We’re all familiar with the idea of fusion cooking. The French came up with that one. A bit of soy sauce on your fillet, next to a pile of noodles, maybe a fruity jus drizzled over a bacon salad for extra effect. Crossing things over is hip and cool these days. We do it in our architecture too. A brand new hotel can have a boutique appeal, be made out of modern materials, and if the doorman is dressed in 1920’s colonial garb we love it even more. We’re all familiar with cross over cars by now too. So what about this fusion motoring experience?

This is Citroën’s whole angle on their new DS4 so stick with me or you may miss the entire point of this car. You see, Citroën have never had much success trying to sell normal, everyday Volkswagen and Toyota type cars. They tried with the sensible and economical C3, no one bought it. They tried with the comfortable and practical C4, no one bought it. They tried with the distinctive and luxurious C5, really, no one came close to buying it. Sensible and French are not good bedfellows when it comes to cars somehow.

But, when they got the wok out and did a bit of fusion cooking with the C3 and came up with the DS3, all of a sudden there was a French car that made sense to consumers. An engine built on spec from the Mini Cooper S, a funny B-pillar, and some Soy sauce on the roof to give it a different colour and way-hay, we’ve got a winner. This appears to be the only way forward for the French marque. Distinctive, cool, chic, and that’s all we’ll accept from now forward: hence the addition of the DS4.

The DS4 is, according to Citroën, a car that delivers the svelte looks and driving feel of a sports coupe, the luxurious interior quarters and exquisite attention to detail of an expensive saloon car, the practicality of a spacious four-door hatchback, and the everyday usability of a pseudo-SUV because it has a raised ride height and 130 mm ground clearance.

So, it’s a candidate for the last car you’ll ever need to buy. I’ll admit now that I ‘get it’ and they’ve pretty much pulled it off. The Citroën DS4 is a whole lot of car for the money. But more importantly for a Citroën, it’s quite an event climbing into one and driving it. Let’s start with the good stuff.

The DS4 looks good with its modern, chunky styling, disapproving DS3 type face, its big mad wheels, and Porsche Cayenne look-a-like rear end. The DS4 badging on the hatch lid, in the pillars and on the door sills is subtle and classy. The rear doors have a hidden door pull, which took a lot of design work to get right. The comfort of the driving position is spot on with what a Citroën should offer. The heated and massaging leather seats are very haute couture and standard throughout the range, fantastic. The dash itself is a bit of a button fest; as is the steering wheel, but the buttons do lots of funky French things like change the colour of the dials and even the note of the indicator blip. I went for ‘urban rhythmik’ after testing them all out, which gives you a sort of marimba tone every time you’re waiting your turn at a junction.

The news keeps getting better when you start to look at the prices of the options offered by Citroën. Navigation system: R9 900. Full leather: R5 000. 19-inch wheels: R6 900. That’s seriously good value for money. So you can get your DS4 to the level of personalisation you desire without anything like the outlay you might be expecting.

The range consists of the normally aspirated, 1.6-litre VTi making 88 kW, the turbo charged 1.6-litre THP making 147 kW, and the 1.6-litre HDi making 120 kW and 340 Nm. And you can have the VTi in ‘Style’ specification or with the ‘Sport’ specification for R18 000 extra. The THP and HDI both come standard with ‘Sport’ specification.

Driving-wise the 147 kW THP is the jewel of the range. A great punch of acceleration combined with a pulsating exhaust note, thanks to a special membrane on the engine’s inlet manifold that channels amplified sound specifically back into the cabin through the air vents, a-la Peugeot RCZ; makes for a brilliant drive. The THP still returns 6.5 L/100km economy and a CO2 figure of just 144g/km.

The HDi is less involving to drive because of its lack of revs understandably, but it’ll return 5.1 L/100km and just 134g/km of CO2. We didn’t drive the 1.6-litre VTi but that will almost certainly be a little under powered for the heavy Citroën DS4 body and have to work harder only having a five speed manual compared to the other six speed gearboxes. No automatic is available.

Handling and ride quality wise, the DS4 is a mixed bag. The raised ride height has been paired with a rather firm front suspension to help offset any potential imbalance. The springs and dampers do a fine job of damping normal roads in good conditions, making the DS4 smooth and comfortable. However, as you pick up speed or encounter any cambered or broken roads the front end starts to dart around a bit. You need to perform quite a few vigilant saws at the steering wheel to keep it tracking straight and true. It takes on a bouncy castle type gait. I’m sorry to say this, but if Citroen had kept the DS4’s ride height normal, a lot of this characteristic could’ve been avoided.

But that’s really not the end of the world, because the value for money the Citroën DS4 offers is its biggest USP. The equivalent Mini Cooper Countryman S is about R50 000 more expensive and that’s before you start on the options list. When the Citroën DS4 is every bit as distinctive and haute couture-ish, it’s more practical and even makes more power than the sporty, rally refugee Mini. All things considered – in the world of fusion, cross over motoring, the Citroën DS4 is quite a car.

All models benefit from a 5-year/100 000km service plan and 3-year/100 000 km manufacturer’s warranty.

Ray Leathern has been test driving and critiquing cars for four years now. You’ll find his work at autocirca.com, the Mail & Guardian and of course, right here on SACarFan.