SA Roadtests
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
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Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday September 5, 2012
French trivia: Did you know that model letters of those early Citroën ID 19 and DS cars were deliberately punned? ID was pronounced "Idée" (idea) and DS as "Déesse" (goddess)? While modern DSs are stylish and well kitted, we wouldn’t go as far as using the “g” word to describe them, even though some of their features are good.
Today’s Citroëns-DS are luxurious interpretations of C3, C4 and C5, using different engines in some cases and in others, alternative build platforms. While DS4 does actually use the same PSA PF2 base as its C4 counterpart, the interpretation is different. Whereas C4 is a normal everyday hatchback, DS4 stands a little taller and adopts a combination station wagon-SUV look. Its intent is also sportier and more fun-loving.
The first clue is in the engines. DS4 offers just one 88-kW model for instance, with others available in 120 and 147 kW tune. There is also a 120 kW diesel. Equipment levels are higher, too. We won’t bore you with a grocery list of what’s included because that's been done twice already. It’s pretty comprehensive and a pamphlet can be downloaded easily from www.citroen.co.za
From the driver’s chair the ambience is black-on-black, without being overwhelming. The dash is covered with soft touch polyurethane, the Mistral leather seats are decently bolstered to keep you in place and there is a hint of driving pleasure to come, in the form of a squared-off steering wheel. The standard six-speaker sound system includes an RDS radio and an MP3-compatible CD player with auxiliary, USB and Bluetooth. An upgraded version comes with the optional eMyWay satellite navigation setup priced at R9900.
Basic seat adjustments are mechanical although heating, massage and lumbar functions are taken care of electrically. An overhead console houses switches for courtesy- and reading lights and a couple of petrocard slots. Speaking of overhead, sliding blinds open up the windscreen to let you see street signs and other objects otherwise too high to view. The glass is treated to control heat build up on sunny days, so your car’s dual channel automatic climate controller won’t be overstressed.
Ready to accommodate changing moods or weather, the six-speed automatic transmission offers sport, snow and manual modes. It’s a conventional torque converter unit, so its reactions are a little more relaxed than some others, but it changes smoothly and kicks down without flaring. Being sportier than the C4 (notice how we bravely resist opportunities to make “explosive” comments – C4, plastique? Oh, never mind), its ride is somewhat firmer than on the civilian version. Some might even find it uncomfortable, so try it and see.
Storage is taken care of by means of a boot measuring 385 litres with seatbacks up, to 1021 litres with them folded and an assortment of pockets, bins and slots inside. The glove box lets the side down a bit with its huge lid and tiny cavity, unfortunately. Other negatives include fixed rear window glass and an awkward scramble to get out of the back seat because of deep sills and narrow doorways. Smaller passengers might not notice, so take the family along for the test drive.
Like any car, this “goddess” has flaws, but overall pleasantness and high equipment levels make a compelling case for labelling Citroën’s DS4 automatic a “buy.”
The numbers
Price: R313 900
Engine: 1598 cc, DOHC, 16-valve, four-cylinder, turbocharged
Power: 120 kW at 6000 rpm
Torque: 240 Nm at 1400 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 9,3 seconds
Maximum speed: 212 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 8,8 l/100 km
Tank: 60 litres
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km
Service plan: 5 years/100 000 km
Warranty extension and maintenance plan available as options
To see the launch report and more technical detail, click here
This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.
What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
My articles appear every Wednesday in the motoring pages of The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles most months of the year (press cars are withdrawn over the festive season - wonder why?) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police. Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.
I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!
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SA Roadtests
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