FIRST DRIVES
DS 4 E-TENSE 225
TESTED 5.10.21, BERKSHIRE ON SALE JANUARY.
Lavish rival to Germany’s compact elite could be a game-changer for its maker
TESTER’S NOTE
DS 4 upper-echelon models are equipped with Active Scan suspension, which uses a camera to look down the road for surface irregularities and configures the suspension to suit. But on test, we noticed only a slight difference between cars with the system, and without.
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T he DS marque’s expansion in the UK has so far been more leisurely than relentless, mostly because the cars offered haven’t been in the main premium userchooser battlegrounds. But the arrival of the new DS 4, a genuine rival for both the Audi A3 and BMW X2, puts Stellantis’s ‘savoir faire’ marque on course to double the size of its UK foothold and eclipse brands like Jaguar and Lexus for outright sales volume.
For a brand whose annual sales will run to 4000-odd units after deliveries begin at the turn of the year, the 4 comes with a plethora of models – trim levels (in ascending order) with exotic names such as Bastille, Trocadero, Rivoli and the range-topping La Première. All are surprisingly well equipped, featuring things like standard automatic transmissions, f lush door handles and LED matrix headlights.