Dani Sordo has given Citroen’s C4 WRC HYbrid4 its first proper competitive asphalt test on a selection of roads in Portugal.
The concept car, which was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show last year, was developed using Citroen’s current World Rally Championship contender as a base, with the addition of electrical propulsion system, weighing 150 kg, to supplement its petrol engine, gearbox, and transmission.
Dani Sordo put the hybrid Citroen's C4 WRC HYbrid4 through its paces. (Citroen) ยป More Photos
The hybrid system fitted to the car features four different modes. In internal combustion mode, the car behaves exactly like one of the Citroen Total team’s regular petrol engined C4 WRCs. In internal combustion mode with energy recovery switched on, braking performance is improved and a 990-cell Ion Lithium battery mounted above the petrol tank gets charged.
On road sections and in the service park, an electric mode can be selected which engages a 125 kW electric motor to drive the rear wheels only. Finally, boost mode - which employs both the petrol engine and the electric motor - gives an extra 300 Nm of torque.
/>
During the test session, which took place after Rally Portugal, Sordo helped evaluate the car in two different environments. Firstly, a road section that passed through the village of Barranco do Velho, which was open to normal traffic. And secondly, on a narrow and twisty road similar to an asphalt stage in the World Rally Championship.
“In electric mode, you can drive through villages without making the slightest noise, which is very unusual for a competition car,” said Sordo. “It’s better for the environment and also more comfortable for the crew, making road sections more pleasant.”
“On the stages, I would say that the overall behavior of the car is slightly different to that of the C4 WRC, with more weight to the rear,” he said after his first few flying kilometers 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...”
