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Price: £23,495
Engine: 1.6-litre 4cyl turbodiesel
Power: 118bhp
Transmission: Six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
0-62mph: 12.0 seconds
Top speed: 118mph
Economy: 72.4mpg
People often ask me what car they should buy. Well, here’s one you shouldn’t. Expensive, claustrophobic and ungainly, the DS 4 Crossback fails to impress in too many areas. In an age of continuous assessment, it’s astounding it ever made it on to the road let alone off the drawing board.
The main issue is that it doesn’t know what it is. It knows what it wants to be, but it hasn’t got there yet. You could say the same about the French rugby team: the gulf between ambition and execution yawns like a first-year undergraduate with a 9am lecture. Just as Toyota has Lexus and Nissan has Infiniti, so the DS is supposed to be the best of Citroën, repackaged and sold under the premium banner of the elegant marque that stole our hearts back in the 50s. But this, sir, is no DS. Last year the saloon version rolled out to a lukewarm reception; now we have the chunked-up Crossback. It is better than before, but the opposition still won’t be losing any sleep.
A “crossover” is a style that is hugely popular in the UK. We love its combination of hatchback handling and SUV practicality. But the Crossback hasn’t a chance against the leading lights offered by Mazda, Nissan, Skoda and Suzuki.
Citroën has always relished its reputation as a builder of quirky cars, but the Crossback is more weird misfit than likable oddball. The front looks bizarrely outsized and the hefty plastic wheel arches are just plain ugly. The large windscreen is impressive and the sweeping roofline is certainly attractive, but it’s paid for with some very cramped rear seats. And when you’re crouching in the back, don’t think about opening the windows, because you can’t. Incredibly, someone somewhere up the design chain decided that “sealed” windows were a good idea. Then, gasping for air as you stumble out, you have every chance of impaling yourself on the chrome-tipped triangle of the window.
Up front, there are further irritations. The pedals are set too far to the left so there isn’t enough room for your foot to rest beside the clutch. The dash is pleasantly soft to the touch, but unforgiving plastic abounds elsewhere. Remember, this is supposed to be a premium car – if it was 10 grand less, it wouldn’t be half so bad. The 1.6-litre diesel is efficient, if fidgety. It’s brilliantly economic, but there is little sense of refinement.
The irony, of course, is that DS’s two sister brands, Citroën and Peugeot, are bang on the money at the moment, with their Cactus and 308. Is it time for the DS to return to the fold?
Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter at @MartinLove166
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010
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DS 4 Crossback: car review
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