Styling
We have to admit, having spent a day driving the very nice DS No.8 FWD Long Range around as we flitted back and forth across the Swiss-French border, it came as something of a shock to head into the evening's press conference and then be told by the company's representatives that the No.8 is, in fact, a coupe-SUV.
No. It's not. And this is a categorisation hill we're prepared to die on. Granted, this French fastback is a big old thing. It measures 4,820mm long, with 2,900mm of that taken up by the space between the axles, while it's also 1,900mm wide and rolls on (attractive) 20-inch 'Lyrae' alloy wheels as standard. But an overall height of 1,580mm doesn't scream 'SUV' to us. It's tall-ish, admittedly, and not as low as an obviously sporty crossover like the 1,511mm-high
Cupra Formentor, yet we never once thought it SUV-esque before that presser. And we still don't now.
The problem, though, is that if DS is insistent on pitching it as a coupe-SUV when it's clearly a grandiose hatchback, then the phalanx of competitors it must defeat suddenly doubles in number. If you agree with the manufacturer's assertion about the No.8's primary form, then its rivals will include the Sportback version of the
Audi Q6 e-tron, both the
Polestar 3 and the similarly slinky
Polestar 4, as well as stuff like the
Ford Mustang Mach-E and that product of the former director of DOGE - and now
persona non grata at the mental institution which is the present-day White House - in the shape of the Tesla Model Y. Side with us, though, and you're looking at the talented likes of the
BMW i4, the
Tesla Model 3, the (somewhat underwhelming) GTX variant of the
Volkswagen ID.7, the ageing but still excellent
Polestar 2, and even some upstarts pushing up from the sector below, like the superb
facelifted Kia EV6.
For all this market-position-based carping, mind, we like the way the DS No.8 looks. It'd be a stretch to call it out-and-out 'beautiful', because there's a lot going on with the design and we are particularly vexed by the way so many details have been neatly incorporated - like the 'hidden' back-door handles - on the one hand, only for the firm to make the nearside-rear charging port as bloody clunkily obvious as it can be, for reasons only the company's stylists can genuinely fathom.
But those big vertical light signatures fore and aft, the eight-point diamond-LED daytime running lamps on higher-spec cars, the classy roofline and the general svelteness of the body (its aerodynamic drag coefficient is just 0.24) all add up to an eye-catching car. The No.8 strikes a good balance between obviously being something brand new yet one which ties in with the rest of the pre-existing line-up (
DS 3,
DS 4 and
DS 7), and it's particularly pleasing when you go for the extended bitone finish (£1,000 on a Pallas and £500 on an Etoile) which not only paints the roof black but also the bonnet too. That's properly Gallic luxury, that is.
Oh, and the only thing that identifies this dual-motor flagship model on the outside is that ultra-discreet 'AWD' badge on the bootlid. Y'know, the one that sits below the
absolutely huge font chosen to spell out 'DS Automobiles No.8' above. Yes.
Interior
If the outside is decent, the interior is marvellous. Material quality in the DS No.8's cabin is fabulous throughout, with a lovely mix of finishes and textures blended together sweetly. Admittedly, the ambience might be bordering on the chintzy in certain interior colourways, of which there are some luscious choices like black, cream, tan or even blue in all of fake leather, real hide and Alcantara. But generally, the DS' interior is incredibly swish. In comparison it'd make the passenger compartment of, say, a VW ID.7 look even more boring and staid than it already is.
There's plenty of tech in the DS No.8 as well, and in the main it is fairly well integrated. The proprietary 'DS Iris' infotainment software is presented on a whopping great 16-inch widescreen, while the instrument cluster is a 12.25-inch configurable item teamed to a large head-up display above. This generally all looks very nice and works slickly enough, but we suspect most people will bypass it with the included wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, and that main touchscreen is so blinkin' big that the driver has no chance of reaching the far side of it while belted in, unless they're an actual orangutan with arms that are three foot long. Presumably why DS makes that side of the screen swipe vertically when the rest is operated horizontally, clearly making that area of the digital real estate the front-seat passenger's dominion.
Audiophiles will also love the mega 14-speaker, 690-watt Focal Electra 3D surround-sound system, which - when equipped - makes a focal point (sorry for the pun) of the big front speakers. They're not just sizeable on the door cards - the back edge of them is illuminated and serves as the interior door pull too, so they serve a functional as well as an audio-visual purpose. That said, the Focal set-up is a £2,200 option on the upmarket Etoile model and not available at all on the base-grade Pallas, so it's not a cheap choice.
All of which leaves us with the steering wheel. Ah. Right. OK. This, we're...
not big fans of, if we're brutally honest. We mean, it is at least round and its rim is nicely padded without being too chunky, and fair play to DS for being wilfully different with the design. But that four-spoke cross layout? It's ugly. And odd to use: put your hands at ten-to-two, and the upper spokes intrude on proceedings; grip the wheel at quarter-to-three and it feels like you're dumbly holding onto a football trophy or a large amphora or something, because there are no spokes to brace your thumbs against (there are moulds for them in the rim, though). When you then factor in those clunking great side control pads rendered in black glossy plastic, the conclusion you inevitably end up at is that this wheel is neither an aesthetic nor ergonomic masterpiece. Not by a long shot. Ugh.
Practicality
The No.8's cabin is not only nice to look at (bonkers steering wheel notwithstanding), it's sumptuous to sit in too. Space is generous in all five seating positions in the cabin, including the centre-rear pew because the floor is almost flat in the footwell back there. The main issue, though, is not leg- but headroom, because the fancy panoramic sunroof and then the sloping rear of the DS' bodywork add up to limited room beneath the headlining in the back of the No.8; taller passengers need not apply.
The boot's a good size, though, measuring 620 litres behind the seats in the single-motor variants and trimmed back to 560 litres on this AWD flagship due to the inclusion of the additional rear drive unit. DS doesn't bother to quote a volume for the No.8 with its rear row folded away, although we'd be surprised if it was anything less than 1,700 litres going on the sheer size of the car, and one metric that is often mentioned in the press bumf is that the boot floor measures 1.16 metres long, even with the rear seats in use. That's handy.
Visibility is pretty good all round, albeit the steeply raked A-pillars can be a nuisance at tighter junctions and roundabouts, and the rear view out of the mirror's glass is a little pinched but not too bad. If you prefer, though, the mirror can instead show you a camera view from the back of the car which is unimpeded by head restraints and bodywork pillars, although some people don't like the odd forced perspective this provides. At least DS gives you a choice between 'natural' and 'fake' rear views, eh?
Performance
The DS No.8 uses the same basic architecture as a wealth of other Stellantis EVs we've already seen, such as the Peugeots
E-3008 and
E-5008, and the
Vauxhall Grandland Electric, among more.
That means we have a familiar range hierarchy at launch. All No.8s sit on the STLA-Medium platform, although they seem to have more power model-for-model than other Stellantis electrics, whether 'nominal' or in the time-limited boost phase. Your starting point in the DS No.8's world is a single-motor, front-wheel-drive (FWD) variant with a 73.7kWh battery pack. This has 231hp normally or 260hp on boost, backed up by 345Nm of torque. It can go up to 342 miles on a single charge and runs 0-62mph in 7.7 seconds, as it weighs 2,130kg. All No.8s, incidentally, are limited to the same 118mph top speed regardless of their power.
You then step up from there to the two Long Range models, which are equipped with a huge 97.2kWh NMC lithium-ion battery. The FWD Long Range is a little slower to 62mph than the regular car, at 7.8 seconds, as it tips the scale 50 kilos heavier, but it is the one with the eye-catching maximum range claim of 466 miles in the right specification - that's exceptional in the wider EV world, never mind just this class of machine. The power of this one is boosted to compensate for the weight gain and to equalise those 0-62mph times, so you're looking at 245hp regularly and 280hp on boost, with the same 345Nm of torque as the other FWD No.8.
Then there's the solitary dual-motor model as the flagship. This gains the AWD nomenclature and is still called the Long Range, even though you can't pair four-wheel drive and the 73.7kWh battery together no matter what you do. Anyway, with its added off-the-line traction and outputs swelled to a healthy 350hp nominally, 375hp on boost, as well as 511Nm of torque, it trims the 0-62mph time to 5.4 seconds, irrespective of the fact the weight is up to an eyebrow-raising 2,289kg by this point. Yet it can still go (officially speaking) well in excess of 400 miles to a charge, with a claimed WLTP range of 427 miles.
Unsurprisingly, with an out-and-out premium-tilting contrivance like this, it's the dual-motor car which convinces the most. We tried both of the Long Range No.8s and while the FWD single-motor variant was OK, it could sometimes feel a bit undernourished. This AWD, though, while no road rocket, nevertheless managed to convey a more effortless and enjoyable level of speed that befits a grandiose EV like this. It whisks along at a fair old lick and actually returned a better electrical efficiency of 2.4 miles/kWh than the single-motor FWD, which recorded a poor two miles/kWh. Admittedly, we were driving the FWD a little more enthusiastically for more sustained periods, but we also think its lacklustre drivetrain means you're harder on the throttle and deploying it more often to keep up with traffic flow, so we reckon we'd get nearer to an acceptable three miles/kWh average in the AWD than we would the FWD.
Ride & Handling
If the AWD was already winning the day with its greater on-road performance and 'feel', it went on to seal the deal when it comes to the wider kinematics. Both the No.8s we tried were high-spec models, the FWD in Etoile trim and the AWD finished as a Jules Verne. This means they had the clever DS Active Scan Suspension, which - when in Comfort mode - uses a camera to look at the road ahead and preload the relevant dampers for whatever lumps and bumps it thinks are coming up that might disturb the wheels.
Maybe it's the additional 109kg of weight brought about by its rear motor, but even with this advanced suspension system fitted to both, it was the AWD which definitely rode in a smoother, more agreeable fashion. It was better tied-down and composed, the set-up rounding off larger imperfections taken at town speeds with a greater degree of grace. The ride's not perfect in the DS No.8 AWD, you understand, as there's always a modicum of background 'patter' evident at higher speeds, and there are still occasions where the 20-inch wheels thump through only moderately sunken manhole covers, but in general it's the most sophisticated out of the two No.8s we've sampled so far. Exceptional suppression of wind, tyre and suspension noise on both of them, though, and that aero body also adds to the supreme rolling refinement as the DS cuts efficiently and quietly through the airflow.
It's not just the ride where the AWD wins the day, however. It's more enjoyable in the corners, too, albeit without ever being truly thrilling. The steering, once you've got used to controlling it through that daft wheel in the cabin, has added weight and bite, and with some of the power and torque going to the rear axle then the DS No.8 AWD displays an improved resistance to fun-sapping understeer out of tighter corners; in the FWD car, it doesn't take much entry speed to get the leading tyres audibly whispering their discontent at your unseemly behaviour, and they devolve into a full-on howl - accompanied by the nose washing well wide of your intended line - if you mash onto the throttle too soon as you exit tight hairpins. Also, maybe it was our imagination, but the FWD felt quite roly-poly in the curves, where the AWD presented a more balanced, level demeanour during a spirited drive.
No doubt about it, then: for its added speed and muscle, its superior ride comfort and rolling refinement, and its sharper, more rewarding handling, the AWD is definitely the No.8 of choice. The FWD, for what it's worth, will probably make the better car for long-distance motorway drivers, because it's still very hushed and cosseting at speed, and if you drive it gently then you'll get closer to that splendid 466-mile claimed maximum range. Incidentally, maximum charging speeds for all DS No.8 models are 160kW DC and 11kW AC (22kW is planned to be offered before too long, as an option), which means a 20-80 per cent top-up at its fastest rate will take in the order of 26 or 27 minutes. A 7.4kW domestic wallbox, on the other hand, will require 13 hours to completely replenish the bigger Long Range 97.2kWh battery.
Value
The difficulty with the above summation is that while the AWD definitely provided the demonstrably better overall driving experience, it's more expensive and less long-legged than the FWD Long Range - so it's the No.8 which probably makes the least sense. DS will sell the two FWD powertrains in both Pallas (from £50,790) and Etoile (from £54,780) specifications, the former of which is remarkably well-specified as standard, while the latter comes with lots of luxuries added on top. The AWD, however, will only be offered as a plusher Etoile, which pegs its minimum asking price at a challenging £63,280.
That then leaves the Jules Verne, which is showing on the UK configurator but which doesn't seem to have a defined price. As an AWD, expect it to cost a good chunk more than £63,280, for which you get a magnificent interior complete with blue Alcantara upholstery and door cards, these last items featuring a beautiful 'earth-and-moon/rays of the sun' pattern etched into the fabric. This is to pay homage to Verne's novel
From The Earth To The Moon, and it's teamed to some distinctive marbled aluminium trim on the dashboard, as well as exclusive badgework on the exterior of this most opulent No.8 model.
Verdict
Although it is not without some foibles, in AWD Long Range specification the new DS No.8 is almost certainly the most convincing all-round premium package this French company has put out in its short history. Handsome on the outside, superbly appointed within, practical and usable (as EVs go), and pretty good to drive too, if you fancy something a little different to the prestige norm then the No.8 ought to be worthy of your most serious consideration. It's just... not a coupe-SUV, is it? Hmm? Oh, and change the steering wheel for something more ordinary, DS, and we'd be lumping another half-star onto the overall rating for the No.8, here.
