Citroën Racing and Sébastien Loeb will take part in the X Games Los Angeles 2012 with a Citroën DS3 ‘XL’ sporting Red Bull and Total colours to fight X Games expert Travis Pastrana.
Citroën Racing has developed a very special DS3 called XL, as in X Games and Loeb! Based on a car built by Hansen Motorsport, the seven-time World Rally Championship-winning team has introduced a healthy dose of Créative Technologie by making a series of modifications.
“It’s always exciting to try out a new category and attempt to get the most out of the regulations,” confirmed Cyrille Jourdan, lead engineer for the project at Citroën Racing.
“From a distance, the Rallycross DS3 looks quite similar to the WRC. Although the design of the chassis and suspension systems are fairly similar, the powertrain is fundamentally different. The DS3 XL’s two-litre turbo engine develops 545bhp and 800Nm of torque. Its acceleration isn’t far off that of an F1 car, covering 0 to 100kph in 2.4 seconds!”
Compared with a rally car, the absence of co-driver and spare wheels means the engineers are required to rework the weight distribution.
After completing final preparations in Citroën Racing’s Versailles workshops, Citroën DS3 XL was put through its paces by Sébastien Loeb at the Dreux racetrack.
Citroën Racing has developed a very special DS3 called XL, as in X Games and Loeb! Based on a car built by Hansen Motorsport, the seven-time World Rally Championship-winning team has introduced a healthy dose of Créative Technologie by making a series of modifications.
“It’s always exciting to try out a new category and attempt to get the most out of the regulations,” confirmed Cyrille Jourdan, lead engineer for the project at Citroën Racing.
“From a distance, the Rallycross DS3 looks quite similar to the WRC. Although the design of the chassis and suspension systems are fairly similar, the powertrain is fundamentally different. The DS3 XL’s two-litre turbo engine develops 545bhp and 800Nm of torque. Its acceleration isn’t far off that of an F1 car, covering 0 to 100kph in 2.4 seconds!”
Compared with a rally car, the absence of co-driver and spare wheels means the engineers are required to rework the weight distribution.
After completing final preparations in Citroën Racing’s Versailles workshops, Citroën DS3 XL was put through its paces by Sébastien Loeb at the Dreux racetrack.