DS 9 review

We can almost guarantee that a gleaming DS 9 is in the French President’s fleet of chauffeur cars for state visits, and that’s a pretty impressive seal of approval. After all, it would be a bit of a political faux pas for him to choose a luxury car that wasn’t home grown, wouldn’t it? 

Indeed, most of the DS 9’s rivals hail from across the border in Germany, including the Audi A6, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class. As you might have noticed, however, they’re all pretty heavy hitters, so the DS 9 is going to have to pull something out of the bag if it’s to compete.

Well, it’s safe to say that DS follows a different tack to its rivals. The brand says it's not interested in volume sales, and instead hopes to woo potential buyers with a dedicated concierge service, boutique-style salons (rather than conventional dealerships) and exclusive access to DS-organised events.

And, even if you're not interested in any of that stuff, the DS 9 has some car credibility that might win you over. That's because all versions are plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) so they attract lower company car tax rates than pure petrol and diesel alternatives.

Is that enough to triumph over the best luxury cars? Read on to find out...

There are currently two DS 9 engine options – the E-Tense 250 and the E-Tense 4x4 360 – and both are PHEVs with 1.6-litre petrol engines. The main difference between the two is that, while the 250 teams that petrol engine up with one electric motor, the 4x4 360 has two, giving it more power and four-wheel drive. 

Both can manage to travel short distances on electricity alone, with the 4x4 360 officially covering up to 31 miles and the E-Tense 250 up to 46 miles. For comparison, the Audi A6 will cover up to 41 miles, the BMW 5 Series 530e up to 63 miles and the Mercedes E-Class E300e up to 72 miles. 

That's assuming you take it gently, of course. If you put your foot down harder, the petrol engine will, after a brief delay, fire into life automatically. The instant torque from the electric motors fills in any gaps when pulling away, meaning it feels plenty quick enough for the every day, but it won’t exactly blow you away. 

That’s especially true when you look at the official 0-62mph sprint time of 8.1sec, which is much slower than the A6 50 TFSIe, the 5 Series 530e and the E-Class E300e, all of which are nearly two seconds faster. To beat them, you’ll want the 4x4 360, which drops the sprint to 5.6sec. 

While the range-topping DS 9 is quick in a straight line, it's still no sports saloon through the corners. It grips well enough and there's not much body lean, but the artificially weighted steering discourages quick driving. Meanwhile, the non-4x4 version suffers from a bit more lean through corners due to its softer suspension. If you're looking for a luxury car that's more fun, try the 5 Series.

Then again, the DS 9 wasn’t really made to be dynamic in the first place, it’s designed for wafting around. To help it in that mission, every DS 9 comes with a system called Active Scan suspension, which scans the road in front and primes the suspension for upcoming imperfections. At speed, on a motorway for example, that’s something it does very well and the DS 9 is a comfortable thing to cruise around in. 

Around town and at slower speeds, however, it doesn’t deal with potholes and fractured roads as well as the 5 Series, sending a thud through the steering wheel over larger imperfections. 

More positively, the DS 9 does a fine job of isolating you from the outside world. Road, suspension and wind noise are all kept to a minimum, aided by thick acoustic glazing.

Driving overview

Strengths Comfortable ride at speed; great refinement; 

Weaknesses Rivals faster in a straight line; most rivals go further on electricity

As you'd expect with a luxury car, the DS 9 gets electric seat adjustment as standard, including for lumbar support. Better still, the seats in every version are ventilated, as well as heated, and come with a massage function – luxuries that’ll cost you extra on its rivals, if they’re available at all. 

Forward visibility is respectable, and the DS 9 has a strip running down its bonnet which, as well as being a styling cue, acts as a guide to how much car is ahead of you. Rear visibility isn’t quite as good, due to thick pillars, but it’s sufficient and parking is made easier by standard-fit front and rear parking sensors and a 360-degree reversing camera.

At night, visibility is boosted by the standard-fit bright LED headlights, which can automatically adjust their beams to avoid dazzling oncoming traffic. Only the Mercedes E-Class offers that across the range. Most other rivals require that you go for a fancy trim level or add them as an optional extra. 

The dashboard includes lots of elegant detailing, with quality-feeling leather adorning every surface, with swathes of chrome for good measure. If you want things to be even more opulent, opting for top-spec Opera trim adds even nicer fine grain Nappa leather and an Alcantara headlining. 

Looking around the interior, you will find the odd control taken straight from cheaper Citroën and Peugeot models, but they don’t really detract from the overall feel of the interior. 

One thing that does is the infotainment system. Displayed on a 12in touchscreen, it’s not all that impressive, proving sluggish to respond to your inputs and its menus far from intuitive, it has nothing on the 5 Series’ iDrive system. You do, at least, get some touch sensitive shortcut buttons, which work well and make getting to key areas a little simpler. 

Brighter news is that you get plenty of standard features, including built-in sat-nav with over-the-air updates and speed camera notifications, DAB radio, Bluetooth, wireless Android Auto and wired Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring and wireless phone-charging. 

Interior overview

Strengths Comfortable driving position; lovely interior materials

Weaknesses Infotainment system is among the worst in the class

Front space is generous in the DS 9, so there shouldn’t be any complaints of discomfort from the person sitting next to you. There are quite a few useful storage cubbies too, including big door bins that are lined to prevent loose items jangling, and a space for your phone in front of the gear lever.

Rear space is reasonable rather than outstanding. If your passengers are tall, their heads will be in close proximity to the ceiling (especially those sitting in the slightly raised middle seat) and while leg room is decent, there's not much foot space under the front seats. Indeed, the Audi A6 is more generous on rear-seat space. 

Things are better when you look at boot space, though, with the DS 9 giving you 510 litres of space (473-litres if you go for the Opera trim level or above). That’s less than the 520 litres in the 530e but more than you’ll find in the A6 and E-Class, with 360 litres and 370 litres respectively.  

The rear seats in the DS 9 split and fold 60/40 in most versions, and you get a ski hatch as standard. However, if you plump for the optional Lounge pack on the top trims, the rear seats are fixed and lower as one large piece, because of the more complicated massaging set-ups they bring.

Practicality overview

Strengths Plenty of front space; big boot

Weaknesses Rivals have more rear space

As a cash purchase, the DS 9’s starting price means it’ll cost you slightly less than the Audi A6 TFSIe and save you a decent chunk compared to plug-in hybrid versions of the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes E-Class. 

The problem is that it’ll also depreciate way faster than the 5 Series and E-Class, so they will likely be worth far more if you sell in three years and could end up costing around the same on PCP finance. To make up for that, you’ll want to check for the latest offers on our New Car Deals pages. 

The entry-level DS 9 will be of more interest to company car drivers. You see, thanks to its electric range and low CO2 emissions it falls into the 8% benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax bracket, matching the A6 50 TFSIe and 5 Series 530e. The E-Class E300e, meanwhile, will officially go much further on electricity than all three, meaning it slips into the 5% bracket and will cost you less per month. 

If you want to get anywhere near the E-Tense 250’s 353mpg, you’ll need to charge the battery regularly and use it mainly for short journeys – once the battery is depleted, don’t expect spectacular fuel economy.

Talking of charging, the DS 9 can accept up to 7kWh, which translates to a full charge in around 2hr 25min, which is faster than its rivals on a wallbox. The thing is, the E-Class will charge up to 55kW, so that’ll get from 10-80% in just 20 mins, which will give you plenty of juice for a short commute. 

Rivoli+ is now the DS 9’s entry-level trim level. It used to be top-of-the-range, so it’s no surprise that standard equipment levels are so impressive. Indeed, every DS 9 comes with adaptive cruise control, massaging front seats, dual-zone climate control, a 12.3in digital instrument panel and the bits that we mentioned earlier. 

The two top trims don’t add much above the equipment that we’ve already mentioned, but do come with larger 20in alloy wheels, a heated windscreen, heated and ventilated rear seats with massaging function, an electric boot lid and an upgraded stereo system.

DS didn’t feature in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey but sibling brands Citroën and Peugeot came in 14th and 21st (out of 32) respectively in the overall manufacturer table. The DS 9 gets a three-year/60,000-mile warranty on most components, with the drive battery covered for eight years or 100,000 miles. All in all, that's par for the course in the luxury car class.

When it was tested by safety experts Euro NCAP the DS 9 scored four out of five stars, largely due to it offering marginal protection for the driver’s chest in the rigid barrier test. The 5 Series received a five star rating when it was tested, but that was in 2023 under more stringent testing. 

Regardless of which DS 9 trim you go for, you get plenty of standard-fit safety equipment, including automatic emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot detection and lane-keeping assistance.

Costs overview

Strengths Loads of standard equipment

Weaknesses Depreciates quickly; Safety score could be better

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