Classy new Citroën DS 5 moves up the gears
Given the company’s stellar history as a design and engineering innovator, it is undoubtedly in a better place than either of its fellow French manufacturers, Renault or Peugeot, to try and muscle in on the exclusive end of a segment dominated by German and British brands.
Since its inception, Citroën has dared to be different and followed a stubbornly individualistic path which has earned it both the undying love of many fans, and the complete opprobrium of many more who simply don’t get or could not be bothered by the firm’s steadfast uniqueness.
There have been many highs and lows in the Citroën manifest down the years, but the company is now headed on a new and untrodden path into the luxury car stratosphere and, in fairness, is completely aware that the transformation is not going to succeed overnight.
Indeed, Citroën has asserted it will take two full model cycles — around 15 years or so — to fully impact on the luxury/executive buying public and to start taking sales from the likes of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar. So, the introduction of its new sub-brand DS Automobiles is not expected to transform the company overnight.
I have already spoken in these columns about this whole re-branding issue at the company and was not, it has to be said, terribly impressed by what has to date been a pretty shambolic mish-mash of intent, cross-breeding the existing but very downtrodden Citroën brand and the new DS name.
The introduction of the original DS 5 in 2011 promised to something which was an expression of French style and luxury but, confusingly, rather than demonstrating a complete break with its Citroën roots, it still bore the twin chevron emblem which identified the car’s lineage. The subsequent appearance of such as the DS 3 and DS 4 models, both still with Citroën branding, further muddied the waters.
Now, however, we have the first standalone DS model which is badged only as a DS product and, having given it a week-long once-over recently, led us to a number of conclusions.
Firstly, it is not a bad first stab at the luxury genre; not bad but not fully there yet. And, secondly, that Citroën was not being naive when giving itself a 15 year timescale to allow this new breed to fully match the expectations of its’ target market.
The original DS 5 was critically mauled in many regards, not least for its ride and handling, both of which were grim.
In short, the car was widely panned for failing to be the engineering tour de force which the original 1955 DS had so obviously been. It didn’t exactly have the iconic looks of the great car either.
Thus we move on to the second generation DS 5 and in this case, everything has moved up a gear and we can see definite signs of a luxury motor hovering into view as the manufacturer, sensibly, took on board the many criticisms thrown at their first effort.
First up, it looks great. The original car was very pleasing on the eye, but the design people have added a few new, stylish and elegant touches to the new one and added substance to the unusual hatch/sports estate/coupe blend which defined the 2011 version.
And they have cleverly incorporated some of the styling cues from Citroëns past and you can see echoes of such as the SM, the XM and others lurking in the shadows here.
It is really good looking in an executive sort of a way, with neatly understated sophistication and that certain chic avant-garde Frenchness which certainly underlines a unique appeal.
On the engine front too, things have been enhanced. The new BlueHDi two litre turbodiesel is a revised version of the older engine which has been adapted to produce more grunt and less crap.
The adoption of the Adblue system, whereby urea is injected in order to lessen Nitrous Oxide output (similar that used by several German manufacturers, but not VW, obviously), as well as a heavily revised exhaust design has reduced emission levels to just 114 g/km.
Power output is up considerably to 180 bhp and, in tandem with a new six speed auto ‘box, things are now a lot less fraught under the hood. The drivetrain delivers a very smooth and flexible drive with plenty of torque available across the range. Top speed is just over 225 kph and the 0-100 kph dash is achieved in 9.5 seconds, while the car will also produce an economy figure of 4.4 l/100 km (62.8 mpg).
On the suspension front, the new shock absorbers and revised damping have certainly evened the ride out considerably, even if it is still on the jiggly side when presented with your standard Irish B-road. But it is a lot better than previously, although not yet at the wafty level many German rivals consider the norm.
The manufacturer has waffled on a lot about the ‘aerospace’ nature of the cockpit, but a lot of the cant is nothing more that the imaginative ramblings of a creative copywriter.
Even so, the cabin is an extremely pleasant place to be and features such as the panoramic roof with electric blinds are touches you won’t find everywhere. This end of things is classic French design and will please any genuine connoisseur.
The new DS 5 is not then, the ultimate driving experience — or anything like it, for that matter — but it is much classier than its predecessor, and is now a more convincing buying prospect as a result. But is it set to crack the Anglo-German stranglehold on this end of the market? Well, no, but it is certainly getting closer.
COLLEY VERDICT
from €36,045 - €44,345 as tested in ‘1955 Limited Edition’ format.
a strong new unit here with enhanced power and economy.
no shortage of French élan and flair here and bags of safety and security kit too.
Definitely going in the right direction.
