DS5’s a star

THE Cit roen DS5 is a rea l execut ive ca r t hat sta nds out f rom t he crowd, w it h a prem iu m feel a nd lovely desig n touches l i ke a headup speed d isplay t hat reflects on t he i nside of t he w i ndscreen. Two su n roofs – a la rge one over t he rea r seats a nd a sma l ler one over t he f ront – sw itches above t he d r iver’s head a nd a clever t ract ion cont rol system add more touches of class

The DS3, 4 and 5 were a l l badged as

Cit roens u nt i l 2016, when t he compa ny decided – probably qu ite r ig ht ly – to ma ke DS a sta nda lone ma rque.

I w i l l concent rate on t he model made bet ween 2014 a nd 2016.

There was just one pet rol eng ine ava i lable, a 200bhp version of t he Peugeot/Cit roen 1.6 t u rbo, plus t wo d iesels a nd one d iesel/elect r ic hybr id.

The t wo diesels a re a n eHDi 1.6 w it h 112bhp t hat comes w it h a sta nda rd si x speed EGS automat ic gea rbox, a nd a 2.0-l it re HDi w it h 163bhp, t hat is ava i lable w it h eit her a si x speed auto or ma nua l.

The diesels w i l l ma ke up t he major it y of ca rs ava i lable second ha nd, as t he pet rol sold in ver y sma l l nu mbers despite being t he per for ma nce k ing of t he ra nge.

Fi na l ly, t here is a lso a d iesel/elect r ic hybr id a nd t his has good per for ma nce a nd t he lowest r u n n ing costs.

Ca l led t he Hybr id4, it has t he 163bhp 2.0-l it re HDi plus a bat ter y pack a nd a 37bhp elect r ic motor, d r iv i ng t h roug h t he EGS si x speed auto ‘box .

Best economy of 85mpg and low em issions of 88g/k ma ke t h is one ver y cheap to r un a nd t he combined 200bhp mea ns it ca n get f rom 0 to 62 m i les a n hou r in 8.6 seconds a nd on to a top speed of 131mph.

The 1.6 d iesel is fa i rly slow, ta k i ng a leisu rely 12.4 seconds to h it 62mph, a nd t he EGS auto ca n be jerk y t hroug h t he cha nges u n less you lea r n to ta ke you r foot off t he accelerator as you wou ld w it h a ma nua l.

However, it is capable – on t he gover n ment l ist – of 65 m i les per ga l lon.

The 2.0-lit re HDi w it h t he si x speed auto g ives best economy, w it h a gover nment fig u re of 64mpg as aga inst t he ma nua l model’s 58.

Ha nd ling a nd road holding a re ver y good i n a l l models, w it h ver y l it t le rol l t h roug h t he cor ners a nd excel lent g r ip.

But even t houg h t here were improvements in t h is model, com for t is not up to t he best, w it h roug her su r faces causi ng a n u nset t led feel.

There a re t h ree t r im levels ava i lable – DSig n, DSt yle a nd DSpor t – plus a ver y long l ist of persona l isat ion opt ions wh ich prev ious ow ners may wel l have included.

Even t he DSig n gets a good a mount of sta nda rd k it, i nclud i ng keyless ent r y a nd sta r t i ng , a i r con, elect r ic pa rk i ng bra ke, cr u ise a nd heated elect r ic m i r rors.

It a lso has automat ic l ig hts a nd w ipers a nd Bluetoot h to connect you r phone a nd you r music.

DSt yle adds a ver y d ist i nct ive cock pitst yle roof t hat houses tog g le sw itches for t he su n roofs a nd elect r ic su n bl i nds, a nd it a lso has leat her a nd clot h upholster y, sat-nav, DA B rad io, a reversing ca mera a nd rea r pa rk i ng sensors.

Ra nge topping DSpor t adds such lu x u r ies as massag i ng elect r ic heated spor ts seats, f u l l leat her, f ront pa rk i ng sensors, a colou r heads-up d isplay a nd d i rect iona l head l ig hts w it h washers.

Pay about £ 8,500 for a ’14 14-reg 1.6 eHDi DSig n, or £12,750 for a ‘16 16-reg 2.0HDi DSpor t si x speed ma nua l.