DS 4 – Back to Basics

DS 4 PureTech 130 Automatic Bastille + – €35,450

‘DS 4 PureTech 130 Automatic Bastille +’. Quite a long name for a car whose make and type designation takes up a total of three characters and a space, but so be it. Don’t be fooled by the ‘+’, because there is no Bastille without that addition for the time being. The Bastille+ is available as a PureTech 130 and as a plug-in hybrid E-Tense 225, but surprisingly not in PureTech 180 form.

Although the DS 4 with the plug-in hybrid E-Tense and an imminent EV variant is working nicely on the electrified road, the cheapest version is simply powered by a petrol engine. We know the 130 hp PureTech as a great machine and, in conjunction with a standard automatic transmission, it propels the DS 4 from 0 to 100 in 10 seconds. That is certainly not fast, but for a comfort-oriented device such as this DS, it is probably sufficient. .

Ordinary, Cross or Performance

There is something special going on with the trim levels of the DS 4. The car is not simply available in a series in luxurious ascending versions, but also in three ‘Lines’. These are the DS 4 (basic), the Cross and the Performance Line. In the configurator you first have to choose from one of these flavors and only then from an equipment level, but fortunately they are neatly under each other on the price list. There it appears that Cross is an optional addition for the second and third trim levels, the Trocadero and the Rivoli. Performance Line is a version in itself, which is in fact not that much more expensive than the Bastille+ at €37,950.

Nevertheless, from ‘Back to Basics’ we naturally opt for the real ‘knaken version’. A first look at the car shows that the DS 4 continues at least one good PSA habit: the base color is a striking one. The Copper Gold stands out beautifully in the street scene and does not cost a cent extra. The car is standard on 17-inch light metal, which is not overly large for the relatively large wheel arches of this model. LED headlights and the striking LED hooks in the bumper are standard, but the light units are a bit simpler than the car that DS likes to put on its brochures. A unique feature of the basic version is also the black grille between chromed ‘wings’. In other versions, either everything is black (Performance), or the central part is given extra chrome.

No Smart Touch

The interior is also much more sober than the whole with aubergine-colored leather that the French themselves like to put forward. In the Bastille+, everything is just black, with manually adjustable seats in a black fabric as well. We do see a 7-inch digital instrumentation and a 10-inch touchscreen, although you have to move to a higher equipment level for the striking Smart Touch control screen between the front seats. There is no navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto of course.

DS treats its customers to two-zone automatic climate control as standard. Besides that, there are actually no noticeable things in the standard equipment. Cruise control is on it, but is not adaptive. We note fairly basic safety systems such as lane guidance and parking sensors, but a camera is missing, for example. The Active Scan Suspension, which ‘scans’ the road for the car, is only standard if you opt for the hybrid. Keyless entry is also missing, so the driver simply has to pick up the key to enter.

All in all, it is of course good to live with the basic DS, but in our opinion the car in this form does not fit so well with what DS wants to be. On the outside it is still going thanks to the striking paint color, but on the inside the difference with a more decorated version, both in terms of equipment and appearance, is very large. If you want to pay attention to the money, it is better to go for the Peugeot 308 based on the same basis, because it is much cheaper too.