Citroen shows off DS3 WRC in Paris for next year’s WRC

The car comes with a 4 cylinder 1.6 liter turbocharged direct injection engine where this is the first model that Citroen has designed all the components of its powerhouse themselves. In fact, so serious are they about maintaining the originality of the model, Citroen also has designed and developed the parts which include the cylinder block and the head. This new model will be replacing the C4 WRC model which has since won the title but will no longer be used due to the changes in the rules.

The direct injection engine has become the de facto standard for next year’s championship and this is one area which Citroen engineers discovered to be challenging when they have to combined it with a forced induction turbocharger and after having done so in their Satory test track back in July found that their solution has been very promising.

Their drivers of Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier and Dani Sordo together with Phillippe Bugalski, their long term test driver have all put in many hours and effort onto this new monster to get it ready to start when the season kicks off. They have also redesigned the wings and bumpers on this one and ran quite a substantial tunnel testing since the project kicked off last year.

As with rally cars, they have the highly safe bucket seats which Citroen has designed themselves. Having won the manufacturers’ title in the last 2 seasons while their lead driver Sebastien Loeb won his seventh title, Citroen would not be dampened by the change of rules and will be going all out to ensure that their success continues. The new DS3 WRC is paired with a 6 speed sequential gearbox with a totally manual gearshift lever installed. This is because starting next season, the semi-automatic and steering mounted controls will no longer be allowed. Hence, the challenge are there and Citroen seemed to have the answers, now it is onto the tracks.