Peugeot unveils SR1 hybrid roadster concept

The French guys from Peugeot recently revealed pictures of their newest concept – the SR1 roadster. This fine-looking sports car will be officially unwrapped this March at the Geneva Motor Show and it is a new direction in the design of future Peugeot models.

As it is often the case in the motoring world now, new cars launched are usually hybrids and this one is no exception. It has a conventional four-cylinder, turbocharged petrol engine which produces 240 bhp. The strange thing is that Peugeot has not revealed the size of the power unit. They just say it is a “downsized” engine. The electric unit comes in the form of an 80 bhp engine whose power goes to the rear axle. That means that the SR1 is four-wheel drive. It also has four-wheel steering and the lithium-ion means that it will produce a green CO2 output of 109g/km and it will carefully sip 57.7 miles per gallon. These environmentally friendly figures were achieved by making the car’s structure lighter.

Another interesting feature is the seating layout on the prototype. As you can see in the picture above, it also features a third seat, mounted in the middle in the back. I think that might just work. Four-seater cabrios/roadsters are normally very cramped for passengers sitting in the back but you might just have enough place there for an average trip.

The SR1 comes to highlight Peugeot’s new direction in the design of its future vehicles and might I just say – it’s absolutely gorgeous. Just fantastic, I am astonished by its beauty. That angry yet clean front end, the round back, the bulges in the doors, all of them are just amazing.

Gilles Vidal, the current head of Peugeot design said: “We decided Peugeot needed an aesthetic car, to show off its new trends and philosophies. Peugeot’s future will be about elegance and precision, so we thought it right to illustrate these things by making a classical GT car.” Might I congratulate you sir as you have served up an excellent piece of design. The PSA group recently considered a style change for its vehicles as Citroen proved us with its latest models. Peugeot however, is not expect to take such a dramatic turn away from its last design era as Citroen.

It’s a shame that Peugeot has no plans to put this car into production at the moment.

Source: Autocar

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