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Without doing a lot of in-depth market research, I'm just going to go out on a limb and say that there's probably not much consumer interest in a nine passenger, two (sliding) door, "lounge-style cocoon" rolling on low-rolling-resistance 22s with a leather floor. The all-wheel drive hybrid thing on an MPV, however, isnt' too big of a stretch.
There's no way this will ever come close to production, but we dig it and will bring you more from the show floor in Frankfurt.
You know, unless it's huge or funny or incredibly dangerous, I try to stay away from the recall threads. They're a little boring, a little tedeious and impact only a small number of our readers. Even fewer if it's a foreign recall.
This story will impact none of you, but it's one of the best recalls I've heard to date: See, the 20,000 examples of the Citroen C3 Picasso are being recalled in the UK because the passenger has the ability to activate the car's brakes. How you ask? Glad you're so inquisitive.
The car is French and they drive on the correct side of the road there and sit on the correct side, too. Not the British. They want right hand drive. And so, being French, Citroen gives in and builds them that way. Though they've done it all sorts of half-arsed by connecting the right-drive pedal to the left-hand-drive-side mounted brake interface. They didn't move everything over, just moved the pedal and hooked it up. This means that if the passenger hits just the right spot on the carpet, they get to control the brakes.
Handy if you're teaching someone to drive or if the driver dies on the motorway, a terrible idea any other time, though.
Follow over to the BBC to see video.
(Autoblog Via BBC News)
#parismotorshow The Citroen DS3 WRC was the third rally car unveiled here in Paris. Like the Fiesta and Mini Countryman WRC cars, it will use a a turbocharged and direct-injected 1.6-liter inline four-cylinder. Citroen rates the DS3 WRC's motor at 300 hp and 258 pound-feet of torque. It's hooked to a Sadev six-speed sequential gearbox that drives all four wheels. Sebastian Loeb can manually control the center differential, while the front and rear differentials are said to be auto-locking. Surely, though, Loeb has some say over just how auto they are.
Suspension consists of struts at all four corners with adjustable dampers. Brakes consist of 14-inch ventilated front discs and 11.8-inch ventilated rear discs, each with a four-piston caliper. Steering remains hydraulic-assist.
The Citroen Survolt debuted way back at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show, but the electric-vehicle concept is still pulling them in here in Paris. Putting a model next to the car never hurts, but there was an audience before she showed up. They weren't here to learn more about the Survolt's complex EV technology, because most likely, there really isn't any. Citroen suggests it's an EV tuned for track use, but it's only a suggestion, as the company offers no further details on a propulsion system of any kind.
In any case, the Survolt was still the best car in Citroen's very large booth in Paris.
On Sept 30, Citroen is going to reveal their new, DS3-Based rally car at the Paris Auto Show. This new car will replace the C4, which has been in service for Citroen-- winning three driver titles and two manufacturer titles -- for four years. The DS3 WRC will be a smaller car than the C4, and it will use a smaller, normally aspirated engine to satisfy the 2011 WRC rules. The point is to make the sport cheaper and more attractive to factory teams and privateers alike.
We'll have to wait on specifics and full images until the end of this month at the Paris Auto Show.
Previously: Citroen DS3 R3 Rally Car, Citroen DS3 First Driver
Yesterday, Forza Motorsports released new downloadable content for their fan favorite -- and currently available unlike some other racing games we won't mention-- Forza 3 racing simulator. The World Class Car Pack adds cars from Great Britain, Germany, Japan and France. Of course, the Good Ol' USA is represented as well with the 556-horsepower Cadillac CTS-V Coupe which you'll remember we tested last week. IRL.
The World Class Car Pack will run you 400 Microsoft Points ($5) and is available immediately via Xbox Live.
Full list of cars and Forza Classifications-- The CTS-V Coupe is an A511-- after the jump.
The DS3 RS is the rally version of Citroen's well regarded, Fiesta-sized DS3 hatchback. It has the same basic BMW-PSA turbocharged and direct-injected, 1.6-liter four-cylinder as the Mini Cooper S, though here in the DS3 RS it's tuned to produce 210 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. The gearbox is a six-speed sequential as in most other rally cars.
You can read more details about the car in our news story. Here's a video of Citroen WRC driver Dani Sordo running the DS3 RS around a road course. Note the mention at the end of the video that an out-of-the-box Citroen DS3 RS will cost privateer drivers 90,000 euros. Of course, you could also buy it as a kit for a bit less -- you know, in case you have trouble lining up your sponsors.
Citroen has released the first photos of the next-generation C4 hatchback today. Although we like to think of the current C4 as Sebastian Loeb's WRC car, in France, the C4 is just an ordinary family car. It doesn't come with all-wheel drive (front-drive only), and there aren't any exciting turbocharged engines.
That won't be changing on the 2011 Citroen C4, which debuts at this fall's 2010 Paris Auto Show. It's still an attractive hatchback, but it seems to have lost the edgy design of the current car. We don't suppose this matters now that the stylish Citroen DS3 has joined the lineup. The DS3 will provide the basis for Loeb's next rally car.
It's still about the size of a Toyota Matrix, at 170.4 inches long and 70.4 inches wide. The cars range from 2,650 to 3,000 pounds, depending on how you (the hypothetical French person) equip your 2011 C4.
Citroen will launch it with 5 different turbodiesels, the most potent of which makes about 148 horsepower (and a goodly amount of torque, we expect) and gets the family hatch to 60 mph in 8.5-8.6 seconds, according to Citroen. There are 5 gas engines, too, and the best of those makes 154 hp and is also good for a 0-to-60-mph run in the high 8s. Citroen will offer both a conventional manual gearbox and a six-speed automated manual transmission.
The 2011 C4 will include all the popular fuel-saving strategies, including start-stop technology, grip-who-needs-grip Michelin Energy Saver tires and an eTouch driver interface that monitors owners driving and fuel consumption habits and advises them on how to improve.
Video after the jump.
You may already know the Outlander Sport as the Mitsubishi RVR or ASX. Same difference, as all three refer to the same small SUV that Mitsu will build for the U.S., Japan and Europe, respectively. Today Mitsubishi announced that it will also build separate versions for Citroen and Peugeot. The French versions will go on sale in early 2012.
This is no surprise, as both halves of the French PSA alliance already sell a version of the larger Outlander crossover. Neither one has expertise at building the small SUVs that have carved out a niche in the European market. So they're calling upon Mitsu.
Notably, Peugeot and Citroen will use their own 1.6-liter HDi turbodiesel four-cylinder engine to keep fuel consumption to an absolute minimum on this small utility vehicle.
No idea what this is about or why it was made, but there are a few pretty good stunts involving Citroen 2CVs with some crafty "nuns" behind the wheel. Those kooky Frenchies.
WRC.com reported this morning that 2007 Formula World Champion Kimi Raikkonen will drive a Citroen C4 WRC for the Citroen junior team next season. The announcement comes as news that Fernando Alonso will join Ferrari in 2010 becomes official.
Bringing personal sponsor Red Bull with him, Raikkonen will join 25-year-old Sebastian Ogier on the junior squad.
Apparently winning the F1 driver's championship brings some clout because Raikkonen's rally experience is surprisingly limited in a sport where youth and enthusiasm is far less important that experience. He crashed out of Rally Finland last summer after running 15th overall in an S2000-class Fiat Abarth Grande Punto.
Petter Solberg, the 2003 World Rally Champion, will run next season in a C4 WRC under as his own team: The Petter Solberg World Rally Team. Solberg ran most of the 2009 season in a privately entered four-year-old Citroen Xsara WRC.
Mitsubishi has been struggling for years now, and a report out of Japan today from the Nikkei news service suggests that Mitsu is in the "final stages" of negotiating a deal with PSA, the alliance of the French automakers Peugeot and Citroen. PSA would take at least a 50-percent stake in Mitsubishi.
What's in it for these parties? Well, it's thought that Mitsubishi could really use cash and a partner with which to develop new models (the Lancer/Outlander family is its newest model line, remember, and that architecture dates back to Mitsu's defunct alliance with Chrysler).
Meanwhile, Peugeot-Citroen are said to be interested in Mitsubishi's work with electric cars (i.e., the i-MiEV) and SUVs (both companies already rebadge versions of the Outlander).
Although Mitsubishi is downplaying this report, it's expected that an announcement will come soon.
Photos sourced from Petter Solberg Blog
We've driven Sebastian Loeb's Citroen C4 WRC, and we rode shotgun while Loeb drove it. Now Petter Solberg offers his take on the C4 rally car. Stuck with an older Citroen Xsara for most of the 2009 season, the Subaru refugee has secured a factory-supported C4 to drive as a privateer in this weekend's Rally de Espana. Solberg will then drive it for Citroen's junior WRC team in Great Britain, the last race of the season.
"Compared to the Xsara, this car needs a more aggressive driving style and I need to learn where the limit is," Solbert said in an interview published on the WRC site. "That's why I did so many runs on the shakedown -- just to get more experience. I should have done much more testing before the rally, and also at home in the go-kart, but I just didn't have the time.
"I haven't driven on tarmac since Corsica last year, so of course it will take time to get into the full rhythm -- but it's coming. I hope to improve my speed throughout the whole weekend and see where we can be. Maybe somewhere in the top three -- I think it's possible."
More photos of the privateer WRC C4 after the jump, plus video of Solberg talking about what it's like to put together your own WRC team in two weeks.
This is a European-market commercial for Citroen, which is celebrating its 90th birthday in 2009. We're posting it here, because it's simply a nicely edited commercial with plenty of old, funny French cars, as well as topical stuff like Sebastian Loeb's C4 WRC car and the Citroen Gran Turismo. The soundtrack's good, too. Thanks to Bob Holland for the tip.
Citroen WRC driver Sebastian Loeb has confirmed he will drive a GP2 car in an official test session for the DPR team in Spain on October 8. There has been considerable speculation that Loeb would like to drive for Formula One, and this would be a step toward that goal. The Spain test is said to be a preparation for a more serious test on the Abu Dhabi circuit in early November.
A WRC press release reports that Loeb has modified his training regimen to be ready for open-wheel racing, apparently wearing a weighted helmet to strengthen his neck muscles.
We got a chance to drive Sebastian Loeb's Citroen C4 WRC car on a gravel rally stage next to the Paul Ricard Circuit in France. Though we suspect Loeb and his team of mechanics were none too eager to surrender the cockpit, we found the car surprisingly easy to drive quickly -- direct in its responses yet almost compliant over the potholes.
Then, Mr. Loeb took the wheel, and the man who was so stoic and reserved during our interview became positively chatty. At day's end, we realized we'd met the real Sebastien Loeb in his natural environment, doing what he was born to do.
Considering how many American autoworkers are losing their jobs this year, the reaction here has been comparatively mild. To our knowledge, no one has threatened to blow up a plant. But that's exactly what's going down in France right now.
All 316 workers at the partsmaker New Fabris will be losing their jobs after the factory closed June 16. New Fabris was a parts supplier to Renault and PSA (the Citroen-Peugeot alliance), and the workers are demanding 30,000 euros (almost $43,000) each in compensation from the automakers.
They've set a deadline of July 31, and workers are taking turns guarding cannisters of acetylene and butane once used to power tractors at the plant.
Auto Observer: French Auto Workers Threaten To Blow Up Factory
In another sign that cars and videogames go together like testosterone and remote controls, Citroen has partnered with Sony Computer Entertainment to launch a special-edition C-Crosser Exclusive PSP Edition.
It comes equipped with a PlayStation Portable Slim & Light, two games, a Memory Stick Pro Duo memory card and a mount in the back of the front-seat headrest for the PSP. The one-off vehicle is based on 160 HDi FAP version of the C-Crosser, which is equipped with Xenon headlights, AC, electronic stability control, Bluetooth hands-free phone capability, Citroen's NaviDrive navigation system and a music server that can store up to 2,500 digital tunes.
The Citroen C-Crosser Exclusive PSP Edition will be priced between 28,344 and 33,990 Euros, depending on which blog you want to believe. But our videogame fiend friends across the pond will have to spend more to feed the gaming addiction of backseat passengers.
TRG and ZerCustoms
Reports surfaced earlier this week that Citroen was planning a new line of near-luxury cars with the iconic DS nameplate
. Late yesterday the company released a bunch of photos of the Citroen DS Inside concept, which will be in its booth at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show
. The DS Inside is about the size of a Mini Cooper Clubman
and it's a prologue to the Citroen DS3 production car. Larger DS4 and DS5 models will follow.
We've gathered the photos of the Citroen DS Inside here and there's no denying it looks cool, provided you like the recent crop of short, squat hatchbacks (anything from the Mini family, Fiat 500, Kia Soul) and provided you like cars that look French. We're not sure about the contrasting roof, though, as it makes Citroen's cribbing from the Mini Cooper look a bit too obvious.
Inside Line News -- Leaked: Citroen DS
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