DS9 review (2022) – Welcome to the Champs-Elysées
French savoir-faire
Have you heard of the French luxury car syndrome? No matter how much you try to put forward cutting-edge technology in a very attractive package, the result is the same. Nothing can be done about it. On the painful subject of automotive luxury, the French are constantly flinching at the Germans. Is history repeating itself with this new DS9 freshly arrived from China?
Leather galore!
“Isn’t this classy?”. Like a sales agent experienced in negotiation, the gentleman delivering the vehicles from the press fleet gives me a hint before I even set foot on board. But he didn’t lie to me. When I discovered the object that I would be given for the week, my retina was inevitably attracted by the chromes here and there, doubled by the Cristal Pearl colour close to the white of Troyes. Classy was the word. You might even forget the obvious nods to the DS19: the chrome strip on the bonnet, the piping under the taillights and the lighting on the C-pillar are all elements used by the ancestor. The headlights, on the other hand, incorporate purple-accented modules that swivel when the vehicle is unlocked, while the flush door handles unfold as I approach. It’s just another way of greeting your humble servant.
Never mind the discretion, that’s for another time. And while we’re at it, the interior is just as striking: red nappa leather covers the seats, door panels, steering wheel and dashboard, complete with stitching. I wouldn’t have dared, especially as these goodies are the prerogative of the Opéra Rouge Rubis interior, which costs €5,250. As for the roof lining, it is generously covered with black Alcantara. Everything is silky smooth and you deliberately let yourself be taken in. Well done.
“The quality of the trim is truly impressive and proves once again the expertise of DS Automobiles in this field”
It is only when you start to look at the lower parts that you feel a bit of disappointment. The presence of hard plastics calms my enthusiasm and becomes difficult to forget at this level of the range. As for the rest, it’s a no-fault affair, even if it’s close to an overdose of special effects in places. At the back, the atmosphere is royal, in every sense of the word. The aforementioned Opéra atmosphere gives you the right to a soft central armrest with lounge headrests. Ideal for snoozing after giving Nestor the direction to follow.
And although all four seats are heated, massaged and ventilated, I quickly located the best seat thanks to a detail: a small button that allows the front passenger seat to be moved forward. By simple logic, we deduce that the seat everyone wants is at the right rear of the vehicle. At this point, you want more, always more! As a result, when I took an in-depth look at the rear, I found a problem. There is no screen on the back of the front seats! So take an iPad and a USB A cable (yes, the old-fashioned way again) for business trips…
“Ergonomics is not the DS9’s strong suit. Fingers inadvertently slide over the wrong button and activate a function you didn’t ask for. Frustrating!”
And while we’re on the subject of connectivity and infotainment, the DS9 unfortunately lags far behind. The menus are not intuitive, the reactivity is non-existent and the graphics are outdated. And it’s not the shortcuts in the form of touch buttons that will save the day. They are far too small and offer no feedback (neither haptic nor sound). What’s more, they disappear when the ignition is switched off. So you have to learn by heart the functions associated with each button, which is a shame! What’s even more absurd is that the ventilation controls necessarily go through the screen and become invisible in very bright sunlight. After all, playing hide and seek with the functions is fun and will allow Nestor to wait for the owner…
The power of zenitude
Something interesting happens when you turn the ignition on: the BRM watch swivels on top of the dashboard. After a week of use, it still makes an impression. First meters behind the wheel. As someone who is used to compact cars, I didn’t feel any heaviness at the wheel of the DS9. I have to say that the slim profile and relative lightness (1,839 kg for the E-Tense 250) of the large DS are quite deceiving. I’m not going to tell you that it drives like a city car either. While the turning circle is good, you have to watch out for its size in town, especially as the car’s 4.93 m makes it a little clumsy when you’re looking for a parking space. This is the perfect time to brandish the secret weapon known as the Park Assist. Steering, accelerator, brake, gear change, the DS9 takes care of everything.
Conclusion? Effective and terrifying. The car comes dangerously close to another vehicle. The radars get excited and the reversing camera – of poor quality by the way – signals an imminent collision. The DS brakes hard at the last moment, like a driving instructor with a strong hand on the controls. Phew! At night? The night vision system does its job, but it’s too sensitive in town and beeps constantly at the slightest pedestrian. And anyway, the headlights already illuminate well even if they don’t benefit from the matrix technology. The head-up display is also absent, betraying the close relationship between the DS9 and the Peugeot 508. The Citroën C5 X, on the other hand, has it, even though it is in the lower segment. What a pity…
Shaped for long trips?
To say that the DS9 was not born to rack up the miles would be a lie. Semi-autonomous driving? Check. Soundproofing? Good, thanks to the laminated glass. The seats? Unquestionably soft. The DS Active Scan Suspension? Marketing stuff! The car swallows bumps well and the sensation of floating on the motorway is real, but it doesn’t surpass a perfectly calibrated traditional damping system. Besides, the performance is decent although the engine is too present in the cabin in Sport mode with the accelerator fully depressed. The EAT8 gearbox then becomes jerky. Also, its rather small fuel tank (42 litres) limits its range and forces you to refuel often. This is all the more true as the car can start drinking thirstily if you drive a little nervously, which of course nobody will.
“With a few eco-driving techniques, I managed to cover 64 kilometres without using a drop of petrol”
What really surprises is the smoothness of the ride in electric mode, where the DS9 appears excessively docile. There is no desire to attack. You prefer to drive as long as possible in electric mode, even if it means driving below the speed limit. This woke up the butler in me. Exaggeration? Not at all! And we could even give lessons in common sense to the executive. We should make it compulsory to buy a DS9 to reduce road deaths and stop planting speed cameras all over the place. Just saying…
Reasonably expensive
I don’t see the point of buying an entry-level luxury car. Apart from the semantic oddity, you’ll feel like you’re paying full price for a product that isn’t finished. The DS9 starts at €48,700 in Performance Line + with a 225 PS petrol engine. Not bad, but you might as well go all the way when you’re luxury cars. Let’s go straight to the Rivoli + trim with the 250 PS plug-in hybrid engine. Add a few nice options and you come to €73,350, which is the exact price of our test car. Expensive, you say? After getting out my calculator – because I’m terrible at maths – I have to put this into perspective. Firstly, because the 360 PS version, similarly equipped, will happily exceed €80,000. Then because the German competition is not as well equipped for the same price. The German cars are therefore ready for you, as long as you write a six-figure cheque. You will then have a more prestigious badge at the end of the bonnet. But wherever you choose, do it for me. I’ll say it again, I prefer small cars, although this DS9 is still a good choice, and an original one.
Strengths
- High trim quality
- Satisfying comfort
- Well-priced (I’m not joking…)
- Features…
Weaknesses
- …despite some lacking ones
- Poor infotainment
- Ergonomics to be improved
- Notoriety to be perfected
Verdict: 14,8/20 – Good
I would like to thank DS Automobiles France for lending me the vehicle, otherwise this review would not have been possible.
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