DS5: Vive la différence ... oh, and throw away the Citroën badge

Stylish French sub-brand wants to steal Audi’s lunch money

Cabin fever

The cabin's very stylish and well screwed together if a little snug

It’s in the cabin where the designers have really had a field day. The window controls are all in the centre console while the head-up display and sunroof controls are directly above them in the overhead control panel.

This may not be the most obvious place but blimey it looks good. There was many an “Ooh!” and “Aah!” from passengers in the DS5.

HUD controls and DS assistance button in overhead console

Things look even better from the driver's seat. The three-pod LCD instrument binnacle is very à la mode and the seven-inch touch screen is much easier to use, both physically and in terms of the UI, than the systems I've encountered on recent Peugeot-Citroën models like the C4 Cactus and 308.

Not the obvious place for the window controls but it looks snazzy enough

The satnav worked well and I had no problem hooking up my Android phone via Bluetooth. It’s not all good news on the connectivity front though. The DS5 is yet another car that refused to let me connect over MirrorLink. What a shame Citroën didn’t early-adopt Android Auto and/or Apple CarPlay, both much more in keeping with the whole DS ethic.

The analogue clock is a stylish touch but I was slightly disappointed that the DS button in the roof console only connects you to a breakdown service. I’d rather hoped that when you pressed it some crêpes and coffee would emerge from the (very small) glove compartment.

As befits a semi-premium motor the DS5 is very well bolted together. In fact the build quality is a country mile away from the cheap and flimsy tat that Citroën was knocking out as recently as ten years ago.

All the doors, switches and buttons work with a reassuringly Germanic ‘thunk’ and everything that should be damped in a premium car is indeed damped. The leather watch-strap pattern seats are a perfect compromise between comfort and grip. My only small niggle is that the foot rest is just a little too high for my taste. I’ve noticed this on a few French cars. Are the French getting shorter?

Narrow rear window's not great for reversing, so the cameras are a worthwhile extra

Visibility is good rather than great. The split A-pillar lets you see what's afoot at the front but the narrow rear window can make it feel as though you are reversing an Atlantic Wall pill box. The reversing camera and parking sensor package is certainly a worthwhile £540 optional extra fit on the base Elegance models.

The first DS5 attracted much criticism for the harshness of its ride. A sin of Biblical proportions for anything with a Citroën badge on it. The ride was particularly bad on cars fitted with the optional 19-inch alloys though quite why anyone would specify drug dealer wheels and ultra low profile rubber on a Gallic boulevard cruiser is beyond me.

Thankfully, the new model suffers no such problems despite sitting on vin ordinare MacPherson struts at the front and independent trailing arms and coil springs at the back rather than anything related to the Paul Magès-designed hydropneumatic suspension of the original DS.

With the help of revised springs and dampers and, in the case of my review car, sensible 17-inch wheels, everything is now smooth and compliant. I wouldn't call it sporty. The DS5 is not, and is not supposed to be, a sports car, but the trade off between serene progress along Blighty's rough and ready motorways and agile handling on sweeping A and B-roads it’s just about spot on.

Hit the middle pedal hard and the DS5 pulls up in good order too, as befits the spiritual descendant of the first mass produced car to be fitted with disc brakes. In a tip of the hat to the original DS the headlamps of the DS5 steer with the wheels to help you peer around corners.

The 120bhp BlueHDi is the least powerful engine in the range, but it's very economical