FOUR TO THE FORE (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

The DS No4 compact premium hatch aims to reverse this French brand's faltering fortunes. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 38

The DS No4 is the only hatch in its premium compact segment to offer a full range of electrified powertrains - hybrid, PHEV and EV. Which gives this would-be premium DS 4 update model a useful selling point.

Backgroundword count: 164

The DS No4 isn't the car that is supposed to save the DS brand. That was the larger model that in early 2025 started this struggling Stellantis premium maker's new badging system, the DS No8. Before that, 'the car to save DS' was the design this DS No4 is merely a mid-term facelift of; the second generation DS 4 lower mid-sized hatch that was launched in 2021. Hopes were high from this Galic maker at that MK2 DS 4 model's original introduction. It was certainly a big improvement on the first generation DS 4, a hastily re-bodied Citroen sold between 2015 and 2019 (following a period where it was actually sold as a Citroen, from 2011 to 2015). At DS today, the Citroen ties are long gone - in terms of design and trimming anyway; Citroen after all, these days is Stellantis budget brand. While DS is trying, sometimes a little unsuccessfully, to be 'aspirational'. Which this DS No4 desperately needs to credibly be.

Engines and Tech Specword count: 285

You might be tempted to think that not much has changed about the engineering of this DS No4. As with its DS 4 predecessor, most sales will be made of variants with either self-charging or PHEV powertrains and both at first glance seem much as before. But updates feature in both cases. The big news is that these combustion powerplants have now been joined by an all-electric E-TENSE powertrain. It's much the same EV set-up as you'll find in a Peugeot E-308, with a 58.3kWh battery offering 279 miles of range energising a 213hp front-mounted electric motor with 343Nm of torque. If you're not quite ready for all-electric power in the segment, then perhaps the PHEV version might suit you better. Particularly now that the plug-in hybrid set-up in question is of the improved Stellantis kind, with a much larger 17kWh battery facilitating a considerably longer 50 mile EV range capability. The combustion part of the PHEV drivetrain is much as previously, based around a 1.6-litre four cylinder 180hp turbo petrol engine mated to a 110hp electric motor, the combination offering a 225hp total output with 360Nm of torque. But the gearbox is different from before, with drive now via a 7-speed automatic transmission. We mentioned earlier that the base self-charging powerplant is also changed - though here the differences are slight, based around a small increase in total output - up from 136 to 145hp. This hasn't changed either performance or efficiency and otherwise all else is as before. Which means a 1.2-litre three cylinder petrol unit assisted by a 28hp electric motor integrated into the casing of an associated six-speed dual clutch auto transmission. There's no longer any sort of diesel powertrain option.

To see the full road test text contact us on 0330 0020 227