2015 Citroen DS3 DSport Plus THP 165 first drive

It's the recently face-lifted Citroen DS3, in punchy THP 165 petrol DSport Plus form. 

Citroen’s sister company Peugeot has been grabbing headlines recently, with its new 208 GTi 30th Anniversary reminding people of the company’s past glories; I speak of course of the wonderful 205 GTi.

However, it’s easy to overlook Citroen’s own achievements in this respect. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to go for a blast in an AX GT, you’ll know it should rank up there as one of the all-time great hot hatchbacks.

Today the DSport is Citroen's lone performance contender, and a warm one at that. This is a little surprising when you consider the company's stranglehold on the World Rally Championship over the last decade, which you'd think would spawn more extreme models like the DS3 Racing seen a few years back.

So, Citroen has been tinkering with the DSport to make it quicker, more efficient, and added some new equipment for good measure.

The previous THP 155 engined model produced 154bhp and 177lb ft of torque, alongside CO2 emissions of 137g/km and an official combined fuel economy figure of 47.9mpg.

Although it’s based on that previous engine, this new THP 165 version is better in every area, with power now reaching 161bhp, lower CO2 emissions of 129g/km and an improved combined fuel economy figure of 50.4mpg. You might question ‘the better in every area’ statement when you see that torque is still 177lb ft, but it’s available from 1750rpm and spread over a wider range; in theory this makes the DSport more flexible. 

Thankfully the theory stands up to scrutiny. On the road the engine pulls strongly from low revs, and apart from tailing off slightly over the final 1000rpm if you rev it out, its delivery is pleasingly uniform. It’s pretty smooth, too, but it lacks a sonorous sound track to fit with the model’s semi-sporting pretentions.

Being limited to just 161bhp means the DS3 can’t match the firepower of the benchmark pace setters – models like the Mini Cooper S and Renault Clio RS 200 being two that spring to mind - but it feels zippy enough to make the claimed 7.5sec 0-62mph dash seem entirely believable.

When you aren't giving it the beans, that newfound spread of torque makes the DS3 easy to drive, without having to constantly swap gears and overwork the six-speed manual gearbox. Not that changing gear is a chore; the gearlever has a slick action, which is only marginally spoilt by a long throw. 

It’s just a shame that the rest of the car doesn’t quite match up to the new engine’s breadth of ability.

The ride, especially at low speed, is harsh. Alright, so the same can be said of the Mini or the Fiesta ST. However, in those two the firmness translates into sublime body control combined with razor-sharp responses.

In the DSport the body control is merely average. In the main the car feels weighty, which along with the slow and rather inert steering (it feels all of its 3.1 turns lock to lock), doesn’t goad you into exploring its limits and edging it towards the precipice of grip - which is a shame, as that limit is relatively high.