DS 4 Tense 225 PHEV UK review

There’s not much wrong with a BMW 1 Series, Mercedes A-Class or Audi A3. If you’re after a posh VW Golf-sized hatchback, there’s every chance one of those will fit your needs. But when they litter every residential street – the A-Class has been Britain’s tenth best selling car so far in 2022 – you’d be forgiven for wanting something a bit different, something like the DS 4.

With a focus on being French, comfortable and slightly alternative, the DS 4 fills a very clear theoretical gap in the market. Time will tell whether that will translate to actual sales but to do that, the DS4 will also need to simply be a competitive product.

Mechanically there are few surprises. The DS 4 rides on the EMP2 platform, just like the majority of the larger ex-PSA Stellantis cars including the Peugeot 308, Peugeot 508, Vauxhall Astra, Vauxhall Grandland X and the larger DS 9.

That means the DS 4 gets the usual selection of petrol, and plug-in hybrid powertrains, as well as a diesel option. Depending on which trim level you go for, there are 178 and 221bhp versions of the 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol, a 129bhp 1.2-litre triple and a 1.5-litre diesel with 129bhp. All come with an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

DS is heavily pushing electrification, so the current range-topper is the E-Tense 225, which uses the familiar combination of a 178bhp 1.6 (the same unit as in the PureTech 180) and an electric motor. In 2024, a pure-electric version will join the range.

We drove the plug-in hybrid, whose powertrain is as smooth and powerful as it is in other applications, and at an official 35 miles (or about mid-20s in the real world) its pure-electric range is on par with the competition.

There is plenty else to like about the DS4. It plays the comfort card well – mostly. Our test car had adaptive dampers with three settings. Comfort modes offers one of the softest long-wave rides you’ll find in a hatchback and even sport is still very pliant indeed. Being a modern car with big alloy wheels, though, it still can’t perfectly cocoon you from pothole impacts, despite the supposed ability of the 'ActiveScan' suspension to prime the suspension for upcoming potholes.

The latest generation of DSs are defiantly unsporty, with lots of body roll and light steering, but given the ride comfort stacks up, that’s absolutely fine.