The test car plan wanted it that way.

Directly after the new Opel Astra, which was described in detail on this page a week ago, the DS4 came onto the scene.

As a brand, DS is still relatively new. Since 2014, the Peugeot group has been trying its luck with the posh Citroën offshoot, with the abbreviation DS referring to the famous "goddess", the Citroën DS built between 1955 and 1975.

Boris Schmidt

Editor in the "Technology and Engine" department.

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In 2022, the DS4 will compete against VW Golf and Co. in the compact class.

It stands on the same platform as the Peugeot 308 and the Astra, and has something else in common with the Opel: both are built at the main plant in Rüsselsheim.

The range of engines is also similar, but not identical.

There is a choice of three petrol engines with displacements of 1.2 or 1.6 liters in the DS4, plus a plug-in hybrid with a system output of 225 hp and a diesel engine.

Our test car was such a diesel.

It is boosted with a turbo, has 130 hp (96 kW), four cylinders with a total displacement of 1.5 liters and offers a maximum torque of a fine 300 Newton meters.

The same machine exists for the German cousin.

Our Astra was a plug-in hybrid with 180 hp, one of the things that impressed us was its smooth engine running.

In direct comparison, the diesel is loud, although not annoying.

Also in the DS4, the machine is combined with an eight-speed automatic, which usually shifts smoothly.

A small rocker in the center console determines the direction of travel as in the Opel, otherwise there are hardly any similarities in the interior.

That applies to the outside anyway.

In the DS4, everything feels a bit like an SUV.

At 1.47 meters, the DS4 is three centimeters higher than the Astra.

The interior is designed to be significantly more playful and elegant.

The test car shows up with bright nappa leather seats, the door and dashboard panels are processed with attention to detail, because everything fits.

When it comes to the operating concept, DS sets different accents than Opel.

The air conditioning and the seat heating and cooling can only be operated via the monitor in the center of the dashboard after a bar with hard-to-read silver buttons has been pressed.

As in the Astra, the instruments are presented in a minimalist, digital manner.

There is a big plus for the razor-sharp head-up display.

It costs 2000 euros extra.

There are nine equipment lines with names like Bastille, Trocadero or Rivoli.

It should be noted that the motor accelerates the slowest of all from 0 to 100 km/h in 10.9 seconds, but only the expensive plug-in has more power than it.

This offers 20 percent more torque.

You can take it easy in diesel, but a good 200 km/h are still possible at the top.

If you drive more cautiously, you can get by with 5.4 liters of diesel per 100 kilometers, the overall average was 6 liters.

That's a good one liter more than the standard consumption promises, and almost a liter less than the plug-in Astra needed when it was without electrical support.

The diesel remains a recommendable drive, and one or two tenths would have been there if the automatic start-stop system had worked better.

It almost always remained without function, the engine simply stayed on while waiting.

The room dimensions are all Astra, enough space for four to five people, 430 to 1240 liters of luggage space.

In terms of price, the DS is significantly more expensive: the driven DS4 Blue HDI 130 Rivoli costs 42,300 euros, the Astra Diesel as Ultimate 38,660 euros.