Citroen DS 5LS R revealed as high-performance DS5 for China. Debuts at Beijing.

The Citroen DS 5LS R – a high performance version of the China-only Citroen DS 5LS – has been revealed ahead of a debut at this month’s Beijing Motor Show.

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The Citroen DS 5LS was revealed at the end of last year as Citroen’s biggest DS model to date, but as it’s aimed at China there’s little chance we’ll see it in the UK or Europe, where there’s no real market for a stretched DS5.

And the same goes for the ‘Racing’ version revealed this morning – the Citroen DS 5LS R – which is heading for a debut at the Beijing Motor Show later this month.

Under the bonnet of the DS 5LS R sits the 1.6 litre petrol turbo found in the Peugeot RCZ, where it gets 270bhp, but Citreon have managed to boost that to 300bhp – which should make putting the power down quite interesting.

Other tweaks include suspension lowered by 15mm and stiffened, sequential gearbox, bigger brakes, wider front track, ‘watchstrap’ seat trim and some added carbon fibre bits plus carbon-looking stripes down the front doors with a Carmine Red paint job.

But the arrival of the DS 5LS R at the Beijing Motor Show later this month doesn’t necessarily mean it’s heading for production. The DS4 Racing stayed as a concept and never made the production line, so it’s perfectly possible the same will happen with the DS 5LS R.