Assisted driving notes

★★★★★

The DS 9’s top-level active driver assistance systems come as part of the DS Drive Assist package, which is standard on Rivoli Plus models but an option on lower-level cars and was missing from the spec of our test car. That adds adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist-style ‘stop and go’ functionality and a lane positioning assistant to a standard equipment list that includes autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blindspot object detection, traffic sign recognition and a more basic lane departure warning.

The AEB system is unintrusive and the lane departure warning system works well enough on the motorway and is easy to deactivate elsewhere thanks to a physical button next to the steering column. Our test car also had an optional night vision camera system that detected pedestrians consistently well after dark, highlighting their location via the digital instrument screen.

AUTONOMOUS EMERGENCY BRAKING

• Does the system seem prone to false activation? ✗

• Can it be deactivated? ✓

• Does it have pedestrian/cyclist detection? ✓

• Is the system tuned to keep the driver engaged at all times? ✓

• Is it adjustable for sensitivity? ✗

• Does it allow you to drive around a pothole/obstacle within your lane easily and without deactivation? ✓ Semi-autonomous lane positioning assistant not fitted.

INTELLIGENT CRUISE CONTROL

Not fitted.