Citroen DS3 Racing past March 11, 2010
Posted by richard in : History, Minutiae of cars, Motorsport , add a commentWHY only 1000 Citroen DS3 Racings, I asked the Citroen man at the Geneva Motor Show.
Surely you could make it a permanent addition to the range, underlining its MINI John Cooper Works-challenging status?
The reason why, he revealed, was a blast from the past. It’s a mainstream maker’s homologation special. Like the Ford Escort RS 1600i, like the Alfa Romeo 155 Silverstone, like the Mercedes 190 Evolution. And thus, for me, cool.
It’s even diverted off the production line for final finishing: Citroen Racing (for it is they) send the instructions to the production line men, who add on a ‘parts kit’ of bits that turn a standard DSport into a DS3 Racing.
Changes include:
• Stiffer springs, lowered by 15mm
• New-spec front and rear dampers
• 30mm wider track front and rear
• 4-piston brake calipers
• Drilled rear brake discs
• 18-inch alloys
• Wing extensions
• Carbon-fibre air diffuser
• Remapping software for EPAS and ESP (including ‘off’ button)
Chuck in an interior makeover and STRICT limitations to 1000 units, and you have something that won’t be cheap but will be exceedingly collectable.
It’s quick, too. The 1.6 THP turbo has, at 200hp, 30 percent more power, plus 15 percent more torque. Thank uprated components, tuned turbo and remapped ECU for this. Rortiness is provided by a special exhaust back box.
But what is it homologation for? Next year’s new WRC rules, that’s what. These stipulate more real world cars with front-drive chassis. Kimi Raikkonen will be driving one of these next year. We’ll be able to buy one before that.
Citroen, you’ve sold me: add my name to the press fleet booking list now, please..!
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Journo in petrol engine love shock February 19, 2010
Posted by richard in : Technology , add a commentNOWADAYS it is rare for motoring journalists to get excited over mainstream petrol engines.
Yes, we love our 6-pots, and get super-excited in these dying days of the V8. There’s an ethereal silence when we behold a V12.
But cooking new 4-cylinder 1.4s and the like? Lord, no. Even though the majority of small hatches sold are petrol engined, we still like to eulogise over the crazy money diesels. Well, quite right, given how good the modern diesel is.
Anyone who chooses, say, a 2.0 petrol Mondeo over its diesel equivalent really does need to ask a few logic-based questions.
So I wasn’t really expecting much from the Citroen C3 1.4 VTi 95 I had in this week. Starting it up, and hearing the familiar old PSA XU cam-clatter kinda reinforced my lack of whelm. And the god-awful digitally on-off nature of the throttle had me yearning for a nice 1.6 HDi 90.
An hour later, hat was eaten. This engine is brilliant. Smooth, powerful, torquey, classy in vocals and peachy in ability to take on Maybachs heading north on the M1, I fell in love. 1.4 VTi? One of the modern small car engine greats, it is.
And you don’t need to be a Citroen fan to enjoy it, either. PSA management is sharp, alright – it collaborated with no less than BMW on this unit, perhaps explaining why it’s so fantastic. This means not only is it in the Peugeot 207, it’s also in the MINI.
Never driven a MINI One, or a MINI First. Seriously must get one out – because if the engine’s as good as it is here, that car could be a bit of an understated peach. Certainly preferable to the – shock horror – clattery and not-so-loveable MINI Cooper D diesel…
First Impressions: Citroen C3 2010
First impressions: Citroen C3 2010 February 9, 2010
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars, flickr , 2commentsFIRST impressions are everything. And so on. And on. There are a billion quotes or more I could reference. Which have given me an idea.
Here, I’m going to share those first few seconds, miles and minutiae of new, interesting, intriguing or plain cool cars with you.
Motor industry God, Richard Parry-Jones, said it was all about the 50 metre test*. Here’s a loose variation on this – something so new, I don’t even have a fancy title for it yet.
The first car to be sat in for 5 minutes, driven for a couple of miles then parked up again while I have a cup of tea is the new 2010 Citroen C3.
Head over to Flickr and let me know what you think of what I thought.
Oh, and once I’ve actually driven it some meaningful distance, I plan to post back here with more rounded impressions. Just so’s you can compare suspicion with, hopefully, a bit more reality.
Share here what you think of what I fleetingly think and share with you…
* ‘You can tell how good any car is within 50 metres from the ways it responds to your inputs and provides feedback,’ Parry-Jones told Brian Appleyard in The Times. ‘It should feel connected and coherent. If you work hard enough, you can do this for ordinary customers at ordinary prices.’
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Citroen top (3) engine revelation May 29, 2009
Posted by richard in : Green cars , add a commentCITROEN wants to become Europe’s third-largest brand.
No, I’m not sure how, either. Right now, it’s seventh-largest.
Sixth? Its partner, Peugeot. So, a right old odd statement for new chief Jean-Marc Gales to make, then. I’m still puzzling over it. But what also caught my eye in the Automotive News interview he gave was another revelation.
That Citroen doesn’t need to produce 6 or 7 million cars to survive and thrive. Because, instead, it enjoys economies of scale from compnents alliances with other car makers. Meaning it can make big-number money on smaller-number car production.
Take engines. Citroen co-operates with Ford and BMW on them. Which, Gales tells Automotive News, are the most expensive parts to develop in a car. Pair up, share the costs with a partner or two, and that’s a whole heap of cash you don’t have to claw back in higher-volume efficiencies of scale.
But yet something else grabbed my attention in what he said. Engines remain the most expensive bit of all, aye? Well, I’ll be.
Explains a lot, mind. Why the VW TDI is omnipresent. Why car makers are so willing to sign up to co-opt deals. Why the Ford 1.25-litre Zetec is a decade and a half old.
And why electric or fuel cell cars can’t be that far away, surely.
Yes, they’re expensive. But if developing tomorrow’s combustion engines is also heinously dear, won’t car makers soon consider designing a new generation of IC engines to be economically unviable?
Car brands always look to the future. And, Lord knows, it ain’t in fossil-fuel-hungry ICs. Developing a new range to meet, say, 2012/2015 emissions legislation won’t be easy. Or cheap.
Whether Citroen will indeed be in the EU Top 3 by then is, of course, another matter entirely.
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CITN: Citroen C1 RV threat? March 24, 2009
Posted by richard in : News clues , add a commentCitroen, like model partners Peugeot and Toyota, shifts a fair few C1s in the UK.
That tally was boosted recently, by a substantial 1320, thanks to a deal with AccuRead. The meter reading company’s taking these cars on, for 18 months, to cover 13,000 miles a year reading, well, meters.
They’re all 1.0 five-door Rhythm 1.0-litres. In black, silver, or one of two greys. And may be extended by another six months if the demand is there.
All fine and dandy.
However, Citroen has also accurately revealed a potential blow to its C1 RVs in a few years’ time.
See, more than 10 per cent of annual sales coming from one order always leaves things slightly out of your control. The used market now knows that 1.0 five-door Rhythm C1s will be more plentiful if they wait – so could mark current cars down a little in knowledge of this.
They’ll know that silver, black or grey cars could have faced a little more abuse, so may want to avoid them. They’ll also know they could face greater refurbishment costs if they buy them ‘as seen’, so will try to avoid this on a car that, until now, has been predominantly retail.
Further to that, they’ll know that this could also mark a shift in Citroen’s thinking for the C1. All companies want to go green nowadays. Is this deal setting out the brand’s stall for drawing in fleets, who want large numbers of eco cars, at a low price?
So many ponderables. Until now, the C1’s RVs have been excellent. It’ll be worth watching if they vary from the similarly high figures of its 107 and Toyota Aygo siblings over the coming months…
What I learnt from Autocar – 18 March 09 March 19, 2009
Posted by richard in : What I learned today , add a comment… I saw a heavily cloaked test car a few weeks ago on the M42. Looked like a Jaguar, beneath the disguise. It was – the new XJ, which Hilton says will be unveiled in June.
It was going to be a reskin of the current model, but is much more than that. Jaguar’s taken the lessons from the XF – a rehashed S-Type – and applied them here, for an extensive overhaul using the same air-suspension wheelbase.
Styling will wow. Jaguar designer Adam Hatton stressed as much over a beer late last year, at a function in the Cotswolds… and I believe the Malvern-dwelling dude (who rates the Citroen C4, but doesn’t like the new MINI).
There’s even going to be an all-glass panoramic roof.
Jag’s 3.0-litre V6 diesel will feature: this is so powerful and eco, it makes the V8 diesel redundant. Range Rover only for that, then? Seems an expensive way of doing things.
… VW’s said it’s planning a Bluesport range of green performance cars. Like Bluemotion, but faster. Raking in more profits, then.
… Mercedes will sell a diesel version of the next SLK, due in two years. As it’s based on the fine current C-Class platform, expect the brilliant C 250 CDI engine to feature.
… Sweden is not to ban petrol and diesel in 2020. It will ban them in 2030 instead. So that’s why Saab and Volvo are so big on biofuels…
