Citroen launches hybrid rally car
October 3, 2008 by George Skentzos
It seems green is the new black even in motorsport with Citroen unveiling the world’s first hybrid World Rally Car.
The Citroen C4 WRC HYmotion4 features a hybrid energy recovery system which delivers added performance and lower emissions.
Unveiled at the Paris Auto Show overnight as a concept, the new car boasts a split livery portraying its familiar competition war paint on one side and a more ‘restful’ colour scheme on the other.
The system recovers energy produced during braking and stores it in a pack of lithium-ion batteries positioned over the fuel tank.
When required, this energy can be used to power a 125kW electric motor which is connected to the rear differential, providing an instant torque boost.
The driver can select one of four operating modes for the hybrid system, depending on the situation.
- Internal combustion engine mode: the most frequently-used mode for the C4 WRC (used on stages and some on road sections).
- Internal combustion engine mode with energy recovery: activated on stages; improves the brakes’ resistance to fade and charges the batteries.
- Electric motor mode with energy recovery: used on road sections (untimed), in built-up areas or in the service park; contributes to increasing the car’s range, reduces noise in built-up areas, and permits the internal combustion engine not to be used when it is not indispensable.
- Boost mode (internal combustion engine and electric modes combined): can be selected at the desired moment on a stage to benefit from an additional 300Nm of torque for a limited time.
Print it: 
Nice. This is what we need. Motorsport putting money into alternative car technologies. Big bucks will always lead to better technology.
Besides, that is the wickedest looking car, I’d love to have a road legal version.
as if the master, Sebastion Loeb needs anymore help.
good on citroen to break some new ground in wrc.
Is this just KERS in a World Rally Car?
on the face it appears to be the KERS that BMW are toiling with for the 09 F1 season.
All good and well BUT i noticed they don’t tell how much faster all this technology will make it go!!!
Being the skeptic that I am, I have a feeling that this could be more about marketing Citroën’s green credentials than about performance.
A sudden boost of 300Nm of torque is going to make a difference to acceleration.
The F1 KERS under development at present is limited to 60kW and only 8 seconds per lap use. A quote from Ross Brawn:
“KERS has a performance gain, the downside is accommodating the various elements,” he says. “The performance gain is marginal at the moment, but we haven’t exploited the full potential of it. Two to three tenths of a second per lap gain but the extra weight (between 15-30 kilos) cancels that out, it may be that some of the teams won’t start the season with it. “
The Citroen system gives double the amount of power and is not limited by time. There is a battery pack and electric motor though. I think it would give a net gain but I am not sure by how much.
Supercujo, isn’t there a minimum weight for the cars? Don’t they make the cars lighter than the allowed limit and add ballast to give the car the best weight distribution and be the lightest possible? If that is true, then the new KRES system’s weight shouldn’t have any effect on times (when not in use), unless it disturbs the balance of the cars.
A pity about all the greenhouse gases building the thing and all the fuel used in its transportation.
The car itself won’t be any better for the environment because the petrol engine will still be driven just as hard as any other rally engine.
I guess there might be a bit of saving at transport stages.
Awesome technology though.
Now who can make the first fully electric race car.
Neat!
Wonder what the “Casque/Mickey” switch does. Ripper to Disneyland mode at the filck of a switch.
Whatch-out for Citroens diesel/hybrid prius muncher at the Paris show.
I’ve got to get me a roof spoiler like that. Where can I get that? Is this spoiler mass produced?