CITROEN DS4 HATCHBACK 1.6 VTI 16V DSIGN 5DR

Citroen's five-door DS4 is a family hatch that's anything but ordinary. Jonathan Crouch reports.

CITROEN DS4 HATCHBACK 1.6 VTI 16V DSIGN 5DR

Known as 'The Goddess', Citroen's original DS saloon was for many, one of the most beautiful cars ever. Now both initials and the design commitment live again with the DS4, a premium five-door hatch targeting customers that'll be new to the French marque.

CITROEN DS4 HATCHBACK 1.6 VTI 16V DSIGN 5DR

By launching (or rather re-launching) the DS brand, Citroen are telling the world that they're back on their own unique styling path and are proud to be there. Many of the models bearing the famous double-chevron badge that we've seen in the last twenty years have been Peugeot clones, leading fans of the marque to mourn for the days when Citroens like the original Sixties DS were the epitome of French motoring chic. But those days look like they may be returning, thanks to a re-launch of a new stream of individualistic models bearing those famous two letters.

This is the second car in Citroen's DS generation. First came the Citroen C3-based DS3, a premium compact Hatch that has made many MINI and Alfa MiTo buyers think again. Now we've the next chapter in this saga, the Citroen C4 family hatch-based DS4. Not that you would know the humble Focus class underpinnings of this car. Though there's mostly nothing especially exciting under the bonnet, its smart nose, curvy flanks, sharply angled rear hatch, panoramic windscreen, distinctive 'muscle' bulges over the front and rear wheels and hidden 'Alfa'-style rear door handles all speak of something much more up-market.

The DS4 is not just a display of the new-found confidence Citroen has in its designs but is also an acknowledgement that in the Focus sector, style, looks and panache are increasingly important. Honda's current Civic arguably started the trend away from the five-door family hatch clones that almost every maker was producing until just a few years ago, leading to designs as avant garde as Alfa Romeo's Giulietta. Even the latest Vauxhall Astra and Ford Focus generations have had to adopt a far more fashionable look. The DS4 takes this whole trend another step further on.

CITROEN DS4 HATCHBACK 1.6 VTI 16V DSIGN 5DR

Slightly more compact than the C4 it's based on, the DS4 is 60mm shorter, 20mm wider and, in an effort to inject some 'Crossover' personality, 40mm taller. Citroen say that the resulting package manages to be more stable on the move, making the driver feel as if "they have the road at their fingertips." That ambition is backed up through the use of a MacPherson-type suspension set up at the front, and a flexible transverse beam at the rear, with hydraulic power steering.

The engine range is wide and flexible and all units meet the most stringent Euro 5 emissions requirements. Most will choose a 1.6, with diesel drivers selecting between 110 and 160bhp HDi powerplants. Then there are three 1.6-litre petrol options, co-developed with BMW, the 120bhp VTi sitting under two engines that give Peugeot's RCZ sportscar its bite, the 155bhp and 200bhp THP units, the latter serving up a meaty 275Nm of torque. All engines give the option of either Citroen's six-speed electronic transmission alongside a more conventional manual alternative.

CITROEN DS4 HATCHBACK 1.6 VTI 16V DSIGN 5DR

While it looks like a three-door coupe, this is in fact a genuine five-door hatch. The panoramic windscreen extends backwards into the roof and the dimensions and its styling give the car a compact and muscular look. There's a modest power bulge feel in the shape of the bonnet and further purposeful bulges over all four wheels, while a waist-height crease flows backwards from front arches which house wheels of up to 19-inches in size. The steeply raked roof drops away to the rear hatch with its subtle spoiler to give coupe-like sporty edginess. What else? Well, the striking and constantly illuminated LED front fog lights which have become a design signature of the DS brand. Plus rear lights that take up a boomerang theme, running horizontally before contouring down. Further design flourishes include chrome detailing on the rear bumper.

Inside the leather-lined cabin, the driver faces an array of smart chrome-rimmed dials and a sculpted, contoured dashboard. Premium touches include embossed leather door handles, plenty of chrome detailing and cool ambient lighting. Far more attention has been paid to build quality and refinement too, to match this up-market feel. Then there's that panoramic windscreen, offering front occupants a 45-degree view upwards and giving the cabin a real feeling of light and airiness also enjoyed by those in the back seats. And talking of the rear, there's proper space for two adults there - or three at a squash. Plus a boot behind of 370-litres, larger than that in rivals like VW's Golf or Alfa Romeo's Giulietta.

CITROEN DS4 HATCHBACK 1.6 VTI 16V DSIGN 5DR

With DS4s being priced from around the £20,000 mark, this Citroen isn't cheap - but then neither is its value proposition. And neither indeed are obvious rivals. Check out not only avant garde contenders like Alfa's Giulietta but plusher versions of more familiar family hatches like Volkswagen's Golf, Ford's Focus and Vauxhall's Astra and you'll find that they all retail at this kind of money. As do the nicest versions of Crossover Nissan Qashqai-class cars. In contrast, the DS4 offers something that little bit different and could even steal sales from premium hatches like Audi's A3 and BMW's 1 Series.

There are a whole series of unique features which the French brand hopes will hook potential buyers in the showroom. The top-flight sound system developed for this model for example, featuring what Citroen call 'effective soundscaping', with sound distributed evenly around the cabin. The air conditioning offers three different levels from soft to intense, and even the light colours on the instrument panel can be fine-tuned to your taste from white through to blue. For enhanced vision in difficult conditions, the front fog lamps provide extra light to boost visibility by up to 75 degrees when the vehicle is turning. Plus there's also a Blind Spot alert system to tell drivers of vehicles they might not see in their mirrors as well as a programmable cruise control with speed limiter. This DS4 can even think for you. Should the worst happen and for some reason, the car is immobilised, Citroen's eTouch Assistance System will manually - or automatically - call the emergency services.

CITROEN DS4 HATCHBACK 1.6 VTI 16V DSIGN 5DR

None of the DS4's engines are especially thirsty or dirty, even the powerful THP 200 petrol unit putting out a reasonable 149g/km of CO2. If fuel economy really is a priority, the 110bhp HDI diesel comes in 'micro-hybrid' form with integrated Stop/Start technology to automatically turn off the engine if you are stuck in traffic or at the lights. The resultant lower emissions also help with a lower road tax banding.

And there's 'FreeDrive', a customer support package aimed at taking all the worry and much of the cost out of ownership. It can be individually tailored to include everything from servicing and maintenance, MOT testing, roadside breakdown and recovery - even replacement of wear and tear items like tyres.

CITROEN DS4 HATCHBACK 1.6 VTI 16V DSIGN 5DR

Citroen are on a charge and their DS models are in the vanguard. This DS4 may conceptually be an ordinary five-door Focus-sized family hatchback but it's been designed to make you feel like you've bought something much, much nicer. A car a world away from the standard Citroen C4 hatch upon which it's based.

The leather-trimmed cabin is spacious, the engines efficient and powerful and the technology impressive. Here then, is a car that, for the price of something plush and ordinary, delivers the extraordinary. Just as Citroen DS models always have.