Assisted driving notes

The full ‘DS Drive Assist’ suite is standard only in Opera and Esprit de Voyage models but can be added as a separate option even on Performance Line, the lowest trim level. It brings adaptive cruise control with lane following, a 360deg camera and a more advanced driver monitoring system on top of the standard AEB, blindspot monitoring, traffic sign recognition and driver attention alert.

Apart from the lane keeping assistance, which is far too intrusive, the assisted driving features are fairly well tuned. The cruise control is generally smooth and perceptive, while the lane following is good at negotiating motorway bends and gets the message when you manually nudge it left or right. We had no false positives from the collision avoidance, and the driver monitoring isn’t needlessly strict either. The blindspot monitoring could do with an audible alert, and there should be an option to switch to standard cruise control.

AUTONOMOUS EMERGENCY BRAKING

 Does the system avoid false activation well? ✓

 Can it be deactivated? ✓

 Does it have pedestrian/cyclist detection? ✓

LANE KEEPING ASSISTANCE

 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? ✗

INTELLIGENT CRUISE CONTROL

 Can the system consistently recognise and automatically adopt motorway gantry-signed variable speed limits? ✓

 Does it prevent undertaking? ✓

 Does it have effective audible or visual alerts, or steering intervention, to prevent changing lanes into the path of an overtaking car? ✗