5

Stellantis' premium supermini crossover gets styling and cabin revisions to try to cling on to its premium market positioning

It’s now been a decade since the emancipation papers for DS’s breakaway from parent company Citroën were signed but, with the ink well and truly dried, the still relatively unknown French premium brand continues to strive to establish itself as a proper car brand in its own right.

A reason many might still see the firm - which, between the DS 4 hatchback, DS 7 mid-sized SUV and DS 9 saloon, now has a fairly fresh four-model line-up - as a wing of its Stellantis stablemate Citroen is that the original DS 3, which sold particularly strongly, came with Citroen badges when it was launched in 2010.

Yet a regular supermini is not quite what the DS 3 of today resembles. Instead, at 4118mm long and 1800mm wide, it’s become a fashion-conscious compact crossover fighting with the likes of the Audi Q2, Mini Aceman and Fiat 600 – a break that, its maker no doubt hopes, will help distance it a little from its strategically inconvenient past.

The car can be had as an ICE petrol model or as a full EV. This review deals with the former model, while the electric model is dealt with here.

Advertisement

DESIGN & STYLING

6
DS3 2025 Review rear static 57

With the latest facelift, DS Automobiles has dropped the 3’s former 'Crossback' derivative nomenclature. This is now the one and only DS 3 in the pricelist; and, since plenty of other brands are effectively replacing regular superminis with crossover hatchbacks because they’re at once more profitable and more popular, it’s a decision that clearly requires little business justification for a brand that’s still finding its feet.

Exterior design tweaks came in the form of a new chrome-stripped grille, a sharper front bumper lip and wider-set daytime running lights for a “more expressive presence on the road”. At the rear, the DS badge was replaced by lettering.

Sadly, DS also revised its engine offering at the same time, binning the most powerful, 153bhp, 177lb ft variant of its 1.2-litre three-pot Puretech engine (which we liked in the pre-facelifted model) as well as any diesel powertrains. This leaves the 3 with either a 100bhp- (only available paired to a manual gearbox and in lower-rung Performance trim) or a 129bhp version of the same engine to choose from. Both have acceptable economy figures (45.6mpg; 42.8mpg).

The car sits on Stellantis’ Common Module Platform - being the first car to adopt it, in fact, when first appearing at the end of the last decade; and that confers supermini-typical axles front (struts) and rear (torsion beam), with transverse-mounted engines and front-wheel drive.

INTERIOR

5
DS3 2025 Review dash 51

Carving out a successful premium positioning is still the name of the game for any DS product; and the refreshed DS 3 of 2023 brought with it a variety of new kit – most of which had already been seen on the larger DS 4 - in order to do that. 

A thicker, more refined-looking, button-clad steering wheel was added, and a new 10.3in infotainment screen came in also that uses the firm’s new smartphone-like Iris software. Sadly, infuriating dash-mounted capacitive buttons return for many of the car’s controls; meanwhile the climate control is still only accessible through the infotainment screen – bafflingly so, because only a rarely used physical ‘climate off’ touch-sensitive ‘button’ remains.

The 3’s unusually comfy seats have been retained however, with our test model, in mid-range Rivoli trim, offering real leather upholstery - just as you’d expect from a Parisien luxury fashion brand. Pricier nappa leather seats, which are found in top-wrung Opera guise only, are just a tad more backside-friendly. Either option will keep you soreness-free on long trips, while bolstered sides also keep you firmly in your seat (handy given the car’s generous body roll, to which we’ll come).

The car’s second row makes only the kind of space available that you’d expect in a class-average supermini. There's enough, just about, for three older, taller kids, or a couple of smaller adults but taller grown-ups will struggle for both head and leg room.

Up front, there’s plenty of material ritz to the dashboard layout and materials, but far less deep-lying tactile material quality (lots of scratchy mouldings are to be found below knee level; storage cubbies are unlined; soft-touch materials are notable by their absence). DS’s focus was clearly on an eye-catching and unusual fascia design, and some material lavishness with upper-level materials, some of which lands (although the ‘weathered art leather’ decor of our test car looked, to these eyes, a little like it’d had one too few coats of aerosol paint). 

The centre console layout, meanwhile - which takes large diamond-shaped motifs as its theme, and makes features, where it can, out of the air vents, window switches, and more - clearly gives the kind of lead to form over function that makes the latter a distant memory. 

Multimedia

The multimedia shortcut buttons are glossy, diamond-shaped touch-sensitive keys that much too often need a frustratingly long press to register any contact at all - and they’re arranged laterally so that those farthest from the driver are way out beyond the outer margins of the multimedia screen, where they’re an awkward stretch to reach.

The 10.3in DS Iris infotainment system was updated as part of the 2022 facelift. Although it is clearly related to the systems used by the likes of Peugeot, Vauxhall and Citroën, it isn’t as intuitively laid out or easy to navigate as they are. Wireless smartphone mirroring is now included, though, and the system makes it easy enough to switch between mirroring and ‘native’ modes.

DS has recently added ChatGPT-powered, fully networked voice recognition for the car, available via a remote ‘over-the-air’ software update, but the scope of its functionality seemed limited to our testers. It could only cope up with very limited, and often wrong, answers to questions like ‘where is the nearest doctor’s surgery?’ and ‘how long will it take me to drive to Bristol?’

DS gives you a digital instrument screen directly ahead of the driver, and a head-up display, although the former is a little small and seems to squeeze information into a cramped space.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

5
DS3 2025 Review front head on tracking 8

Of all the parts that contribute to this car’s motive character at all, it's the eight-speed automatic gearbox that lets the 3 down the most. While the chassis provides a reasonably smooth ride at lower speeds, the car’s powertrain really does feel a bit unworthy of any kind of justifiable premium billing.

Gearchanges can often be jerky, and the gearboxes’ decision-making is sluggish when more power is asked for on quicker roads. Matters improve when cruising, which is perhaps unsurprising given the car's sedate 0-62mph time of 9.2sec (up from the 8.8sec of the no-longer-available 153bhp motor).

In any case, the car’s performance – or shortage thereof – is a little overshadowed by overly generous body roll (more exaggerated than in its electric DS E-Tense sibling) due to the car's soft suspension. The car has light control weights, and manages to handle securely and precisely enough despite of its exaggerated body movements; but the latter would certainly be pronounced enough to take a few owners by surprise at speed.

Progress on the road is also accompanied by a three-cylinder engine sound you might more readily expect from a sub-£20,000 Dacia than a £31,000 premium crossover, which comes across as an oversight for a brand that should be more focused on refinement.

At any rate, DS is due to drop its Puretech derivative in 2025, replacing it with a Hybrid 136 version which should be quieter and more economical.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

4
DS3 2025 Review front tracking 2

The cheaper internally combusted, manual-equipped models gave the DS 3 an entry price of less than £25,000 until fairly recently. When the car switches to a choice of hybrid or electric power in 2025, however, you won’t be able to buy one for less than £31,000; which tells you a lot about the kind of buyers that DS is courting for this car, and how few it may need to turn a reasonable profit with the car.

That said, the 1.2-litre Hybrids are still set to be some £8000 cheaper than their all-electric counterparts. But when you consider that a Fiat 600 with exactly the same 1.2-litre, 48-volt hybrid powertrain can be had from £6000 less, you will appreciate that this isn’t a car for the even remotely value-conscious.

VERDICT

5
DS3 2025 Review front static 58

Platform sharing of the kind that is the bread and butter of the Stellantis group of brands has its beneficiaries and its victims; and the DS 3, glitzy and unusual as it may seem, is undoubtedly one of the latter.

While other, better-established premium brands turn to special platforms for their extra-desirable small models, DS uses the same chassis, engine and kit of parts that serves under all manner of Peugeots, Citroens, Fiats and others; and, frankly, was always doomed to fail to distinguish its finished product as a result.

Dynamically, the ICE-powered DS 3 hits only an average standard for refinement, performance and body control - and that’s to judge it as we might any compact crossover. Considering its price, you would expect far better - not to mention a more considered layout of secondary controls, and a more usable array of digital technology. 

The car’s only-average accommodation levels are perhaps less damning, given that its rivals tend not to be the most practical cars of their kind either. it is a little more convincing to drive as an E-Tense EV; but also a lot more expensive still.

Will DS 3 owners - who, for right or wrong, we might imagine must rate this car as an alternative fashion accessory, and care most about how well it may match their Fendi sweater and Louis Vuitton handbag than anything else - have any regard for the better small cars their money could buy? Perhaps not. But, frankly, they should.

Will Rimell

Will Rimell Autocar
Title: News editor

Will is Autocar's news editor.​ His focus is on setting Autocar's news agenda, interviewing top executives, reporting from car launches, and unearthing exclusives.

As part of his role, he also manages Autocar Business – the brand's B2B platform – and Haymarket's aftermarket publication CAT.

Matt Saunders

Matt Saunders Autocar
Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce PhantomTesla RoadsterAriel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren SennaRenault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.