Lucie Loves… Lifestyle // Driving home for Christmas in the DS 4 Crossback

Living in London sure has its perks, but when it comes to living in the city and owning a car – l’m not quite there yet.

So, to fill the 4-wheeled void in my adult life, I partnered with DS again to do a feature drive of the DS 4 Crossback. Back in summer, I took a road trip to Stonehenge with my sister, Sian, to test drive another of their gorgeous cars – the DS 3. Read all about my DS 3 summer solstice road trip.

Anyway, I digress… this time around, it was December. Christmas loomed large, and I was keen to get back up north to see my family. One of the main priorities being to accompany my parents on the annual festive food shop. I mean, how else were they going to fill the trolley with ridiculous-no one-is-going-to-eat-this-ginormous-tear-and-share-camembert-bread-but-you and other such frivolous foods, if daughter #1 wasn’t with them? (Yep, that’s me!)

[Insert jeopardy]

Anyway, I had a cunning plan. Rather than lugging my loved ones Christmas presents aboard a Virgin train bound for Glasgow… I’d opt for a more glamorous, more comfortable mode of transport – one more suited to a woman of 31 years old (who can’t quite get away with carting oversized laundry bags, without looking a bit down on her luck!)

I decide to pitch my #DSHomeForChristmasidea, and see what they thought…

Cue: DS to the rescue! What better way to get a feel for something – in this case, the DS 4 Crossback – than to get behind the wheel and test drive it for a couple of weeks.

To make the most of the mammoth drive north, I made a Christmas playlist on Spotify - have a little listen.

Christmas is usually a pretty manic – yet magical – period in all our lives, so having a car to drive to pop in and see your family members, makes such a huge difference. 

I have a big family… and I mean big! On Christmas day alone, I visited 5 different households – delivering presents to my nephew and then tiddley family members home safely, at night. Given my new set of wheels, I’d resigned myself to being ‘Lucie the Uber’ driver for the festive period. And the DS 4 delivered.

With its outdoor styling: raised stance and black spoiler – it looks and feels (a bit) like a 4x4. It has roof bars too, a panoramic windscreen and the glossiest black wheels you ever did see. I’d liken the body colour of the car – Whisper Purple Metallic – to the Chanel Rouge Noir nail polish; sassy and stylish with gorgeous Basalt Black Leather interior trims. I’m a huge fan of a heated seat – my nephew loved them too! 

I was a little bit nervous at first, before the car arrived, and I’d got my head around actually being confident enough to drive it. I know it probably sounds a bit of a ridiculous thing to say, but I get a little bit anxious – especially when I haven’t driven for a while, and have to drive a car that I’m not familiar with. Which, let’s face it, is basically every time I set foot in a car, as it’s never the same as the one I’ve driven previously.

Anxiety loomed large, but the call to see my family was stronger. Mind over matter and all that!

But, I must say, having crammed a lot of road trips into the latter part of 2015 and then doing a few more in 2016 – my confidence, when it comes to driving, has definitely soared. 

On the day after Boxing Day, we went on our annual Christmas family walk. This time, to Moore Nature Reserve. We packed the DS 4 Crossback’s spacious boot full of wellies and warm outdoor gear – there’s also a torch in the boot, which – like the underseat storage – I only discovered after reading the manual that came with the car. 

Check out how cute the kids look in their winter clothing! My cousin Liane is a mummy blogger, take a look her blog ‘Ava and Ruby’s Wardrobe’ for more kids fashion and style inspiration.

My parent’s love any opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. We’re hoping to get up to Scotland this year, to the highlands, for a little holiday. My mum’s been trying to persuade me to go with them for years now, but I’ve not gone yet! Life always gets in the way!

It’s definitely one of the road trips on my list. Visit Scotland have lots of information about the driving tours on offer. My ideal Scotland road trip would have to include a food safari, visits to some of the tiny islands, square sausage and many a distillery tour, to discover Scotland’s famous whiskey heritage.

I felt really comfortable in the DS 4, partly down to the sat nav, guiding me home, and the bluetooth handsfree, so that I could natter away to friends and family, safely. The robustness of the design, with its in-built camera to help with rear parking assistance, added to the smoothness of driving experience, that the PureTech 130 S&S 6-speed manual engine delivers.

One of the most impressive bits about driving the DS 4 Crossback, is its headlights. I realise this sounds very geeky, but! it really is one of the main reasons that I felt so safe driving at night. The height-adjustable halogen headlights and DS LED Vision directional Xenon headlights, were truly a girl’s best friend – especially when driving down tiny country lanes, in North Somerset, as I visited my dad and one of my oldest friends. 

The DS 4′s ‘guide-me-home’ headlights are exceptional and reassuring – a funny adjective to use, when describing an inanimate object, but I feel it’s one that does the trick; they flood the road with light, leaving no nook and cranny unlit. Easing the usually anxiety you can when driving with caution on narrow windy roads at night.

“The headlights of DS 4 & DS 4 Crossback combine LED technology with a Xenon module to produce a wide, deep, white beam that reduces eye strain at night but uses less energy. The headlights also follow the steering to light up corners, a technology DS pioneered. Distinctive scrolling LED indicators complete this contemporary lighting signature.”

After our walk, it was time to head back to my aunty and uncle’s house, to warm up over bacon and sausage butties and infinite cups of tea. 

And when the time came for me to drive back down south again, I’d used up ¾ of a tank of petrol, on fun family flying visits. I stopped off at a service station to refuel, and it cost around £76 to fill the tank completely, which gives you 400+ miles of driving.

Another rather novel feature of the DS 4 Crossback, is watching as friends and family try and figure out how to open the rather fancy looking rear doors. The handle is tucked neatly into the window detail – quirky, eh?

The DS 4 Crossback is definitely a great family car – I know, having road tested it – and it now has my car-mad sister’s and nephew’s seal of approval too. And, to top it all off, I have first prize for being the coolest Aunty Lulu, ever; pulling up in, what, to a 6-year old, is like pulling up in a Lamborghini… Fun times!

To find out more, take a look at the DS 4 Crossback price and specification guide.

Photography © Lucie Kerley