DS 5 (2011-2018) Review

For a kick off, you’ll have to be happy to buy a car that’s at least two years old because the DS 5 went off sale in 2018. That said, the DS 5 makes a bit more sense now depreciation has done its magic. You might fancy driving something different – Saabs , or some long-gone French executives like Citroen’s C6, Renault’s Vel Satis or Avantime. The DS 5 isn’t likely to have BMW 3 Series or Audi A4 buyers considering it, then, but it’ll appeal if you’re someone who likes to break free of the flock.

The DS 5 has a decent choice of engines, but it’s difficult to ignore the 2.0-litre turbodiesel, which is punchy and relatively cheap to run, although we’d avoid the automatic which is dim-witted and jerky. Prestige models come fully-loaded with kit as standard making them the obvious trim level to go for. 

Similar? Not many, at least not directly, and that’s rather the point. The DS 5 is meant to appeal to those bored by convention, people wanting something different from the premium norm. Whether that’s you or not only you will know, but if you’re looking at a DS 5 then you’re likely to consider left-field choices like the VW Passat CC or Alfa Romeo 159. 

Visually, the DS 5’s interior is a treat, and the materials, too, are a sizeable step up from what you’d expect in something that, initially at least, wears a Citroen badge. Leather covers the gearknob in all, as well as the steering wheel, while Performance Line and Prestige also gain leather on the instrument binnacle. 

Titanium ‘effect’ trim, chrome and decent, if not class-leading plastics all mix in the nicely finished interior, it not quite up to the lofty interior quality and material tactility standards set by posh Audis, but at least up to the standards of feel, fit and finish of its upper mainstream contemporaries like VW and Volvo. 

The optional watch strap leather – costing as much as £2,400 on the Elegance and £1,000 less in the flagship Prestige – is well worth having, it looks fantastic, and lifts the interior from pleasantly different to bordering on special.

Over its six years, full shift from the Citroen brand to be badged solely as a DS, inevitably there were changes to the infotainment. 

Pre-2015 DS models came with a basic system that was swapped for a touchscreen, removing 12 buttons from the dashboard. This seven-inch touchscreen features DS Connect Nav, a DAB tuner with six speakers, aux-in, USB and Bluetooth connectivity as well as Apple CarPlay. 

It’s easy to operate, with many of the controls duplicated by the steering wheel-mounted buttons. A head-up display was offered optionally for just £300 on the Performance Line and Prestige models, so seek out those used DS 5s where this option has been specified.

Given the near monobox, MPV/SUV shape the space inside isn’t quite as generous as you might imagine. There’s plenty of room up front for the driver and passenger, but the rear seat passengers aren’t quite so well accommodated. 

The tapering roofline, which gives the DS 5 its distinctive shape does restrict headroom in the rear and that’s compounded by limited legroom, too, so there’s not much room to stretch out. Fine for children, but adults will find the rear seats a bit claustrophobic. 

Cubby storage is okay, rather than exceptional. The glove box is small, likewise the door bins, but you do get a deep, lidded cubby between the front seats. Map pockets on the back of the front seats help and you also get a pair of sunglasses holders in the roof.

There’s a pair of ISOFIX child seat mounts in the back, and the seats fold in a 60/40 split, with a ski hatch through the rear seats, which doubles as an armrest. 

Maximum boot capacity is 465 litres with the rear seats in place and 1,288 litres with the rear seats folded. The former figure drops by 143 litres with the hybrid model, which loses space to the battery and motor powering the rear wheels.

Over the course of its production the DS 5 was offered, broadly, with the same engine line-up. 

Diesels make up the bulk of the sales in the UK, with the 1.6-litre diesel offering between 112-120PS depending on the year it was offered, later cars having a little bit more power. It’s a smooth unit, but it’s a bit overwhelmed by the DS 5’s size

Because of this, the 2.0-litre HDI turbodiesel is the better choice, its power spanning 163-180PS over the car’s life. It offers the best balance of performance and economy, though, we’d suggest it’s mated to the manual transmission rather than the automatic (a robotised manual) which is head-noddingly slow to shift. 

Heading the powertrains was Hybrid4. It had a 2.0-litre turbo diesel aided by electric motors driving the rear wheels to produce 200PS in total. Making it quick and relatively cheap to run. 

It’s not the quickest model, though. That honour goes to the 200PS 1.6-litre petrol which gets the DS 5 from 0-62mph in 8.3 seconds and tops out at 146mph. It’s a smooth and tractable engine, but also quite thirsty in a car the size of the DS 5.

With its premium aspirations DS worked hard on refinement, wind and road noise was decently suppressed, though the ride on those earlier cars does somewhat upset the ambience inside. 

The engines are hushed enough in ordinary use, though ask a bit more from them and they can get a boomy. The diesels hide their characteristic clatter well, with very few vibrations apparent inside. 

The worst element in the DS 5’s drivetrain is the automatic transmission. Pick it and the pauses between the shifts are yawningly long, resulting in a stop-start feel to the drive, that’s not particularly comfortable.

The hybrid – with the ability to run on silent electricity alone for brief stints – improves the automatic’s shifts by feeding in power with its rear electric motor.

Tested to the old standards by EuroNCAP back in 2011 the DS 5 did achieve a full five-star safety so it is very safe for its era, though it misses out on the autonomous driving aids that are commonplace nowadays. 

Standard kit includes a full complement of air bags, a system that can call the emergency services if you have an accident and tell them where the car is, as well as stability control which should help keep you on the road in the first place. 

Options included Blind Spot Monitoring (standard on range-topping Prestige models), a lane departure warning system and auto-dipping headlights, which came as part of the Safe Drive Signature pack. 

The Hybrid model can run on electricity alone, but only for around two miles at the absolute max, it’s more of an assist than a pure propulsion technology.

Insurance groups for the DS 5 range from 25 for the lowest power diesel and petrol engines in Elegance trim, rising to 29 with the 150PS diesel. 

Performance Line models span Group 27-34 and the Prestige Group 30-33, with the hybrid being a bit higher again.

The DS 5 produces emissions ranging from 103g/km for the diesel-electric Hybrid4 model to 155g/km for the 200THP petrol. That means you'll pay tax of between £20 and £205 a year. 

Latterly, the DS 5 was sold in three forms. 

Elegance was the most basic, but still looks reasonable thanks to its LED daytime running lights and 17-inch wheels. Interior kit includes dual-zone air conditioning, keyless entry and start, cockpit-style toggle roof switches, a leather-trimmed gear knob and steering wheel, plus cruise control with a speed limiter. Infotainment came in the form of a seven-inch touchscreen with DAB, sat-nav, a USB plug, Bluetooth and Apple CarPlay, 

Performance Line models look overtly sporty thanks to their huge 19-inch wheels and intricately designed directional Xenon headlights. Inside, they get a leather-trimmed instrument binnacle, front parking sensors and an electrically adjustable driver’s seat. 

Prestige cars are the poshest of the lot, so they get smaller 18-inch wheels but add a leather interior and mood lighting. They also get handy extra kit including a reversing camera and a blind-spot-monitoring system.