Citroen has announced details of what will undoubtedly be one of its stars of the show, the DS3 Cabrio Racing. The 205hp ragtop is mechanically identical to the DS3 Racing hatchback and is officially badged as a concept.
Exterior
Looking moody in Moondark matt textured grey paintwork the DS3 Cabrio R also rolls on special gloss back 19-inch alloys and sports Black Chrome inserts for the handles, boot trim and door mirrors. The mirrors also feature the distinctive DS logo engraved on them with the pattern replicated on the folding ragtop in gloss weave with a carbon-fibre look.
Meanwhile the brake callipers, wheel hubs, doors with wide side strips and parts of the lettering and badge are coloured in Carmin red.
Interior
Carmin red is carried over inside where it features on the seats, dashboard and gearshift before spreading to the seat housings and dashboard. The bucket seats are finished in the distinctive watchstrap design in three types of fabric - Napa full-grain leather, DS-embossed leather and Alcantara - and special DS pearl top-stitching. There also appears to be a similarly upholstered child seat mounted in the middle.
Mechanicals
Like its hatchback sibling the Cabrio follows the tried and trusted formula of using a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine that delivers 205hp mated to a six-speed manual transmission and a Citroen Racing tuned chassis with bigger brakes. The folding ragtop does mean the Cabrio Racing weighs 25kg more than the hatch but Citroen says this does not stunt performance with a 0-100km/h time of 6.5 seconds and top speed of 235km/h.
Anything else?
The one-off car that will debut at Goodwood is officially badged as a concept but we would not be surprised to see the Cabrio Racing make it to limited production during 2014.