The Citroen DS4 is very difficult to sum up – even the press guys from Citroen themselves are unsure of just how to define this model. It’s not strictly speaking a coupé, although it is sometimes compared with the Scirocco. It looks dynamic and sporty, but it is also spacious and adaptable with room for four passengers and all their luggage. A sedan then? But the wheelbase is quite high off the ground, in the new crossover style.

All-in-all, driving the DS4 is like having access to three different cars, each in the same percentage. Does it work? We’ll find out later, but Citroen has been careful to provide three balanced personalities, without going overboard. The car has character in true DS style, providing an alternative to the more sober and formal C4. In fact, we think Citroen could only have done this with the new DS range – letting their imagination have some freedom but while designing something with just the right curves and straight lines, well proportioned, elegant and less audacious than the DS3.

Okay for the design front, then. The windows are perfect (and Citroen is particularly proud of them) and we’re quite taken with the hourglass-shaped C pillar, which would have been exaggerated if Citroen hadn’t matched it to a chubby rear. The only problem with this design is that it looks great but means you can’t actually open the rear windows, which is a problem exacerbated by the good-looking doors, themselves not particularly accessible or practical. In short, you wouldn’t want to be shut in the back of the car for too long. The DS4 is dead sexy, but not always particularly functional. Peculiarly French, you might say.

Continue reading: Citroen DS4 test drive

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