THE people pushing Citroen's new upmarket DS breakaway brand are realists.

They know it could take 20 years before their cars are talked about in the same breath as, say, Audi.

Which, those with long memories will remember was once itself seen as rather the upstart against the might of Mercedes or BMW - but no longer.

The assault on the posher end of the popular car market for Citroen comes in the shape of three DS models which are really old Citroens with the badges removed.

We'll have to wait until 2017 for the first DS with no link to a previous Citroen as the brand builds its way to a six-strong range. So for now, it's a case of mild makeovers to keep the DS name in the news.

Which brings us to the car you see here, a very gentle reworking of the previous Citroen DS4 but now called simply DS 4 (note the distance between the number in the new one; these things matter to brand builders) with the emphasis on pepping up the bits you can see.

That means new paint choices (38 colour combinations in fact, applied by five people and taking seven hours to complete) and new brighter LED headlights.

Inside, you can option a very plush leather finish and play with a new seven inch touchscreen that controls things like navigation and music and saves a dozen buttons - which you might find neat and elegant or a nuisance when you need to change something quickly.

The newcomer is the first car in the PSA Group (that's Peugeot, Citroen and DS) to offer Apple CarPlay, which links more recent iPhones with the screen and lets you use the navigation app on your phone and allows Siri voice control work to manage your emails.

The new DS 4 comes with a second choice of body style in the shape of the Crossback, which uses mildly raised suspension, wheelarch trims, roof bars and touches of black to give it the look of an SUV, the current darling of the car world and selling in shedloads.

In fact, the Crossback is no more likely to tackle a grassy field than its lower riding sibling, but it looks the part of urban warrior. You can bet one or two of the all-new DS models waiting in the wings will also have SUV genes, and perhaps rather more convincing ones at that.

There are six engines on offer, including a 1.2 litre three-cylinder petrol unit and a 2.0 litre diesel in three power outputs. A 'proper' automatic gearbox is available for the first time, replacing the one that jerkily changed a conventional 'box for you.

Prices of the hatchback version start at £19,495 for a car in Elegance trim with the small petrol engine and top out with the 180 horsepower diesel Prestige automatic at £25,495.

The DS 4 Crossback has a more restricted range, taking in two diesels but starting at the 1.2 litre petrol version at £21,745 and stretching to the top auto diesel for £26,495.

They all share the same modestly catwalk looks, with dramatic curves and creases and an interior that's both obviously well built and looks smart enough to give a junior Audi a run for its money.

Those look-at-me lines have consequences; the rear doors are tiny (even the DS people say they're 'for occasional use') and space is the back is tight. Larger adults need not apply.

Out on the road, the 150 horsepower diesel pulled strongly and returned 46mpg - way short of the official figure, but then that's the nature of the official test at the moment. A 1.2 petrol version showed 41mpg.

Both cars were restless on less than perfect roads but it's looks and perhaps even rarity value that will make the case for this DS as we wait for the full-on models to arrive.