DS No7 review

France’s Audi aspirant rejuvenates and fully electrifies its best-seller

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Typically when a new car arrives, its predecessor is deemed old news and mentioned in passing at best. Yet the media launch of the DS N°7 involved the screening of an emotional video montage of its DS 7 predecessor, its stint as Emmanuel Macron’s presidential limo among the highlights.

The 7 did a mighty job for DS, contributing 50% of the French brand’s sales for much of its life and selling more than 200,000 units across eight years.

Its replacement raids Stellantis’s STLA Medium locker to offer both hybrid and fully electric power (badged E-Tense), with a starting point of £38,290 – a very gentle climb over the outgoing car.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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Much like its Peugeot 3008, Vauxhall Grandland and Jeep Compass cousins, the N°7 is natively front-driven, bucking the general trend of its premium rivals, although the top E-Tense variant offers dual motors for four-wheel drive. The EVs ascend through FWD 230hp, FWD 245hp and AWD 350hp versions, the first of those using a 73.7kWh (usable) battery for a 337-mile range, the last two a much larger 97.2kWh pack to claim 460 and 422 miles respectively.

The entry-level Hybrid uses an updated Puretech 1.2-litre turbo triple with the promise of greater reliability. Paired with a 28bhp electric motor built into its six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, it supposedly can cover half of its urban mileage with the petrol engine extinguished.

Its design traces back neatly to 2020’s DS Aero Sport Lounge concept and is closely related to the recently introduced N°8 flagship.

For all the latter’s more saloon-like styling, their rooflines look very similar. Vertical front LED strips link back to the seminal Citroën DS3 of 2010, while a similar treatment of the rear lights helps contribute to the 0.26 Cd aero figure, which helps yield such promising range.

Design boss Thierry Métroz has been at DS since day one and says his cars should always be the most efficient among their various Stellantis relations – a philosophy that we will see continue with a third-generation 3 this autumn.

INTERIOR

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Your most immediate impression inside is of its four-spoke steering ‘wheel’. Early miles might be driven in a slightly disjointed manner, but its thumb rests settle your hands nicely at nine and three and it’s pretty easy to get acquainted with.

Key surfaces are covered in plush materials and among the cheerier trim options are purple nappa leather and navy Alcantara.

While some of the original 7’s quirkier touches (sports car-like centralised window switches, reclining rear seats) have been left behind, some tangible effort has been invested in making its switchgear feel unique.

Inevitably lots of functions live within the central touchscreen, but DS claims it’s angled equally at both front occupants; no needlessly driver-focused notions here.

It’s longer than its predecessor in both length and wheelbase, but its interior space doesn’t represent an enormous leap forward and its boot volume is essentially a step back: you get 560 or 1570 litres with the rear seats down in the Hybrid and FWD EVs or 515/1525 litres in the AWD EV, compared with 555/1752 litres in the old car.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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DS predicts a 50/50 sales split between the hybrid and electric models, but this will swing in the latter’s favour in fleet-led markets.

Our first try is of the 242bhp E-Tense FWD Long Range, which accelerates with more alacrity than its 7.8sec 0-62mph claim suggests while avoiding the front-axle scrabble to which plenty of rival EVs succumb. It’s no firecracker but neatly balances urgent thrust with intuitive throttle response.

Assisting further is its easily adjustable regenerative braking. Three modes live within the paddle shifters while an abrupt one-pedal is activated from the centre console.

Curiously, that appears to be your only route to auto-hold functionality for the handbrake and in its other settings the car can roll back on brake pedal release, even in Drive.

The 143bhp, 0-62mph-in-10.4sec Hybrid inevitably works much harder: a powertrain that’s fun to rub along with in a Vauxhall Corsa clings to higher revs here, although performance is decent enough for its likely use case. Sport mode helps keep its six-speed gearbox perky.

RIDE & HANDLING

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Bougier trims add a Comfort mode alongside Normal, Eco and Sport, and it’s through this that you can activate the optional road-scanning system (as seen on the old 7). It works well, smoothing out the creases of the standard suspension set-up’s still-commendable ride. The Hybrid gets a twist-beam rear axle, EVs gain a multi-link arrangement.

Truth is, all N°7s offer enough compliance for task and it strikes a pleasing balance between comfort and agility for a premium SUV. It masks its mighty weight better than the 3008 too, the E-Tense’s extra performance more than compensating for its worrisome gain over the 1556kg Hybrid (which ranges from 535-696kg depending on your battery and motor layout).

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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DS claims 3.8mpkWh for this E-Tense FWD 245hp Long Range and around 50mpg for the base Hybrid – pretty amiable figures.

The EV’s range figures are among the best in the class, particularly with the larger battery, beating the Mercedes-Benz GLC Electric and running the BMW iX3 close – which goes some way to compensating for its 400V electrical architecture (rather than 800V) and paltry peak rapid-charging rate of 160kW.

The charming but flawed E-Tense 4x4 360 plug-in hybrid doesn’t return as a performance halo. The similarly powerful E-Tense AWD Long Range 350hp EV is its stand-in for now. SD

The Hybrid prices well against the old 7, opening bidding below £40,000, but the goodies that really set the N°7 apart in its saturated competitor set – nappa leather, acoustic glazing, massaging seats – belong to pricier trims and packs.

The EV feels a bigger leap of faith, starting at £49,190 with the smaller battery in Pallas trim and asking another eight grand with the larger battery and the Étoile trim required to unlock Active Scan Suspension. La Première edition nudges £67k.

VERDICT

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There’s plenty to admire here, and the N°7 stands reasonably proud of its many relations – most notably in E-Tense form with the trick suspension.

Quite how robust DS’s future looks under the new Stellantis hierarchy we don’t yet know. But for now, this is an intriguing and (broadly) plush alternative to the normcore.

Stephen Dobie

Stephen Dobie

Stephen has been feverishly writing about cars since graduating with honours in Journalism Studies from his hometown university, Sunderland, in 2008. After packing his bags, moving south and putting in lengthy stints at evo and Top Gear, he chose to roam the freelance plains in 2022 to further explore his diverse automotive interests. He loves nothing more than writing adventure, interview and review stories which highlight the brilliant cars, people and innovations that push this brilliant industry ever forward.His own taste in cars varies wildly, often favouring an underdog. Some of his career highlights include driving the Renault Megane R26.R, an ex-McRae Impreza rally car and the spectacularly under-appreciated Volkswagen XL1.

His car ownership history is entirely made up of light, feisty hatches, from a Mk1 Fiat Punto immediately after passing his driving test (‘a superb piece of car design’) through a Ford Puma 1.7 and Clio Williams to the Hyundai i20 N he drives now.