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02 Dec 2020

PREVIEW OF DS 4’S TECHNOLOGY

DS Automobiles reveals the name of its new Premium C segment design: DS 4. This model will feature cutting-edge technology and begin a new chapter in the DS Automobiles story. Technology that is unprecedented in this category such as E-TENSE electrification, connectivity for a sleek and digital interior, comfort and dynamic serenity, and the DS light signature.

PREVIEW OF DS 4’S TECHNOLOGY

A car for the Premium C segment, DS 4 is where French luxury expertise and augmented technology meet, cloaked in a daring design. It has been designed for customers who want style, purity, intuitiveness, technology and the enjoyment of driving. Its concept will also appeal to numerous kinds of customer.

The choice of technology on DS 4 has been specially designed to stand out in four significant areas: E-TENSE electrification, connectivity for a sleek and digital interior, comfort and dynamic serenity, and the DS light signature.

E-TENSE electrification

The first breakthrough is the development of a new version of EMP2 platform. Still modular enabling it to accommodate different kinds of powertrain, still also dynamic and safe, this new version of EMP2 platform has been developed for DS 4.

The new version of EMP2 platform has enabled many useful features to be improved, while imbuing the design with a new freedom of expression that gives a shape with unprecedented proportions.

Architecture

The new version of EMP2 platform has been developed to achieve the desired proportions and aerodynamic performance. The body/wheel ratio that’s unique for the segment and world of premium cars creates a silhouette that’s at once athletic and efficient with, notably, a new bonnet, lowering the bonnet-wing combination and the floor in row 2…

Weight reduction

The new version of EMP2 platform introduces new components made from composite materials, hot-pressed structural parts and more compact elements such as the air conditioning unit, freeing up more storage space elsewhere.

Safety

The new version of EMP2 platform was designed to comply with the latest and strictest regulatory and consumer impact standards, without compromising the overall weight of the structure.

Dynamic and acoustic qualities

The new version of EMP2 platform takes the idea of dynamic serenity that’s so dear to DS Automobiles even further. The use of technical solutions such as bond-welding (almost 34 metres of adhesive bead and welding points used on the car’s body) as well as completely redesigned suspension and steering components, guaranteeing benchmark driving comfort through optimal body rigidity with exceptional responsiveness for driving enjoyment.

Plug-in hybrid

The new version of EMP2 platform was conceived to accommodate a new generation plug-in hybrid drive train without compromising cockpit space. A turbocharged 180 horsepower 4-cylinder engine is paired with a 110 horsepower electric motor and an EAT8 gearbox, for a combined 225 horsepower. The combination is fed by a more efficient battery with new more compact and larger capacity cells situated behind the deformable beam and giving a range of more than 50 kilometres in zero emissions mode (WLTP combined cycle).

Connectivity for a sleek and digital interior

Regarding connectivity, the priority was to provide a solution so the driver no longer had to take their eyes off the road, an indisputable safety benefit. Called DS EXTENDED HEAD UP DISPLAY, this avant-garde visual experience is a first step towards augmented reality. With a new immersive technology, vital driving information is projected directly onto the road. Using an optical illusion, data is displayed four metres ahead of the windscreen to follow the driver’s gaze diagonally at 21-inches, never witnessed before in the segment. Essential information such as speed, driver aids, navigation, warning messages or even the track they’re listening to or the call they’re taking will be projected onto the road.

This sensory and experiential technology is part of a wider offering, at the heart of a completely re-imagined infotainment system: DS IRIS SYSTEM. The new interface takes the usability of a smartphone with a tactile, seamless and responsive interface based around the idea of profiles that can be completely personalised with icons. The settings and display load automatically when the user gets into the car. The idea behind personalisation is to enable everyone to adjust the content to their requirements…

DS IRIS SYSTEM can be controlled by voice and gesture. An avant-garde manufacturer, DS went beyond the boundaries of automotive to find a partner capable of offering its customers the best natural language voice recognition solution. DS IRIS SYSTEM features a personal assistant capable of recognising what’s said to it so that the system can carry out requests.

For gestures, DS SMART TOUCH, located on the centre console, is a screen you can use with your fingertips. Gesturing towards one of the pre-entered functions is enough. The screen also identifies normal movements such as zooming in, zooming out and handwriting recognition.

So that the system and its mapping are always operating at the highest level, updates will be done instantly via the cloud.

Comfort and dynamic serenity

Already offered on DS 3 CROSSBACK, DS 7 CROSSBACK and DS 9, level 2 semi-autonomous driving – the highest level that’s allowed on the road at the moment – has had a major update for DS 4 with DS DRIVE ASSIST 2.0.

This translates into the precise car positioning itself in the lane of the driver’s choice, supplemented by new functionality such as semi-automatic overtaking, speed adjustment for corners and anticipated speed recommendations from signposts.

DS DRIVE ASSIST 2.0 includes sensors that record everything that happens in and around the car to help the driver. Full of equipment such as frontal radar, radar at the four corners of the car, and a camera at the top of the windscreen, DS 4 positions itself where its driver wants through artificial intelligence which analyses information gathered in real time.

DS Automobiles is also about the concept of dynamic serenity. With DS 4, it translates into class leading responsiveness. One of the strong points is the DS ACTIVE SCAN SUSPENSION controlled damping, exclusive to the segment by using a camera. It is positioned at the top of the windscreen, views and anticipates irregularities in the road surface and transmits the data to a computer. With the four attitude sensors and three accelerometers, the system controls each of the wheels independently. Using the information it receives, it makes the suspension harder or softer depending on what’s required. The result is heightened comfort whatever the state of the road.

DS NIGHT VISION: another technology that enables DS Automobiles to stand out from the competition. The system makes the road and its dangers as visible as possible. An infrared camera, located in the grille, spots pedestrians and animals up to 200 metres away at night and in poor light. The driver views the road in their digital instrument display and sees hazards appear as warnings in the DS EXTENDED HEAD UP DISPLAY enabling them to react.

DS light signature

With a new generation of DS MATRIX LED VISION headlamps that are narrower and more modern, the Matrix Beam and Dynamic Bending Light technology has been combined in the same system to give a distinctive and unique identity.

The DS MATRIX LED VISION headlamps are still made up of three LED modules which are the DS Automobiles signature:

The inner module of the headlight is used for the dipped function.

The rotating central module can turn to an angle of 33.5°. It illuminates the sides of the carriageway and follows where you’re looking in corners. The system adapts to traffic conditions, the angle of the steering wheel, speed and weather conditions with five pre-set modes: town, country, motorway, poor weather and fog. It is also a nod to the directional headlamps of the 1967 DS.

The outside Matrix Beam module turns on for driving, split into fifteen segments which turn on and off independently, depending on the driving conditions it senses.

The projector headlamps adapt to traffic conditions, steering wheel angle, speed and weather conditions with five preset modes: city, country, highway, harsh weather and fog. They enable you to drive constantly on main beam without ever dazzling other road users. Using the camera located in the top part of the windscreen, these intelligent headlamps adapt their light beam automatically with a reach of 300 metres, depending on traffic conditions, without ever dazzling others.

The DS MATRIX LED VISION headlamps are complemented by extended daytime running lights made up of 98 LEDs. As well as the recognisable vertical light signature, these daytime running lights perform a new high-technology welcome routine.

In the cockpit, technology also serves up style: an innovative ventilation system has been developed with very compact vents, positioned high up and fitted with invisible vanes.

The principle behind DS AIR is a flow of air that’s aimed by a cone giving the best possible direction upwards and downwards. All while operating like a classic vent. Thanks to its upright compactness, it appears discreet and tucked away which enables a purity of design in DS 4’s cockpit.

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