"La Paris" Exclusive: Citroen C-Metisse Hybrid-Diesel Concept

Cool looking car, although I wonder what the advantage of four gull wing doors would be. Wouldn't the hinge supports, gas cylinder lifts, etc, add a lot to the weight?

Citroen has come up with some novel ideas; my favorite was the driver adjustable oil-pressure shocks that allowed the driver to vary the ground clearance from "autobahn low" to "semi-off road high" depending on the load. The driver could do this while the car was in motion, so you could have a Citroen sedan doing a kind of wave motion as it cruised down the street.

The Deux Chevaux was another gem. A fellow student at the pensione I lived in when I was a college student in Florence had one that she named "Toad". I never had a chance to ride in it. It looked pretty flimsy even measured against the Fiat Cinquecento (500) which is about the size of the original Mini-Cooper.

Hopefully, as the fuel situation continues to devolve, America will get some of these interesting and cute cars, many of which are well engineered and as safe as you can make a small car.
B

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen @ Sep 11 2006, 12:59 PM) [snapback]317826[/snapback]</div>

They accomplish being really cool. That's it. This is not likley a car being designed solely for fuel effiency. I'd bet that this is just another implementation of hybrid technology to do what it does well - reduce emissions and increase performance. Improved fuel effieciency is a desirable by product of the real hybrid advantages. Look at the luxury and SUV hybrids out now.

The Highlander get measurably better gas mileage, but its emissions are cut way back, and with the additional total horsepower of the hybrid system, it goes 0-60 about a full second faster than its conventional engine counterpart. Toyota could have decided gas mileage was the only real target and designed a hybrid system that needed even less fuel but would not perform any better than the straight gas powered version. Then you have people calculating the gas savings against the higher purchase prices. But Toyota packages it right. "The car gets better mileage and has more power." An easier sell.

The hybrid Accord doesn't get significantly higher mileage than the four cylinder verison of the same car, but it performs as well or better than the V6. The difference is almost gas mileage alone, which leads some to wonder if the hybrid is worth another $6000 up front when they buy it.

I hope to see more hybrid diesel implementation to reduce emissions more than improve fuel efficiency (fortunately they come together). It would be a great change for short haul deliver trucks and local buses. Local hybrid buses are already around - they have a few down in Elk Grove, just south of Sacramento. They made the news a few weeks ago because, while they work great in town, they fail miserably on express runs into Sacramento.

What kills the hybrid buses on the freeway would prbably be a big obstacle to overcome for hyrbid long haul big rigs. But local bobtails delivering in cities would be great conditions for hybrid diesels.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bob Allen @ Sep 11 2006, 12:59 PM) [snapback]317826[/snapback]</div>

There is only two doors. I know, i thought it was four when I first looked at it also.

 

It does... I must have skipped right over that. I was more interested in the pics of the C4 Hybrid Hii. It looks like a mini Prius, the white one anyway. The other kinda looks like a 90's civic hatchback.