My 24 hour test drive in the new Citroen DS4...

harveybobbles

Well I collected it at 10.30am.

1.6e HDi 110 Semi Auto(6), Stop Start Dstyle with 398 miles on the clock.

Good points:

Love the amount of power/torque the 1.6 diesel has.

Front visability is very good.

Front parking sensors come on automatically.

Spec is very good - dual climate, works very well.

Massaging front seats with lumbar.

Black headlining.

Stereo is very good.

Steering wheel isn't as daft as it was in the C4. But still too many buttons.

Looooooads of storage space up front for keys, bottles and other crap that I carry.

Huge boot with flat folding seats.

Brilliant turning circle.


Comedy point:

You can change the sound of the indicators from the usual tick/tock to some really cool sounds.


Bad points:

B pillars are quite intrusive.

C pillars are very intruslive and limit your view.

Rear windows are fixed - on a 5 door. Whats that all about...?!
Not good for rear passengers who like to have air or feel claustrophobic - which can be made worse by the black headlining.

Shape of rear wheel arch means that if the car is dirty, your rear passengers get dirty trousers/skirts when getting out of the car.


REALLY BAD POINT:

The Semi auto is totally crap! It doesnt 'creep' like a normal auto does. Which is annoying in traffic. As is the Stop Start (which thankfully can be turned off)

- stick it into auto mode and the car holds back/lifts off like a manual box when changing gear. I tried differedt driving styles - flooring it thru the gears, driving like there is a box of eggs on the bonnet. It just made no difference to how the gearbox changed gears.

Approaching a roundabout was somewhat dangerous, as the car dropped from 4th into 2nd (which is ok in a normal auto) but in this thing it decided that it then wanted 1st, but as you were accellerating over the roundabout it had a think about if it wanted 2nd gear now, or perhaps in a moment or two...


Verdict:

All in all an excellent car. Very comfy for long trips (I've racked up just shy of 200 miles today)

Very economical - on the motorway the instantaneous mpg was close to 80! On my 200 miles I have averaged 58mpg. I can imagine this car getting close to 70mpg as an overall average once it's been run in etc.

But Citroen, please drop this gearbox. It's bleedin awful...!

s_b

Rear windows are fixed - on a 5 door. Whats that all about...?!
Not good for rear passengers who like to have air or feel claustrophobic - which can be made worse by the black headlining.

read this in a review and thought at the time how barmy
you confirm it
it was said it reminded them of a black maria, once in the back you is in for keeps
wouldnt want to have travel sickness either
i remember it was over £20,000 too?

i still like citroens though
quirky as ever:)

good review too

Keith

Does it corner like a boat like the C4?

oldagetraveller

Sounds like it's similar to a Toyota MMT type 'box. If so ,then it will be total crap!
"Approaching a roundabout was somewhat dangerous, as the car dropped from 4th into 2nd (which is ok in a normal auto) but in this thing it decided that it then wanted 1st, but as you were accellerating over the roundabout it had a think about if it wanted 2nd gear now, or perhaps in a moment or two..."
In fact that could be a description of exactly what the MMT does amongst other silly things.

jase1

s_b wrote: »

i still like citroens though
quirky as ever:)

:rotfl:

So this "character" that all French cars are supposed to have is achieved in the latest one by not bothering to put winders on the windows?

This might be the greatest car in the world for all I know, but really that is hilarious :T

harveybobbles

I just went on the Citroen website and "built" this car and it was 22k.

The rear windows not opening didn't bother me personally, but when my Mother in Law sits in the back of my car she likes to have the window down an inch or two.

As for the cornering comment - it handled very good, even on its 18 inch wheels.
Only thing that niggled me was where two types of tarmac join up, it twitched a little if this was on a bend.

harveybobbles

Yes, it is due to the shape of the rear doors.

Called at my parents before to drop them off for their usual Friday night meal/drinks at their local pub. Made mum sit in the back to see if she struggles getting out and she hated it cos of the wheel arch. Dad said it was "like a bleedin space ship with all them there buttons..."

Just put another 76 miles on it with some night time driving.

The led roof lighting isn't very bright. Nor does it do much. Unlike other cars with similar submarine/mood lighting.

Flyboy152

harveybobbles wrote: »

The Semi auto is totally crap! It doesnt 'creep' like a normal auto does. Which is annoying in traffic. As is the Stop Start (which thankfully can be turned off)

- stick it into auto mode and the car holds back/lifts off like a manual box when changing gear. I tried differedt driving styles - flooring it thru the gears, driving like there is a box of eggs on the bonnet. It just made no difference to how the gearbox changed gears.

Approaching a roundabout was somewhat dangerous, as the car dropped from 4th into 2nd (which is ok in a normal auto) but in this thing it decided that it then wanted 1st, but as you were accellerating over the roundabout it had a think about if it wanted 2nd gear now, or perhaps in a moment or two...

But to be fair, it isn't really a semi-automatic transmission, it is a semi-manual gearbox, something quite different.

Flyboy152

harveybobbles wrote: »

Yes, it is due to the shape of the rear doors.

Called at my parents before to drop them off for their usual Friday night meal/drinks at their local pub. Made mum sit in the back to see if she struggles getting out and she hated it cos of the wheel arch. Dad said it was "like a bleedin space ship with all them there buttons..."

Just put another 76 miles on it with some night time driving.

The led roof lighting isn't very bright. Nor does it do much. Unlike other cars with similar submarine/mood lighting.

I am presuming Mum and Dad are pre-war models.

harveybobbles

Mum is 67 and dad is 70 h'actually.

I have just over two hours until I have to return the DS4 so I'm now off to pop some more miles on it...

But to be fair, it isn't really a semi-automatic transmission, it is a semi-manual gearbox, something quite different.

What ever it is, it's rubbish!

bigjl

Is the gearbox the same as in the larger C4 Picasso?

I had considered one. But the CMax and Scenic have a normal auto. The creep.function is handy to keep the journey smooth in heavy traffic.