I was told a while back that the Citroen WRC team had driving & handling on tarmac well under control so much so that in a couple of Rallies, the other teams weren't even talking wins; they were battling for second place, but gravel seemed to have them beat.
Suddenly, they sprung up & took a podium trifecta on gravel much to the shock & horror of the other teams.
Several reasons were given for the sudden turnaround in their fortunes including drivers of the calibre of McRae & Sainz, however when watching these being interviewed on the telly you just got that hint of a bit of a smirk on both drivers faces when asked about the car; great praise for the team & it's development was forthcoming but apart from that they seemed to be looking and grinning at each other. It is nothing covered by the Official Secrets Act, but it appears that the Citroen Rally team have in conjunction with another company, developed a unique system for the suspension of the car that was originally invented for use on all terrain military vehicles, so those who say Citroen have lost the desire to try new innovative ideas had better think again. This idea has the potential to once again revolutionise the motor industry's idea of the ultimate suspension system & in a way that is as simple as the original hydropneumatic system was complicated; it basically works on the law of the lever.
This is the website of the company who invented the system that is apparently under all the Citroen Xsara WRC cars so it's possibly only a matter of time before we see it on the production cars.
http://www.kinetic.au.com/techno.html
Alan S
Citroen's winning edge.
Moderator: RichardW
