powerful and frugal, while remaining smooth and refined at motorway speeds.
The little electric motor is more than just for show. DS says it can run on electric-only mode for up to 50 per cent of the time in urban use, and in town, we certainly managed a lot of journeys in electric silence.
It’s even quite engaging through the bends, surprisingly so for a car that shares so much of its underpinnings with Citroën. It’s certainly much smoother and stiffer through the turns than the previous DS4. That’s down to the improved rigidity of the platform, which DS says uses almost 34 metres of structural adhesive alongside conventional welding.
On the motorway, the No 4 cruises comfortably, asking little of the driver. It’s got the ease of the larger No 8 and that poise that Citroën possesses in its better cars. Turn on to a national road and it threads its way neatly through the bends, though it does bottom out on the deeper potholes.
There’s enough initial softness in the suspension to take the sting out of poor surfaces, but it never falls foul of the floating sensation that afflicted so many older French cars.
Ask for a burst of acceleration and the three-cylinder engine makes its presence known, but once the six-speed auto transmission has settled into the right ratio, it fades convincingly into the background.
Most cars have a sweet spot, where all the elements work in harmony. Unfortunately, for some sports cars it’s at speeds only legal on the German autobahn.
Thankfully, the No 4’s sweet spot is around 75km/h. It’s here on your average national secondary road with sweeping bends that the DS feels most poised.
But this is never meant to be sold as anything close to the ultimate driving machine. Instead, its selling proposition is French design flair, elaborate detailing and comfort.
Inside is where DS tries to play its design hand strongest. You might be sitting on engineering shared with a mainstream hatchback, but this brand focuses its efforts on areas most others don’t. It’s bucking the trend of sticking a massive screen to the central console, hoping owners of these screens on wheels will be so distracted they won’t notice the spread of cheap and often shoddy plastics used elsewhere.
In contrast, the DS features a 10-inch touchscreen that sits snugly into the dash and is very clear and practical.
Yet the surrounding surfaces are like rough work sheets for a geometry test. And there are too many places clad with standard or less than premium plastics that serve to undermine the DS luxury pitch.
There are also points where design just gets in the way of functionality.
The line of metal buttons under the screen is a case in point. It’s great to see tactile controls return to a car’s interior, but the symbols on the silver-coloured buttons are white, so in daylight you can barely make them out.
Even when you can, the buttons control the fan speed, but to change temperature you still need to navigate the touchscreen.
Another example: there’s a small lip just in front of the transmission toggle. For the first few days, we were fixated on its function. It’s too short to support a phone, the car’s key is not a card.
Is there a bespoke piece of tech or kit, an optional extra that nestles in this spot and turns the No 4 into a nightclub? We finally cracked it: it holds your parking ticket or credit card. Smart thinking? Or comically prosaic?
Legroom is fine in the front but it gets a little cramped in the rear, which is a shame for a family hatchback in a market where EVs offer so much space these days.
That said, the boot is decent for this class, at 430 litres.
This DS is built on the Stellantis mid-sized platform, so is closely related to the Peugeot 308 and Opel Astra, sharing the same architecture and much of its hybrid hardware. That’s not a criticism – the Peugeot is a good car – but it means DS must find its premium credentials elsewhere.
Let’s remember, this isn’t an entirely new model. Originally launched as the DS4 three years ago, it was a smart-looking, comfortable hatch. But the price was wrong, starting at €40,000 in its base trim.
This revamped model starts at €35,995 for the Pallas version, a well-equipped entry-level grade.
It brings smart 19-inch alloys and an array of features that would normally require a lengthy visit to the options list, adding thousands to the price.
This is what allows the DS to credibly pitch itself against German rivals like the Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series.
Let’s be clear: both are better to drive. The 1 Series has sharper steering and better body control, while the A3 feels more polished when pushed on. The No 4 counters with a slightly softer, more relaxed driving demeanour that makes more sense in traffic or on a long motorway run. But you can’t ignore the DS at this price.
Had it been priced circa €45,000, we would have examined the plastics and the driving demeanour with a more jaundiced eye, asking whether this really was a premium car. At €35,995 with the specification level offered, those shortcomings matter less.
The No 4 is distinctive, comfortable and generously equipped, all for a price that’s comparable with mainstream alternatives. Sure, there’s a fur coat here, but DS is no longer charging Brown Thomas prices for it.
Lowdown: DS No 4 Pallas Hybrid
Power: 1,199cc direct injection turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine combined with 21kW electric motor and a 6-speed dual-clutch automatic; 145hp and 230Nm of torque combined.
0-100km/h: 9.5 seconds
L/100km: 5.2 (WLTP) 6.1 as tested
CO2 emissions: 117g/km
Motor tax: €190
Price: €35,995
Our rating: 3/5
Verdict: Distinctive, comfortable and flawed, but at this price the No 4 makes sense