PEUGEOT SR1 CONCEPT REVEALED

This is the Peugeot SR1 concept, due to be unveiled officially at the Geneva motor show in March.

Peugeot has come up with a load of ideas (stylistically and technically) and mashed them together into the SR1 Roadster, but the result is actually more elegant than it has any right to be. Even if it is a hybrid...

Car manufacturers often come up with cars like the SR1, intended not as suggestions for mass production, but more as sounding boards for aesthetic and mechanical ideas that the manufacturer's design team might want to use in the future.

The 'big-mouth' Peugeot house style (see most of the current range) has not won universal adoration, and the SR1 represents a move away from this toward something more conventional and sleek. The car's nose, complete with redesigned lion logo, looks more like an Aston Martin Vantage than something like Peugeot's own RCZ (itself still due for production this year in all its big-mouthed, double-bubble glory).

The SR1's body is made from a single piece of carbon fibre mounted onto a tubular chassis with double-wishbone suspension front and rear, and there is intelligent four-wheel steering that adjusts itself based on road speed.

The new concept carries the same 'Hybrid4' powertrain system that you'll see in the upcoming RCZ and 3008 Crossover, but the SR1 manages to produce more power than either of the other Hybrid4 cars, mustering up 313hp using a combination of a hi-tech 1.6-litre turbodiesel engine and a 95hp electric motor. The diesel engine is mounted transversely at the front and the electric motor is installed at the stern, with each powering its own axle to give the car part-time four-wheel drive.

Peugeot claims the car is good for 0-60 in 4.7secs and 155mph flat-out. It also manages a combined economy figure of 48mpg and CO2 emissions of 109g/km, making it almost as green as Peugeot's own 107 (61mpg/106g/km) despite having well over four times the power.

Inside there is apparently space for three people, with conventional driver and passenger seats flanked by a central rear throne. Neat and very concept-like interior details include a sliding centre console to aid access to the rear seat, and a removable Bell & Ross watch for a clock.

Inevitably there are whispers to suggest the SR1 could end up transmuting into some form you'll be able to purchase from a dealer some day, but we wouldn't bet our dinner money on it just yet.