NEW PEUGEOT 9X8 HYPERCAR – DESIGNED TO RACE

NEW PEUGEOT 9X8 HYPERCAR – DESIGNED TO RACE

PEUGEOT has taken the wraps off the new 9X8, its latest-generation Hypercar challenger which is poised to make its competitive debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) in 2022. Powered by a hybrid power unit which drives through all-wheel drive transmission, this hyper-efficient prototype fits perfectly with PEUGEOT’s Neo-Performance strategy which is geared to both its road and racing cars delivering responsible performance. The work of PEUGEOT SPORT’s engineering team and PEUGEOT Design dovetailed like never before to produce the 9X8.

The broad outline and aerodynamic concept of this PEUGEOT 9X8 was only unveiled after several months of hard work, jointly undertaken by development engineers led by Olivier Jansonnie, Technical Director of PEUGEOT Sport, and the team of designers led by Matthias Hossann, Head of PEUGEOT Design.

The PEUGEOT 9X8 will follow in the footsteps of the brand’s famous endurance models, the PEUGEOT 905 and PEUGEOT 908, winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1992 and 1993, and in 2009 respectively.

With the 9X8, Peugeot is rolling out a genuine brand project based on the concept of Neo-Performance, combining the ultimate in sports performance, technological know-how that can be transferred to production models, efficiency and design excellence.

The new Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) regulations, implemented by the FIA and the ACO to replace the top-level LMP1 category, have been influential in the brand adopting this approach. Offering greater flexibility in the treatment of aerodynamic surfaces, they regulations encouraged a radically different way of thinking and the design of innovative cars, more open to the input of the design teams. Engineers and designers alike have grabbed this opportunity to invent new creation processes, break the mould and create a PEUGEOT Hypercar that is set to establish a totally new genre.

As regards its name, the first 9 represents the Brand’s extreme racing cars, such as PEUGEOT’s Endurance models, the 905 (1990-1993) and the 908 (2007-2011), two of the manufacturer’s iconic machines.

The X evokes the all-wheel drive (four-wheel drive) and hybrid power technologies that feature on the new PEUGEOT Hypercar, which sees the Brand’s electrification strategy extended further in a racing setting.

As regards the 8, this is the figure that is ever present on all contemporary PEUGEOT models: the 208 and 2008, 308, 3008, 5008 and of course the 508, which has recently passed through the hands of the same team of engineers and designers as the Hypercar, to become the first model to bear the Peugeot Sport Engineered label.

BREATHTAKING STYLE

“I know the quality of work and innovation of the PEUGEOT Design and PEUGEOT Sport teams, but I have to say they have managed to surprise me with this magnificent 9X8: combining a powerful brand identity with such an elegant and innovative profile is absolutely brilliant,” commented Linda Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of PEUGEOT.

“As always at PEUGEOT, the sketch that formed the basis for our work featured a cat ready to pounce,” explained Matthias Hossann, Head of PEUGEOT Design. “This attitude has led to a cockpit that slightly inclined to the front. Generally speaking, the PEUGEOT 9X8 features the same design cues that can be seen on all brand models: it’s a sophisticated, sleek and elegant car that conveys a sense of emotion and dynamism”.

In addition to its body shape and overall appearance, the Design team worked on integrating the design cues specific to the PEUGEOT Brand in all the execution details – with optimal efficiency, of course.

The characteristic features of PEUGEOT, the three claws on the front and rear lights of the 9X8, provide a clear link to the production range. The brand’s new lion head badge is backlit on the front end and side panels of the car. Featuring Selenium Grey highlighted with contrasting touches of Kryptonite (an acid yellow-green), the colour coding deployed on the bodywork and inside the cockpit echo the new PEUGEOT SPORT ENGINEERED label, introduced on the 508 and 508 SW.

The 9X8 cockpit also catches the eye, the team of designers clearly having paid a great deal of attention to it. “We were keen to offer a really specific version of the cockpit,” emphasized Matthias Hossann.

“In the past, this area of the car has tended to be fairly anonymous: just a functional and generic interior, with no real expression of the brand. By adding our colours and our i-Cockpit, PEUGEOT’s interior brand signature, we have freshened up this space».

“This means that spectators will be able to identify a PEUGEOT immediately whenever on-board footage is broadcast.”

On the outside, the wheel rims are the result of finely-crafted metalwork and nestle perfectly within clean, sleekly-designed side panels. The wings are perforated, revealing the top of the tyres. The wing mirrors are seamlessly integrated into the bodywork, to such an extent that no obstacle seems to interrupt the air flow.

NO WING! The opportunities of the LMH regulations

At the rear of the PEUGEOT 9X8, carefully chiselled elements house the three claws of the rear lights, surrounding a wide diffuser, overhung by the playful wording: “We need no rear wing.”

“The new Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) regulations have been designed to even out conventional performance vectors,” explained Olivier Jansonnie, Technical Director of PEUGEOT Sport’s WEC programme. “It’s exciting because it’s now up to us to invent, innovate and find opportunities to generate performance that do not involve conventional means. This was very much the case as regards the aerodynamics. The regulations allow just one adjustable aerodynamic component, without specifying that this has to be the rear wing. Our calculations and simulations suggested that we could achieve very high performance levels without a rear wing.”

The lack of this aerodynamic feature freed up the design of the body shape of the PEUGEOT 9X8, affording it a fluidity that has not been seen on endurance cars for decades. This has enabled the designers, partners to the engineers, to sculpt harmonious and dynamic volumes, and to create vast surfaces connecting the side panels or opening onto the front wheel housings.

A hyper-efficient hybrid powertrain

A 2.6-litre, 500 kW (680 hp) twin-turbo V6 engine, tilted at 90° - the internal combustion engine of the PEUGEOT HYBRID4 500 kW powertrain that will be mid-rear mounted on the 9X8 - has, as expected, racked up the miles on the engine test bench since April of this year.

The 200 kW electric motor/generator will be front mounted, the seven-speed sequential gearbox and the battery are currently being assembled, in order to comply with the test bench validation schedule. PEUGEOT Sport and Saft, a TotalEnergies subsidiary, are taking on a technological challenge every day together by jointly developing the high-power density, high voltage (900 volts) battery.

Le Mans: an excellent test lab for PEUGEOT

In addition to aerodynamic, mechanical and electronic efficiency, top-level racing puts all of PEUGEOT engineering expertise to the test and more so at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the sport’s extreme test – than anywhere else. The 5,400 kilometres covered by the cars at Le Mans in the world famous 24-hour race is more or less the same distance as covered by a Formula 1 car in an entire season. Unwavering reliability and efficiency is therefore required.

Linda Jackson insisted on this point: “PEUGEOT’s involvement in Endurance racing goes beyond just the racing itself: it’s an extreme test lab for PEUGEOT. It also explains why our connection with Le Mans is so strong. The sporting results are important, obviously, but perhaps more so is the validation of our technologies and our research at a 24-hour race held in ultimate racing conditions. We are able to test, in a demanding competitive setting, the hybrid system and technologies related to reducing fuel consumption – and therefore CO₂ emissions – that we are currently developing for our production vehicles. Our PEUGEOT Sport teams are proud to see their research integrated in the vehicles in our product line-up. For our customers, this Le Mans test lab is a guarantee of the quality of our cars.”

What the drivers had to say :

“We’ve never seen anything like it”, commented Loïc Duval, Jean-Eric Vergne, Mikkel Jensen, Kevin Magnussen, Gustavo Menezes, Paul Di Resta and James Rossiter. All the drivers cannot wait to get behind the wheel for the first test sessions, which are provisionally scheduled to be held at the end of the year.

Scottish, 35 years old, former Formula 1 driver and 2010 DTM Champion

“Everyone wondered what a Hypercar would look like. Well, here it is! A lot of people are going to be surprised by this bold, innovative look and this singular brand identity.”

French, 39 years old, winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and World Endurance Championship in 2013

“There are cars where you take a look and say: Ah yes, it looks good from the front 3/4 view, or it looks good from the side, or head on or from the rear. I have walked all round the 9X8 and it is really beautiful from every angle!”

Danish, 26 years old, Endurance driver, 2019 LMP3 ELMS Champion

“The 9X8 is very different to the body shapes that have been shown on cars or suggested in recent months. If we can win with this car, it will be historic because nothing like this has been done before.”

Danish, 28 years old, former Formula 1 driver, endurance driver in the IMSA

“We’ve never seen the like before. This really is the future of racing cars. It’s the first time that a racing car has been designed with this level of styling. I was surprised by the lack of a rear wing. It’s the start of a new era.”

American, 26 years old: WEC and ALMS driver, winner of the LMP2 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and LMP2 World Champion in 2016

“The 9X8 opens a new chapter in motorsport. The last ten years have been all about the LMP1 prototypes. It is now time to build an iconic future with the 9X8.”

British, 37 years old, former Formula 1, ALMS and Super GT driver

“I wasn’t expecting this level of creativity. It’s a genuinely radical change! With this Hypercar, PEUGEOT is setting new boundaries.”

French, 31 years old, former Formula 1 driver, two-time Formula E Champion

“The PEUGEOT 9X8 is a completely revolutionary car. The teams have headed in a direction that hasn’t been seen in motorsport for a very long time. It’s a magnificent car.”

In entering the World Endurance Championship, PEUGEOT is opening a new category, that of neo-performance.

The brand returns to endurance racing with the exceptional opportunity to work in the sport in the form of petrol/electric hybrid power. For over ten years, PEUGEOT Sport has proven its proficiency in hybrid-electric technology. The 508 PEUGEOT SPORT ENGINEERED takes its philosophy, technology and performances from the experience acquired with the PEUGEOT 908 Hybrid4 and the PEUGEOT 908 HY demonstration car, then with the PEUGEOT 208 HYbrid FE project and more recently, the PEUGEOT 308 R Hybrid presented in 2015.

The 508 PEUGEOT SPORT ENGINEERED now combines and concentrates this work and technological proficiency. It is a worthy successor to the projects mentioned above. PEUGEOT Sport’s racing DNA and its technological proficiency can be seen in this vehicle, combining very high performance levels, controlled emission values (46 g CO₂) and a ZEVi mobility of 42 km (WLTP).

THE NEW PEUGEOT SPORT ENGINEERED LINE

Show off your aesthetic and innovative spirit at the wheel of the new PEUGEOT SPORT ENGINEERED 508 & PEUGEOT SPORT ENGINEERED 508 SW, and enjoy the thrill of efficient, electric, low-emission high performance.

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