Zut alors! Doesn’t Citroen’s four-door Numero 9 concept, which was teased last month, look smashing?
These pictures of the French manufacturer’s hybrid-powered wagon have been delivered ahead of the N9′s debut at the upcoming 2012 Beijing motor show, hinting that Citroen’s DS sub-brand is about to get itself a new flagship. And we really, really hope it looks this good.
The styling flagellation begins with 21-inch wheels and ends just 1.27m later with a glass roof. But its massive 1.94m width and 4.9m length – only 1.79cm shorter than an S-Class – leave plenty of room to showcase that front-end. Citroen says: “It introduces the new identity of future models, along with an original light signature. The concept signals the styling cues of the next three DS line models: a premium sedan, an SUV and an executive saloon.”
Underneath the 1500kg shell, there’s full plug-in full-hybrid tech, which Citroen thinks will esteem to 70.5kmpl, 50km all-electric range, 295hp, and 39g/km of CO2. There’s also a deliciously Turbo Outrun-sounding ‘boost’ function, which combines the power of the combustion engine and electric motor, dispatching all 295 horsepowers at once. This means 0-100kmph takes 5.4 seconds and it’ll travel a 1,000m in 25.3 seconds from a standing start.
The drivetrain mashes a normal FWD combustion engine together with an electric motor – rechargeable in 3.5 hours, fact fans – on the rear axle that develops 70hp and 200 torques. If the car reckons you’re prodding the edge of adhesion, it switches itself to four-wheel-drive mode, which you can also summon manually. Which sounds useful.
