Chocks Away!

With its aviation inspired design, Roland Rendell reckons the new Citroën DS5 Hybrid4 is set to make a big noise at the executive end of the fleet market

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When I first clapped eyes on the latest model to roll off the French marques’ production line, I was impressed. The paintwork, combined with chrome ‘sabres’ and trim, is striking. The aviation inspired design is there is evident, but subtle. Straight away, you can see that this car is being aimed at the top end of the fleet sector. The question is - does it stand up?

Key-fob in pocket, I reached for the door handle and the sensors behind it detected my presence and obliged. Push the start button and it beeps in to life. That’s it. No engine noise, just a beep and some movement on the dials in front of me. The silence is due to the fact that I am in the first production Citroën with a full-hybrid diesel powertrain. It comes with 4-wheel drive and 200bhp, should you need it.

This car is full of features that are designed to assist the pilot. Smart beams will look around corners for you at night, while the electronic head-up display only makes itself known as it rises above the dash when you fire-up the car. And then there’s the new Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS), where the sensor mounted in the windscreen, behind the rear-view mirror, watches the road for you.

Safety First
LDWS tracks the white lines on the side of the carriageway, and those down the middle. Should you start to swerve and sway without indicating, you’ll get a buzz through the posterior to wake you up (and should probably look to pull over and grab 20 minutes kip).

Available modes are Auto, Sport, 4WD and ZEV. I choose the Auto option - an automated manual 6-speed gearbox with optimised shifts. Apply some throttle and the handbrake releases itself. The 7-inch screen in the centre consul displays the workings of the car, and I can see when the 27kW (37hp) electric motor fitted to the rear axle is active or not. The Power Train Management Unit (PTMU) that manages the operating modes of the diesel engine and electric motor will automatically select the mode that delivers the best economy.

After experiencing the car’s Stop & Start, I decide to have a look at what ZEV mode can offer. On a full charge, you can creep around silently, and if you switch to the graph on the screen that gives you five minute snippets of your journey, you can challenge yourself to achieve 100mpg for as long as possible.

Inevitably, this mode comes with its drawbacks (such as 2.5 miles on a full charge) but with the average daily car journey approximately seven miles, by no means a show-stopper.

Stopping and starting in traffic, you can feel the regenerative braking delivering power back to the electric motor. And, as a hybrid and not a pure EV, it’s not long before the PTMU switches you back to Auto and the diesel engine takes over.

In Full Flight
So, it’s on to the M25, followed quickly by the M11, as I make my way to London Stansted looking to achieve the 68mpg the car is supposed to be capable of. I manage just over 60, but this is probably due to driving style - had I concentrated more on the economy, I may well have achieved it.

But once you settle in to this car, you want to test its other attributes. So I switch to Sport mode, and instantly the ride becomes harder, with the steering more responsive.

After 20 minutes, I am face-to-face with the ‘Cars of the Sky’ that are said to have influenced the look of this model. This striking car really looks the part. For something that is really quite big on the outside, it delivers on economy too.

The sub 100g/km hybrid model (DSign Hybrid4 200 Airdream EGS6) is also exempt from VED, as well as the London Congestion Charge. Citroën are trying to slip in to the segment currently occupied by the BMW 3 series, Audi A4 and Volkswagen CC, and are estimating that 70 per cent of all DS5 sales will be to the corporate market. For now, they’re off to a flying start.