2015 DS 5 BlueHDi 150 S&S first drive

The facelifted DS5, which is no longer a Citroën but a standalone DS model and the first ‘new’ car since DS became an independent entity last June.

The most obvious changes are to the styling of the car’s nose, where the new DS corporate grille makes its debut. It has a more upright stance and gets a wide, polished aluminium-effect surround, and replaces the old nose which wore the twin Citroën Chevrons as its main signature.

There have also been tweaks to the headlight design (which combines three distinct LED units and Xenon main beams, another DS signature) and the design of the lower bumper.

Inside, the highly distinctive ‘cockpit’ interior now gets a 7in touchscreen, Mirror Link for compatible smartphones and the curiously-named ‘eMyWay’ sat-nav system as standard on both the UK DS5 Prestige and Elegance trim levels.

The most important changes to the new DS 5, however, are under the skin. When the original DS 5 was launched to the press in 2011 it was immediately panned for the chassis’ exceptional inadequacy in dealing with sharp-edged obstacles.

Not only did the original car stumble over the edges of craters and the like but the rear suspension’s attempts to absorb the shock also resulted in a resounding thump through the structure. Running changes shortly after the car was launched did help, but the new model features a more comprehensive cure.

The new car has had its its ride height raised "by a few millimetres", according to DS, and it gets new shock absorbers with a longer compression stroke and "pre-loaded valve technology" that limits sudden changes in damper force.

The revised DS 5 line-up offers three strengths of BlueHDi diesel engine - with 118, 147 and 178bhp outputs - and a 162bhp turbocharged petrol motor.

The unusual 4x4 Hybrid model, which gets a 2.0-litre diesel engine driving the front wheels and an electric motor driving the rear wheels, also remains in the range as the flagship model. In top-end Prestige trim, the showroom price for that is £34,890.

The cheapest DS5 is the entry-level Elegance 118bhp BlueHDi diesel with a six-speed manual gearbox and a showroom price of £25,980.

On the test route, which ran from the countryside, along a motorway and into central Paris, we tried the BlueHDi 150 S&S (stop-start) with a six-speed manual ’box. In top-line Prestige trim, it costs £29,560, although the standard specification can only be described as generous.

The DS 5 remains an attractive and individual car. Four years on from launch, the appeal of the styling is undimmed, especially the combination of deep body sides, a narrow side glazing and a sloping roofline.

The interior is also for the most part unchanged, which means a substantial centre console and dramatically sloping dashboard. Unlike the established German premium brands, which are moving to ever more minimalist interior treatments, the DS 5 is loud and proud in its difference.

The unusual ‘shark tooth’ switches on the centre console and the big, circular, dials that control the climate control system fly in the face of the dominaant German premium-brand design language, but that’s what DS – with its new ‘spirit of avant-garde' tag line – is supposed to be about.