Citroen DS4 Racing concept (2012) first pictures

Citroen is following up the DS3 Racing with a similarly heated-up version of the DS4: and the new 2012 DS4 Racing is unveiled today.

Like its smaller brother, the DS4 Racing has been developed by Citroen Racing, the team behind Seb Loeb and the French firm's dominating seven-time WRC world championship activities.

The race team takes a regular DS4 hatchback and goes about turning it into a proper hot hatch.

First, the visuals. There's a smattering of carbonfibre for ancillaries such as the diffuser, front splitter and wheelarch extensions, all wrapped up in a two-tone paint job. No weight losses have been mentioned yet, so it's difficult to say if they're cosmetic or functional.

Next up, the race team has fettled the DS4's chassis. The ride height is lowered by 35mm, the track stretched out - by 55mm at the front, a fulsome 75mm at the rear haunches - and it now rides on chunky, two-tone 19in wheels.

It bodes well. We loved the DS3 Racing, declaring it one of the most exciting hot hatches of 2010 when it starred on our cover. It has broad 234/40 tyres wrapped around upgraded 380mm discs to haul off the speed.

The speed? No figures are mentioned yet, but this is the most powerful series production Citroen of all time. It's only a humble 1.6 turbo, but this BMW-PSA unit has been turbocharged to high-heaven, liberating a stout 256bhp. We hope the innards are strong; that's a heady 160bhp-per-litre.

Happily, Citroen reports CO2 emissions remain at a lowish 155g/km. Kinda hints at a production future, when companies announce that sort of detail on a concept car.

For now, the DS4 Racing is a concept. But they said that about the DS3 Racing too, and look where that ended up. On the cover of CAR Magazine, that's where.

See the Citroen DS4 Racing at the 2012 Geneva motor show on 6 March. It comes as Citroen announces sales of 180,000 DS line cars since it relaunched the dormant luxury sub-brand.

By Tim Pollard