If you are seeking a lightweight, high-powered road car, there's no more relevant form of motorsport than WRC, where Citroen's Sebastien Loeb has just won his eighth consecutive drivers title. Hence the presentation of the Citroen DS4 Racing Concept at the Geneva International Motor Show next month (March 2012) is exciting news for small car enthusiasts.
WRC is unquestionably the most relevant sport when it comes to the relationship between perfromance road cars and real world conditions, so you can be certain the DS4R is likely to have precision handling. Citroen has dominated the World Rally Championship for a decade using three different cars - the Xsara, the C4 and now this car's baby brother, the DS3.
The DS4 Racing gets a wider track front and rear and has been lowered 35 mm with different suspension, 4-piston-caliper 380mm disc brakes, and larger diameter 19-inch wheels and 235/40 tyres.
The engine is a 1.6-litre turbo petrol unit producing 256 bhp, which calculates to a very impressive 160 bhp per liter.
Lashings of carbon fiber adorn the DS4R, including the air diffuser, front splitter and wheel arch extensions, all offset by a textured-effect matt grey paint, which catches the light to further enhance the lines of the car.
No production plans have been announced, so no price has been considered. Perhaps most remarkable of all is that despite what is expected to be extreme performance, the DS4R emits 155 grams of CO2 per kilometer.