This article is more than 1 year old

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

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

Forget that 0-60 nonsense

My test car came fitted with the most anemic engine in the DS5 line-up, the 120bhp 1.6L BlueHDi turbo-diesel. It’s not an engine for the speed freak and can get to 62mph only in a rather leisurely 12.7 seconds though that is more down to the gearing than the absolute absence of power. But only men having midlife crises and spotty 18-year olds worry about 0-60 times.

As turbo-diesels go it’s both refined and tractable and thanks to a very slick six-speed manual gearbox, light clutch and a healthy dollop of torque (there’s 221lb-ft available from 1,740rpm) you can bundle the DS5 down the road with much more urgency than the numbers suggest. And you'll save money while doing it.

Even if you drive it like an nitwit you’ll never get much less than 50mpg. On longer runs I regularly managed over 65mpg. Granted that’s short of the official extra-urban figure of 78.5 but still not bad for a car of this size. With a 13-gallon fuel tank the DS5 has an easy 800-mile range, wholly in keeping with its GT-esque pretentious. Assuming you believe such figures the DS5 pumps out 104g/km of CO2.

If you want to get from A to B faster you can always choose the 150bhp or 180bhp diesel models or the Hybrid4 version which combines a 2.0L turbo-diesel engine at the front with a 20bhp electric motor at the rear to give you four-wheel drive and low speed electric-only motoring. There’s also a 165bhp petrol turbo though as with the most powerful diesel you have to make do with an automatic gearbox.

Not a Citroen badge in sight at the back

Not a Citroen badge in sight at the back

The Reg Verdict

Is Citroën’s plan to make DS the Audi to its Volkswagen going to work? It just might you know. The DS5 is stylish, well made, well equipped, a pleasure to drive and with the entry level turbo-diesel engine very economical. And it has the added benefit of not being German. The problem is one of nomenclature. Will people ever reply, when asked what they drive, “a DS 5” rather than “a Citroën DS5”? I’m not sure. But it’s a darned sight more likely than people saying “a Vignale” rather than “a flash Ford Mondeo”.

Summary Stylish five-door estate-cum-coupe crossover with oodles of Gallic chic, a refined and efficient 1.6L turbo diesel engine, impressive build-quality and not a Citroën badge in sight.

Price: OTR from £25,980. As tested £29,080. More info can be found here.

More about

More about

More about

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like