DS 3 Performance

How would the DS 3 fare on a driving weekend in Wales?

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE DS 3 Performance? The marketing angle and densely packed equipment list suggest a warm hatch with premium overtones, but the massive brakes, sticky tyres and limited-slip differential suggest something altogether more intense. In trying to fill different niches with just the one car, is the little DS a jack of all trades or a master of none? This is a question that we’ve been struggling to answer in the evo office, and as the new keeper of our DS 3, I’m hoping I can help illuminate an answer.

Part of its role will be as my Londonbased daily driver, so that means mundane tasks must be undertaken in the arena of suicidal Deliveroo scooters, obnoxious bus drivers and emergency trips to Whole Foods if I run out of avocados. But keen to delve into this DS 3’s true dynamic ability, one of the first things I did with it was take it on a recent driving weekend in Wales with a few colleagues and friends.

In some illustrious company car-wise, the DS 3 displayed impressive capability, although this seemed to emanate from its high-spec components and not necessarily its core chassis – reflecting what we found on track at Rockingham last month. On tight and knotted roads, the front-led grip balance inspired a good amount of confidence, even if the steering did not.

But by stubbornly hanging on to the tail of more exotic machinery, the DS 3 fulfilled it’s brief on the first date. Let’s see if the good impressions continue.