DS4 Plug in hybrid

By Bill McCarthy

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It’s a bit of a juggling act when you have two very similar brands. In this case DS and Citroen. How do you share much of the technology but give each a distinct and separate identity?

By making sure your audience knows yours is a premium product by backing that up with style and panache.

 Making it jewel in the crown if you like, which is pretty much a theme with DS.

There’s no doubt this DS4 has both is spades and is arguably the most stylish DS so far, certainly in this specification.

It also offers impressive performance with this plug-in hybrid. The 1.6-litre petrol engine and electric motor generate develop around 225 bhp with a claimed electric range of just short of 40 miles.

It looks stunning, so much so the 37th Festival Automobile International jury has awarded the prize for the Most Beautiful Car of 2022.

You can see why. It offers sleek aerodynamic styling with the slim LED matrix headlights flanking a deep, black grille. To the rear slim light clusters incorporate a clever diamond design.

What can come as a surprise to passengers for the first time are the flush door handles, which pop out when the door is unlocked via keyless entry and settle back into place when the door is closed. 

The E-TENSE badging is prominent front and rear and dark tinted rear windows add that extra bit of class.

Inside, the Black Alcantara-clad interior is a masterclass of clever design and comfort and also features the running jewel-like theme, with diamond-shaped controls on dash and a seven-inch centre console which controls infotainment, connectivity via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and navigation.

Other nice touches include stitched upholstery, aluminium pedals and ambient lighting.

Below the touchscreen is a slim panel of controls with a starter button set in the centre and below that is another touchscreen next to the gear selector where you can finger swipe to access six programmable favourites on the main screen.

A bit gimmicky, but it does work.

Space for the front occupants is good, but can feel a bit cramped to the rear because of the sloping roof to the rear.

Goodies on this model include eight speaker sound system, Bluetooth® handsfree and media streaming with USB socket, multi-function on-board trip computer and a 3D navigation system, plus a host of safety kit including head up display and assisted parking.

On the road, performance is impressive with the hybrid combination powering the car to 60mph in just 7.7 seconds. Economy is pretty good, with the official 200-odd mpg figure nearer the mid 50s mark.

 Mated with an eight-speed auto transmission it moves sweetly through the gears with little hesitation.

The handling is decent, it feels well planted on bends with responsive steering. It provides a comfortable rather than sporty  ride with this range-toping model featuring Active Scan which uses a camera to map the road head and alter the damping to the prevailing conditions, smoothing out the ride substantially.

In practical terms, boot space is good with 390 litres expanding 1,190 litres with the seats folded, giving really usable stowage space, with plenty of other storage areas throughout.

It is packed with safety equipment with a host of active and passive aids which includes full set of airbags, stability control and all sorts of traffic, pedestrian and driver alerts.

It’s not cheap, what premium model is? But it is a whole lot of car for the money and looks brilliant. It also has the certain Gallic flair which its German rivals lack.

Factfile

DS4 E-Tense Ultimate Prestige

Price: £39,600

Mechanical: 1698cc 225bhp petrol engine and electric motor driving front wheels via hit speed auto transmission

Max speed: 145 mph

0-62mph: 7.7 secs

Combined mpg: 201mpg, 53 mpg (estimate)

Insurance group: 31E

CO2 emissions: 27-35 g/km 

BiK rating: 11%

Warranty: 3yrs/60,000 miles 

Kia Sorento

By Bill McCarthy

NOT so very long ago, the idea of paying more than £50,000 for a Kia would have seemed, well, fanciful. That is no longer the case, with the latest offering of the stylish, super-practical Sorento, seeming a bit of a snip when compared to the opposition.

Just like its stablemate Hyundai, which recently introduced their upmarket brand Genesis, Kia has gone upmarket.

It’s the fourth generation Sorento since 2002 and for the first time offers a plug-in hybrid powertrain alongside the 2.2 litre diesel and1.6 full hybrid and is available with three spec levels – ‘2′, ‘3′ and this test flagship ‘4′ model.

So what do you get for a price tag approaching £55k? A whole lot is the answer with this seven-seater, four-wheel drive SUV that scores close to a perfect 10 on the fashion catwalk. It also features the Kia seven year warranty.

For a multi-purpose vehicle, it’s design is more than eye-catching with large black grille flanked by smart headlight cluster, wing-shaped air curtains and stylish 19-inch alloy wheels. Longer taller and wider than its predecessor, it has an imposing road presence.

The plug-in hybrid technology mates a 1.6 petrol engine with an electric motor and 13.8 kWh battery to produce 261bhp.

It is also capable of up to 35 miles on battery power alone, increasing to 43 miles in city driving. The nominal mpg is 176.6 mpg and with emissions of 38 g/km, it is cheap to run.

Mated with a six-speed auto box, it has plenty of power and can hit 60mph in a very respectable 8.4 seconds, making it quick away from the traffic lights, but also excellent for overtaking on the motorway.

Should the going get tough, the Terrain Mode. can be deployed to select ‘Mud’, ‘Snow’ and ‘Sand’ modes. The system automatically optimises the drivetrain to best suit each scenario, adjusting engine torque output and distribution.

Otherwise, for normal driving the car is composed and comfortable as you would expect in a large SUV.

The interior has a premium feel as you would expect with a car of this price and some clever innovations.

It features high-quality soft-touch finish, using metal and natural materials and soothing ambient lighting.

There is a digital cockpit fitted as standard on all models, while a 10.25-inch touchscreen is fitted on ‘3′ and ‘4′ models, which controls navigation, infotainment and smartphone connectivity.

This range-topping 4 model also features an ear-splitting, (if your turn it up) 12-speaker BOSE premium sound system with all the extra woofer and tweeter bits and pieces.

The infotainment system also allows Bluetooth smartphone pairing for two phones concurrently.

There is also a host of kit on this model including powered tailgate, roof bars, camera, full length sunroof, heated and cooled powered seats, ambient lighting and a clever safety innovation seen in the GENESIS where the two main binnacle dials turn into cameras when the indicators are activated.

Like many upmarket models if features a rotary get selector while switchgear and general controls feel sturdy and are logically placed.

It’s a hugely practical vehicle with seven seats as standard, which split, fold or can be removed for maximum stowage. The middle row has slide, recline and 60:40 folding functionality, while the third row split 50/50. The rearmost pair are pretty substantial as well, so longer journeys can be completed with relative comfort.

It is jam packed with safety kit including various lane departure, collision and blind spot warnings, while the full set of airbags includes for the first time a centre airbag for extra driver protection.

Factfile

Kia Sorento ‘4′ 1.6 PHEV T-GDi Auto AWD

Price: £54,695

Mechanical:261hp, 1,598hp petrol engine and electric motor driving fall wheels via auto gearbox

Max Speed: 119mph

0-62mph: 8.7 seconds

Combined MPG: 176 miles

Insurance Group:31

C02 emissions: 38g/km

Warranty: 7yrs/100,000 miles