Motor Verso: Citroen DS4 DSport HDi 160 7 Day Diary

Following 7 days with the Citroen DS4 DSport HDi 160, here are my experiences from the week.

Day 1 – Citroen DS4 DSport HDi 160 - Let’s See It

Setting eyes on the Citroen DS4 DSport for the first time was a nice surprise. The DS4 DSport is one of the most well designed exciting hatchbacks you can buy at the moment.

The exterior design of the DS4 is fantastic. The body is extremely curvaceous, bulging up around the wheel arches, and the front of the car has a big sharply designed grill, showing off the Citroen badge.

Being the premium DSport edition, the car comes with very stylish 19″ wheels. Which are one of the best sets of wheels I have seen on any car in a while, not to mention a daily-drive Citroen.

Day 2 – Driving the DSport

The DS4 on test is powered by a 2.0-litre diesel engine that creates 163bhp and 340Nm of torque, it uses a 6 speed automatic gearbox, which puts the power to the front wheels. The driving experience is very exciting for two reasons, firstly the diesel engine packs a good punch because of that 340Nm of torque, and secondly the uprated suspension that the DSport is fitted with gives the car a solid sporty feel, and is just as much fun to drive as its baby brother; the DS3 DSport.

Taking the DS4 out for an evening photo-shoot was a great opportunity to study the details on the car. As with all of the DS range, there is a wide array of customisable options, and the DS4 on test was fitted with a custom roof design, which really makes it stick out from the rest of the cars on the road.

Day 3 – City Driving

Taking the car to the office, through central Birmingham, was a great opportunity to see how well it works in town, and I’m delighted to say that it was pretty good. My favourite aspect about this car is the engine; it has great performance when you put your foot down, but it is also really economic at the same time. Even driving in town it was difficult to drop the mpg below 40mpg. The automatic gearbox works really well, whether you’re stopping and starting in traffic, or cruising nicely on the open road. You can see that the car certainly looks the part parked up in town as well.

When it comes to tight manoeuvring, although it is a reasonable size, the DS4 is no bother to squeeze around tight car parks or switch lanes in dense traffic. The visibility is reasonably good from the driver’s seat, and the DS4 DSport comes with a Blind Spot Monitoring System which lights an LED on either wing mirror when a car is detected in your blind spot. This a very good piece of technology and works very well on the road.

Day 4 – What do others think of the DS4?

After a few days with the DS4 I became very comfortable with the car and it met all of my needs well… it looks good, it’s fun to drive and the boot is big enough for everything I need to carry. But I am always interested to see what others think of the cars I have on test. Discussing the car with a few friends, they we impressed with the exterior design of the Citroen and commented on how up to date the styling was. This is proof of how the DS range has lifted the Citroen brand to a very desirable place.

Day 5 – On the inside

As I commonly say, sitting in traffic is a great opportunity to check out the interior of a car. So during my Friday commute home, I took time to look more closely at the DS4 interior and, as it turns out, inside the DS4 is a great place to be.

Getting into the DS4 you step over some very nicely designed sill-plates, seen below. And once inside you will find yourself sitting on some very sporty black and red leather seats. Look a bit closer and you will notice that both seats are heated and have electrically operated massaging systems, so sitting in the DSport is not a bad place to be at all.

The rest of the dash in very well designed. The centre piece of the dashboard is the large media display screen, which is controlled by the buttons underneath. It didn’t take me long to figure out what they all do, and everything works very nicely without unnecessary complication.

Day 6 – Photoshoot inn the Sun

We planned a photo-shoot in Derby for the DS4 DSport. Off up the motorway Ross Jukes and I went, making good use of a few of the DS4 features – cruise control, air conditioning, & massaging seats, it was a very pleasant journey.

We must have been out, going from location to location, for around 5 hours and travelled over 130 miles, all on less than a quarter of a tank of fuel. I was very impressed indeed with the economy of the engine.

I spent most of the time moving the car from point to point with the air conditioning on full blast, whilst Ross stood in the sun getting frazzled looking for the perfect shot. Not a bad deal for me at all.

From the pictures you can see how impressive the car looks, both parked up, and also on the move. Citroen have created a really unique looking car here.

Day 7 – What have I learned?

The DS4 is a tremendous package, and there is a lot to learn about this car. Some of the cool and more unusual features include; the interior light in the boot which can be removed and used as an always-charged touch, the sun visors which hide a panoramic windscreen, so when they are slid back it gives you even more visibility in front of you, and the electric handbrake which is automatically applied when you turn the ignition off, this removes the chance of any roll away accidents. There are loads of good features like these in and around the car.

Summary – Another Great Funky Citroen

I was very sad to see the DS4 DSport go. Overall I was very impressed with the economy and performance of the diesel engine, and also how enjoyable the car was to drive. I love the uniqueness of the styling of the DS4, and the 19″ wheels, for me, just perfected the look.