Citroen Reveals MINI Challenging DS3's 'Insides': Photos and Video Included

Taking advantage of the news-thirsty internet media, Citroen is slowly revealing new bits and pieces of its MINI rivaling DS Inside hatch that will be called DS3 when it enters production during the first quarter of 2010. Although the premium hatchback made its world debut as a thinly disguised concept at the 2009 Geneva Show in March, this is the first time that we get a chance to see the car's interior which is for the most part, production ready. The French automaker has yet to release details, but it is clear from the photos that the designers have tried to give the DS3's interior a contemporary and upscale feel.

Highlights include the two-tone leather sports seats, a neat instrument panel with three deeply-dished instrument dials, the flat bottomed three spoke steering wheel and the decorative chrome trim. Following in the footsteps of MINI, Citroen will offer DS3 buyers the chance to customize the interior with various individual options.

The DS3 that will not replace the C3 in Citroen's range, will be offered with a variety of four cylinder gasoline and diesel engines including the BMW and PSA Peugeot-Citroen developed 1.6-liter petrol unit in both naturally aspirated and turbocharged forms.

source: http://carscoop.blogspot.com

Insane Citroen 2CV built atop Ferrari F355 Chassis Complete with 3.5-liter V8!

Outrageous? You bet. Controversial? Sure. Ferrari blasphemy? Quite possibly. But come on, it's not like you get the chance every day to see an insane project like this. Created by a bunch of crazy Italians at Nimik, the car you see pictured above combines the modified body of the iconic French Citroen 2CV Fourgonnette bread-van with the chassis and 375bhp 3.5-liter V8 engine of a Ferrari F355! The Prancing Horse-Double Chevron crossbreed took around 1,500 man hours to complete and cost approximately €180,000 or the U.S. equivalent of $250,000.

Understandably, the project was no easy task as the two cars share nothing in common other than the fact that they come equipped with four wheels... The crew over at Nimik modified the 2CV's body which is much wider than the stock Fourgonnette and now features a pair of giga-sizes vents on the sides that feed air to the mid-mounted Italian V8 powerhouse that drives the rear wheels. If you think that the end-result looks cool in the photos just wait until you see the Ferrari 2CV in action in the video below.

source: http://carscoop.blogspot.com

Citroen Launches Funky Design Configurator for the DS Inside

It's been a while since we last heard anything new from Citroen, but the French automaker certainly caught our attention today with the announcement on the launch of the DS Inside Design Studio configurator. It's not very often that we get the chance to fool around with a concept car even though in this case, the DS Inside is much more of a pre-production model than a pure study. Users can choose between two basic styles, "Paris Night" and "Ethnic", with the configurator offering a seemingly endless array of color schemes.

The three-door premium hatchback that revives Citroen's iconic DS badge was unveiled to the public for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show in March. The production model that is slated to hit European showrooms sometime in 2010 will be positioned above the C3, which continues as normal.

source: http://carscoop.blogspot.com

Paris Show: Citroën Unleashes DS3 WRC Contender

Joining the world premieres of the MINI Countryman WRC and Ford Fiesta RS WRC at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, is Citroën's all-new contender for the 2011 World Rally Championship, the DS3 WRC in full racing livery.

The French firm's replacement for the multi-championship winning C4 WRC fully complies with the new FIA regulations with power coming from a 300hp 1.6-litre direct-injection turbocharged engine. The car also gets a four-wheel-drive system that incorporates a six-gear sequential gearbox and front and rear mechanical differentials.

"The DS3 WRC is designed to limit the budgets required to compete in the WRC", said Citroën in a statement. "The new FIA rules ban costly materials such as titanium and carbon-fibre, and standardise certain parts like the turbocharger and limit the changes that can be made to the vehicle during its lifetime. Rally nevertheless remains a great testing ground for driving new advances in vehicle technology."

The new DS3 WRC will make racing debut at the Rally Sweden in February 2011. The French firm has already confirmed two teams of the next racing season, Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena and Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia.

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