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Marton Pettendy4 Jun 2015
NEWS

Walkinshaw working on hot DS3

Limited-edition local aftermarket performance kit coming for smallest DS, as full-house Citroen DS3 Racing finally firms for Oz

Walkinshaw Automotive Group (WAG) is close to releasing an Australian-developed aftermarket performance package for Citroen's hottest hatch, the recently upgraded DS3.

motoring.com.au understands Walkinshaw will release the DS3 power-up kit, which could provide existing DS3 owners with similar outputs to the wild 147kW DS3 Racing hot hatch sold in Europe, later this month.

At the same time, Citroen's DS3 Racing itself appears one step closer to local release after repeated pleas by Citroen Automobiles Australia for the French car-maker's hottest model, which underpins its successful presence in the World Rally Championship.

The 'DS3R' has been an off and on prospect Down Under since its European introduction in 2010, but its manufacturer (Citroen Racing – the same outfit behind the marque's record eight WRC wins), has never approved its release here because of Australia's classification as a 'hot climate'.

That now appears to have changed, in part because Citroen's sister brand Peugeot has since released the 208 GTi and 308 GT here, powered by closely related 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engines.

Citroen Australia told motoring.com.au that if a local business case for the DS3R is successful, it could arrive Down Under next year.

Originally released as a limited-edition restricted to 1000 units globally – all 200 right-hand drive versions of which were earmarked for the UK — the DS3R is Citroen's direct competitor for light-size hot hatches like the Volkswagen Polo GTI, Ford Fiesta ST, Renault Clio RS200, Skoda Fabia RS, Abarth 595 and the 208 GTi.

But with up to 152kW of power at 6000rpm and 275Nm of torque at 2000rpm in Europe, its 1.6 turbo-petrol four packs more power than all but the Clio RS, which it eclipses in terms of torque.

Claimed to hit 100km/h in just 6.5 seconds, it features a range of Citroen Racing upgrades, including 18-inch alloys with sticky 215/40 rubber, 30mm wider front and rear tracks, a 15mm lower ride height with shorter springs and recalibrated dampers, remapped stability/traction control, new cross-drilled brake rotors with four-pot callipers and a sharper steering set-up.

The DS3R is suitably enhanced visually too, via a muscular aero kit comprising pumped wheel-arches and a beefier front bumper, side skirts and diffuser-equipped rear bumper, plus a pair of racing bucket seats and loads of orange and carbon-fibre interior highlights – all wrapped in distinctive white/grey or orange/black paint schemes.

However, if it eventually arrives here, the DS3R will be a $40,000-plus proposition, making it far pricier than other sub-$30K B-segment hot hatches, as well as the sub-$40K 141kW MINI Cooper S, and up there with the sub-$50K 170kW MINI JCW and (AWD) Audi S1.

Walkinshaw's DS3 kit, on the other hand, could offer similar performance for under $5000, and it will be an affordable retro-fit option for all existing and future owners of the standard DS3 DSport, which was released here in September 2010.

CAA released a facelifted DS3 two-door range in April, when it axed the entry-level 88kW DS3 DStyle with four-speed auto, and released an upgraded version of the manual-only DS3 DSport priced at $33,990 for the hatch (up $4250) and $36,590 for the cabrio (up $3600).

Changes included more power (121kW – up from 115kW, with peak torque unchanged at 240Nm) and a claimed $5500 worth of added value including Active City Brake autonomous emergency braking, a reversing camera, tyre pressure monitoring, LED/xenon combination headlights, parking sensors, satellite-navigation, auto headlights and wipers, heated and power-folding wing mirrors and an auto-dimming interior mirror.

As an aside, Citroen hopes to reintroduce a new base version of the DS3 next year, fitted with the PSA group's new 1.2-litre turbo-petrol engine and a new six-speed automatic transmission.

Walkinshaw will not confirm details of its DS3 engine upgrade until later this month, but we understand it will bring significant performance gains over the standard 2015 DSport's 121kW engine.

Power outputs of the Racing-spec DS3 engine are market-specific in Europe, where it produces 152kW in some countries and 149kW in others, but peak power is likely to be pegged to the same 147kW as the 208 GTi here, due to Australia's lower quality fuel.

While the DS3R runs an older Euro 5 emissions-compliant engine, the latest 1.6 turbo-petrol engine in both the 208 GTi and the 308 GT, which offers 151kW and 285Nm, meet Euro 6 regs.

Walkinshaw remains cagey about exact outputs for the Walkinshaw-fettled DS3 until development work is complete, but our sources say a new exhaust system and cold air intake modifications have been signed off and will bring only incremental peak power and torque gains.

More noticeable will be improvements to throttle response, bottom-end torque delivery, in-gear acceleration and a sportier exhaust note.

However, apart from inlet and exhaust upgrades, we understand Walkinshaw is also working on engine calibration as part of a package that – in a first for the Melbourne-based performance tuner and sister company to HSV — could allow owners to alter their car's performance via a plug-in tool.

It's believed that if Walkinshaw can integrate this engine remapping process seamlessly, the local DS3 kit – which comes with the full backing and support of CAA — will deliver virtually the same performance as the DS3R, but will likely cost more.

Either way, like all Walkinshaw Performance products, the kit will come with a full powertrain warranty and will be available for fitment and aftersales support via its Australia-wide network of accredited agents.

The bad news is that at this stage Walkinshaw, which will conduct final testing soon, is only planning to produce 30 kits on a first come first served basis.

Watch this space for more details over the coming weeks when Walkinshaw announces full pricing and specifications about its DS3 kit, and Citroen Australia reveals more about its DS3 Racing plans.

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