Written by Alan Taylor-Jones and Graham King Updated: 21 February 2025

Welcome to the Parkers long-term test of the DS 4. On this page you’ll read about our experience with this stylish, left-field premium hatchback, exploring what it’s like to live with day-to-day.

Tested by Graham King

Report 1: Style and comfort make a strong first impression

Is there another mid-size hatchback as stylish as the DS 4? I don’t think there is. The Stellantis brand that started life as a premium offshoot of Citroen has always put a heavy emphasis on design, as the original DS 3 showed. Some of its cars haven’t been a resounding success in design terms, but at least they were interesting when so many similar cars disappeared into the background.

This latest DS 4 is one of the better efforts. The car’s shape is entirely conventional, but it’s enlivened with lots of interesting details, both inside and out, such as the L-shaped daytime running lights that look like they were sword-slashed into the front bumper. But is there substance behind the style? That’s what we’re going to find out in this long-term test.

On paper, it looks like the DS 4 could be the perfect car for me. I don’t have kids, so a big car is unnecessary. But I like a four-seater with a decent boot for those occasions I need to transport extra people and/or a lot of stuff. Most of my journeys are long motorway hauls, so I value comfort and efficiency. But I also like a car that can cut loose on a country road. Will it live up to expectations?

What flavour of DS 4 is it?

This bluey-grey Night Flight-coloured DS 4 has come to us fitted with Stellantis’ Hybrid 136 powertrain. DS describes it as having a self-charging motor but it’s actually more of a mild-hybrid-plus, if you will. The system only has a small 48-volt battery and the motor is really just there to boost power when accelerating. The system also helps the engine deal with some of the electrical load. It’s all supposed to aid fuel economy; we’ll find out if it does.

The engine itself is a 1.2-litre, three-cylinder, turbocharged petrol unit with a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox. I have extensive experience of this powertrain in the Citroen C5 Aircross and Vauxhall Grandland and wasn’t especially impressed. Will it make a better impression here?

As for trim level, it’s the top-grade Étoile – Nappa Leather. Spec highlights include, as the name suggests, ultra-plush Nappa ‘Opera’ leather upholstery in rather handsome Criollo Brown, electrically adjustable and heated front seats, heated steering wheel, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity, Matrix LED headlights, and a head-up display.

On top of that, we’ve also got the Absolute Comfort Pack which includes an opening glass sunroof, hands-free boot opening and Focal stereo; and the Absolute Tech Pack which includes speed limit responsive adaptive cruise control, rear cross-traffic alert, 360-degree reversing monitor, DS logo puddle lights and a wireless phone charging pad.

Add that lot together, and the cost comes to £41,455, which seems like pretty good value given the ‘kitchen sink’ kit list. However, the options tip the price into ‘expensive car’ territory for vehicle excise duty. Do those options add enough to justify a VED bill of (currently) £600 per year from the car’s first through sixth birthdays? We’ll find out in due course.

Mixed first impressions

My first acquaintance with any car I pick up from the Parkers office is a two hour-plus drag up the A1 to North Yorkshire. It’s a stern test for any car as all I want to do is get home quickly, comfortably and as unirritated as possible. The DS 4 hits some marks and misses others.

What are the hits? It’s immediately comfortable and easy to find a driving position that suits me. The climate control is powerful and controlled by buttons. The heated seats and steering wheel are toasty. My phone syncs to the infotainment system immediately, and the wireless charger works first time. The interior is nice and light with the sunroof blind rolled back (I’ve left it there). The stereo is fantastic.

What are the misses? The powertrain isn’t especially responsive, though more so than the infotainment which is borderline infuriating. As is the adaptive cruise control system, though I’ve yet to meet one I get on with. I have some reservations about ride quality and refinement, and the digital instrument display. The adaptive LED headlights don’t seem a massive improvement on conventional units, either.

At this stage, there are more positives than negatives, but we’ll see if that remains the case over the next few months. More soon.    

Report 2: digging into the details

In the first report on my DS 4 long-term test car, I suggested that it’s the most stylish mid-size hatchback on the market. I stand by that and, the more time I spend with it, the more design details and flourishes I see.

It’s little things. Like the headlights glowing pink when you unlock the car. The triangular motif in the rear lights. The sunburst on the Etoile bonnet badge. The textured stereo volume controller. The ‘watch strap’ leather upholstery.

There are some less successful elements. Like the window switches mounted high on the door. And the touchscreen on the centre console. It’s used to navigate a shortcut screen on the infotainment system – I’ve found it entirely pointless.

In clumsier hands, the design could look fussy. But there’s finesse that ties all the details together. I think it looks great. And staying with the good stuff, the Focal stereo sounds fantastic.

Without changing the levels, everything I play sounds crisp, bright and punchy. And the steering wheel is a brilliant traffic jam drum kit, producing a solid, resonant sound without hurting my hands.

Getting some miles under its belt

The DS 4 arrived a couple of weeks before Christmas, which I spent criss-crossing northern England. The weather was mostly absolutely foul but the DS sailed through without complaint.

If anything, it’s getting more comfortable as the driver’s seat beds in, and the suspension provides a generally smooth ride. It does become harsh on really rough surfaces, but not unpleasantly so. More seriously, holes and scars in the road surface can move the back end of the car several inches to the side. It still goes where you’re pointing it, but it’s an unpleasant feeling.

As is what happens if you go into a corner a bit too quickly. As you turn the steering, the car’s weight shifts to the outside front tyre, and you feel both front tyres lose a bit of grip. it’s not dangerous in any way and you can eliminate by going a bit slower but, again, it’s an unpleasant feeling. By comparison, the Ford Focus and VW Golf are much more poised in their handling.

I mentioned previously that I have extensive experience of the DS 4’s Hybrid 136 powertrain in other cars. This is the best installation of it yet. Compared to the other cars, the engine is quieter and the hybrid system operates more smoothly. It also has useful EV capability when the battery is fully charged, being able to cover a few hundred yards without the engine in stop-start traffic and car parks.

While I can pick holes in the driving experience, the DS 4 is ultimately a lovely car for hammering out the miles in. Over the Christmas period, I did 1,500 miles on many types of road and enjoyed every one of them.

Report 3: practical matters

The DS 4’s boot is bigger than it looks. There is 430 litres of space which is more than you’ll find in pretty much any other mid-size hatchback – BMW 1 series, VW Golf and so on.

There are some usability issues. The loading lip on top of the rear bumper is quite high up and there’s a sizeable drop down to the boot floor. There’s an equally big step when the back seat is folded, as well. All which makes loading more effort than it really should be. But it’s amazing how much stuff you can get in there.

With a spare room full of cardboard to take to the tip, I folded the back seats down and took out the parcel shelf. Yet it all went in the boot under the shelf, much to my amazement. Similarly, everything my partner and I needed for a few days away went in with room to spare – we don’t pack light.

Unfortunately, such generous boot space demands compromise in a relatively compact car and the back seat made it. There’s plenty of headroom and it’s broad enough to accommodate two adults, but legroom is very tight. At five-foot-nine, I only just fit behind my driving position. A bulky Isofix child seat wouldn’t fit at all. Really, this is a car for couples who only occasionally have extra passengers – which suits me just fine.

Irksome infotainment

The DS 4’s infotainment system can be borderline infuriating. Let me paint a picture. I get in the car and turn it on. About 15 seconds later, the screen comes to life. Do create a profile for yourself, or you’ll be forever rejecting the option to do so, the button for which itself takes about three seconds to respond.

I press the climate control shortcut button on the dashboard. The screen appears. I set the temperature – one increment at a time, don’t press the button again until the number changes. Then press the seat heating button and wait for that screen to appear.

But before it does, Android Auto kicks in and the screen switches to that, so I have to go back to the climate screen, then press the seat heating button again. Then I press the driver assist button on the dashboard to turn off the lane keeping assist and speed limit warning (both very annoying).

The whole rigmarole takes about a minute. In the VW ID.7 I drove recently, it took about 20 seconds. Finding other features in the infotainment is as good as impossible; the head-up display disappeared after a few weeks and I’ve yet to work out how to get it back. Stellantis badly needs a new system.

But let’s not end on a negative note. I recently discovered a version of Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb from their 1994 Pulse tour. It’s transcendent and sounds utterly amazing on the DS 4’s stereo.

Report 4: fuel economy concerns

This DS 4 may be marketed as a hybrid, but it’s not a ‘true’ hybrid. It’s actually a mild-hybrid with an extra battery-powered electrical system that deals with some of the car’s power demands, for instance starting the engine. The idea is to improve fuel economy, but does it work?

In theory, yes. The official WLTP figures show the DS 4 is capable of 54.3mpg with this Hybrid 136 powertrain. With a straight PureTech petrol engine, that number drops to 48.3mpg. In practice, though, I seem to be stuck in the high-30s to low-40s range – no matter how I drive. For this type of car, that’s really not good enough. By comparison, I achieved 54mpg in a petrol Skoda Octavia without trying.

I’ve noticed the DS 4 does something odd for a car with an automatic – alright, dual-clutch – gearbox. I use the A1 a lot, and it has a lot of very short sliproads that demand flooring the throttle to get up to speed. Do that from first gear and the engine slams into the rev limiter before changing into second. Automatics really should be quicker-witted than that.

More positively, and perhaps against expectations for a French car, the DS 4 hasn’t given me a moment’s concern about reliability. Some of the interior materials feel a bit tinny, but everything’s very solidly built – apart from the floppy rear seat arm rest. So far, there hasn’t been any hint of an impending electrical meltdown or mechanical failure, and nothing’s fallen off. I’m never in doubt that it’ll start first thing in the morning or fail to get me home.

Famous last words.