Peugeot abandons wing-less concept behind 9X8 hypercar

Peugeot has abandoned the unusual concept behind its 9X8 hypercar which has raced without a rear wing since its introduction two years ago.

The manufacturer has revealed the first images of its overhauled car. As well as adding a rear wing, Peugeot has revised 90% of its bodywork and changed from tyres of equal widths to wider rubber at the rear.

It decided to abandon its original design concept in March last year as it embarked on its first full season in the World Endurance Championship. Peugeot returned to the series in July 2022.

Peugeot Sport technical director Olivier Jansonnie said the team originally chose to race without a rear wing as that complemented their decision to use 31cm width wheels at the front and rear of the 9X8.

“Initially, the car was designed for 31/31 tyres. Very much forward aero distribution, very much forward weight distribution as well.

“And it just happened like that, actually, when they were in the wind tunnel, the car was too draggy and had too much downforce compared to the aero performance window. There was very short and easy fix: We removed the wing and we realised that the car was actually not far away from the window.”

However Jansonnie said changes to the regulations between the start of the project and the car’s 2022 debut prompted them to revise their design to use 29cm width tyres at the front at 34cm at the rear.

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“Very soon in the project, we identified that there was some performance potential in 29/34, but at that time we were not allowed to do it,” he said. “We basically developed a car where the whole concept of the car was to run very much forward aero to try to match the 31/31 tyres.”

The World Endurance Championship uses a Balance of Performance system which adjusts the weight and performance of their cars in an attempt to equalise the competition. Peugeot has not won a race with the 9X8 and Jansonnie said the allowances they were given under the BoP were not sufficient to make them competitive with their original design.

“We made choices that are no longer the right ones now and this difference in performance was not sufficiently offset by the BOP,” he said. “The idea was therefore to go back to a car design that is similar that of our rivals car design, so that it would then be given equivalent treatment by the BoP.

“This is why we decided to drop the use of identical 31/31cm tyre widths on all the wheels, choosing to fit 29cm tyres at the front and 34cm tyres at the rear.”

The revised 9X8 is “strictly speaking… not a new car” he explained, “as it has the same chassis, but there are a lot of upgrades.” Some components have been repositioned and lightened to change its centre of gravity and improve how it uses its tyres.

“In order to have a better aerodynamic balance, we also had to look at redistributing the aerodynamic loads, which resulted in us redesigning approximately 90% of the bodywork components, most notably adding the rear wing,” Jansonnie continued. “As well as all this, we decided to use this new homologation to add some reliability and performance upgrades to give us the best opportunities in the championship.”

The revised 9X8, which also sports a new livery, will compete for the first time in the Six Hours of Imola next month.

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Pictures: Peugeot’s revised 9X8

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