The new DS 4 is full of Gallic flair

The new rival for C-sector cars and crossovers can put its strong presence down not to its size but its proportions, and in particular its body-to-wheel ratio. Those wheels really are 20-inches, same as a Range Rover. The 20s might be optional but standard wheel size is still 19-inches.

When combined with its emotive body shape with its steeply sloping rear window, its 3D-effect grille, distinctive light shapes and generally expensive-looking details like flush door handles, this new 4.4m-long five-door is “memorably imposing” – according to DS anyway, but we can see what they mean.

Inspiration for it comes from the DS Aero Sport Lounge concept car of a year ago. Despite this production version being based on a PSA group shared platform – one that also underpins Peugeot 3008 and Citroën C4 Picasso – design elements from the concept have been retained, making for what DS design chief Thierry Metroz calls a unique silhouette.

He tells us: “These proportions have never been seen before in this segment. The outline is athletic, very muscular, compact and sits on very large wheels. It’s turned out to be aerodynamic, efficient and charismatic all at once.”

Not bad then for a car that’s really more hatchback than crossover. At 1.47m tall it’s quite a bit shorter than most crossovers like the otherwise same-sized Nissan Qashqai. As well as the hatchback DS 4 there is a version called DS 4 Cross but they share the same body. The Cross only hints at SUV ability with black trim and a more sophisticated traction system with hill descent control. It hasn’t been jacked-up and it doesn’t have all-wheel-drive. There is also a DS 4 Performance Line version but like the Cross this is essentially just another trim level.

There is more variety under the bonnet. The EMP2 platform, 70 per cent of which is said to be new for this car says DS, has been designed to accept a variety of powertrains including a plug-in hybrid. This top DS 4 model combines a turbocharged 180PS (132kW) four-cylinder petrol engine with a 110PS (81kW) electric motor, for a combined 225PS (165kW). In zero emissions mode the batteries have enough juice to give an electric-only range of 30 miles on the WLTP test procedure.

Other engine options comprise 130, 180 and 225PS petrols – and for the diesel diehard, there’s a 130PS (96kW) oil-burner. Irrespective of engine, all come with an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

In keeping with DS’s stated mission to be avant-garde, the DS 4’s style is partnered by plenty of tech. Available features include a more user-friendly form of head-up display, a night vision system and an all-digital dash with new infotainment system and gesture control. There are also autonomous drive features that include adaptive cruise control with the ability to stop and restart in traffic jams, semi-automatic overtaking, speed adjustment for corners and a system that continually checks that the driver is awake.

Another DS priority is quietness and ride comfort, so expect plenty of what the firm calls “dynamic serenity” (rather than sporting dynamism, perhaps). Making sure those 20-inch wheels don’t destroy the calm is an active system of cameras that scans the road ahead in order to adapt the damping and get each wheel to smooth out the bumps.

And the cabin itself? DS describes it as calm and uncluttered and it appears that way, with an openness to it and with the hi-tech stiff largely hidden away – even the air vents are invisible. There are touch screens, ambient lighting and an air purifier. For trim and materials, think very DS things like Nappa leather, Alcantara, Clous de Paris guilloche, ash wood and watchstrap-pattern upholstery – in the best versions at least. It’s all in keeping with what DS likes to think of as a hand-crated interior (it obviously isn’t).

What it is, is very recyclable. DS says the whole car is made of 95 per cent reusable materials with 30 per cent of its weight made from renewable or recycled materials. The dashboard is made of 20 per cent hemp.

Taken as a whole, the new DS 4 appears a big step up on the older, smaller DS 3 Crossback and in a different world from the underwhelming, and short lived, DS 4 Crossback of a few years ago. But if you like the cut of its jib, you will have to wait until deliveries begin in the autumn.