WRC
Citroen C4 WRC HYbrid4 test summary
The Citroen C4 WRC HYbrid4 takes to the stages The day after the fourth round of this year's WRC season in Portugal, which was won by the C4 WRC, Citroen Racing did some testing with the Citroen C4 WRC HYbrid4 concept car on an asphalt road close ...
Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:50 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Citroen C4 WRC HYbrid4 takes to the stages
The day after the fourth round of this year's WRC season in Portugal, which was won by the C4 WRC, Citroen Racing did some testing with the Citroen C4 WRC HYbrid4 concept car on an asphalt road close to Faro. Spanish star Dani Sordo was at the wheel.
Having been born out of the Citroen Racing team's creative desire to perfect a competitive yet innovative racer, the Citroen C4 WRC HYbrid4 project met with a warm reception when it was presented at the Paris Motor Show. The concept went on to make a hit at the Bologna Motor Show and then at the opening ceremony of the Rally Norway. Since the Geneva Motor Show, it carries the new livery of the title-winning Citroen C4 WRC. The Citroen C4 WRC HYbrid4 was developed using Citroen's current World Rally Championship contender as a base. An electrical propulsion system has been added to the internal combustion engine, gearbox, and transmission that are specific to the WRC machine.
The addition of a 990-cell Ion Lithium battery on top of the petrol tank and a 125 kW electric motor driving the rear wheels puts an extra 150 kg onto the overall weight.
"This system, developed by Citroen Racing, allows the driver to choose between four different modes of functionality" explains Didier Clement, one of the race engineers. "In internal combustion mode, the Citroen C4 WRC HYbrid4 behaves exactly like one of the C4 WRCs that compete on the World Rally Championship. In internal combustion mode with energy recovery switched on, braking endurance is improved and the batteries get charged. On road sections and in the service park, electric mode with energy recovery means that there is less nuisance, increased range and less wear on the conventional engine. Finally, boost mode which employs both the internal combustion engine and the electric motor gives an extra 300 Nm of torque when engaged."
The two engines are linked to the same drivetrain. The driver can choose electric mode simply by switching on the ignition without starting the internal combustion engine. The gearbox paddles then give him a choice of three settings: forwards, backwards and neutral.
Didier Raso, an electrical and systems engineer, comments: "The objective with this project was to be able to use the electric motor to drive on some of the road sections. This fully operational concept responds to that design brief. Citroen Racing wanted to show its ability to adapt this technology to motorsport. If at any point in the future the regulations permit the use of hybrid technology, we will be able to react straight away."
During the test session, Citroen Total World Rally Team driver Dani Sordo was able to evaluate the dynamic properties of the C4 WRC HYbrid4. One of the highlights of the day was a road section that passed through the village of Barranco do Velho, which was of course open to normal traffic. This allowed the team to assess the advantages of zero emissions in a life-sized context.
The second part of the test was a somewhat more familiar territory for Citroen Racing's development team: a narrow and twisty asphalt road, not at all dissimilar to many of the demanding stages seen on the World Rally Championship.
Following the three challenging days of Rally Portugal, which resulted in a third place for Dani Sordo, the young Spaniard looked forward to his latest task with enthusiasm. " In electric mode, you can drive through villages without making the slightest noise, which is very unusual for a competition car " he reported during the hybrid car's test. "It's better for the environment and also more comfortable for the crew, making road sections more pleasant."
Sordo's comments on the car's pure performance were equally complimentary. "On the stages, I would say that the overall behaviour of the car is slightly different to that of the C4 WRC, with more weight to the rear" he reported after his first few flying kilometres in internal combustion mode. "The boost function means that we can choose when to benefit from extra torque under acceleration. When it comes in, the effect is impressive."
Just as is the case on the C4 WRC, the car set-up and tyre choice allow the driver to fine-tune the handling. "The feeling is on the whole the same as the one I have with the standard rally car, " added Sordo. " And I love the way that the C4 goes on asphalt!"
Throughout this test session, which well and truly underlined the creativity of Citroen Racing, the Citroen C4 WRC HYbrid4 demonstrated all the credentials that make it an important technological advance in rallying. Driving a C4 HYbrid4 that nonetheless has several things in common with his usual car, Dani Sordo successfully completed a fruitful test in which several valuable lessons were learned for the future.
-credit: citroen
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article M-Sport to development new Super 2000 rally car
Next article Rally Argentina: Citroen WRT preview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Didier Clément
Wales Rally GB: The DS3 WRCs look to confirm
WRC
WRC
Rally Wales GB
Wales Rally GB: The DS3 WRCs look to confirm
Double rations for the DS3 WRCs
WRC
WRC
Rally de Espana
Double rations for the DS3 WRCs
Home advantage for the DS3 WRCs!
WRC
WRC
Rallye de France
Home advantage for the DS3 WRCs!
More from
Citroën World Rally Team
Citroen reveals new-look 2025 WRC line-up
WRC
WRC
Rally Monte Carlo
Citroen reveals new-look 2025 WRC line-up
Ostberg gets full WRC2 season with Citroen
WRC
WRC
Ostberg gets full WRC2 season with Citroen
Citroen open to making WRC car available to privateers
WRC
WRC
Citroen open to making WRC car available to privateers
Latest news
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
6 h
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Phoenix
6 h
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
General
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
Yamaha boss on MotoGP changes under Liberty: 'We must be careful not to lose our fans'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Japanese GP
9 h
Yamaha boss on MotoGP changes under Liberty: 'We must be careful not to lose our fans'
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe