The French Hot Hatch Is Back: Citroen DS4 Racing

Are you considering a VW Golf R, Subaru STI or Evo but find all of them to be lacking that certain je ne sais quoi?  Sure, they're all capable 4WD turbocharged fun rockets, but they're not French enough.  They don't have that proper elbow resting position on the door for you to drape your Gauloises out the window while you nonchalantly change gears.  They're not Gallic enough.  It's galling.  I'm full of French puns.  What to do if you must get to Au Bon Pain quickly, in the rain, in Paris?

Well, a Golf will not do.  Neither will a Subarbishi.  You need a proper scorching French hot hatch, something weird and fast, that seemed to have died when the last Renaultsport Clio V6 rolled off the former Alpine production line in Dieppe back in 2005.  Good news!  Citroen might have your ticket!  Meet the DS4 Racing concept, which will be shown at Geneva next month.

The DS4 Racing is of course a high-performance version of the DS4, the upmarket version of the C4.  You want weird?  Bam!  Five-door hatchback, hidden rear door handles, and no the rear windows don't roll down.  Is it a people carrier?  An off-roader?  A hatch?  Who knows, but now there will be a fast version.  Previously the DS4 was available with three versions of the PSA 1.6L (shared with Mini)- naturally aspirated, and two turbo models with 155 or 200bhp.  The DS4R ups the ante with a highly modified version of the 1.6L Turbo which puts out a ridiculous 256 horsepower - that's 160bhp/l, if you care - while only emitting 155g/km CO2.  Impressive.  This compares to 260-270bhp for the 2.0L Golf R, depending on which market it's sold in.

The DS4R has visual tweaks to differentiate from the standard model, of course.  There's a new front bumper with larger air intakes, side skirts, flared wheel arches, and a new rear bumper with a diffuser and integrated exhaust tips.  The Racing is dropped 35mm lower than the normal model (so no more off-roader?) and rides on a wider track - 55mm front, 75mm rear - to fit larger rubber.  It's just a concept, but being a Citroen I see no reason that the sinister matte-black finish wouldn't make it to production.  We'll find out more about the DS4R with it's debut at Geneva next month, but in the mean time check out the gallery below.