©Peugeot
While there has been no indication that Peugeot and Red Bull have joined forces, one can’t help but wonder if someone at the French manufacturer cracked open a can of the good stuff and felt suddenly inspired to give its 9X8 a rear wing!
On a serious note, Peugeot hopes its Hypercar will take flight next June at Le Mans following the implementation of a significant upgrade package on its WEC contender.
Since last year, Peugeot’s engineers have been extremely busy redesigning their 9X8, and the car’s radical changes include the addition of a rear wing and the adoption of different tyre widths between the front and rear axles.
©Peugeot
“We made choices that are no longer the right ones now and this difference in performance was not sufficiently offset by the BOP (Balance of Performance) in 2023,” explained Olivier Jansonnie, Peugeot Sport Technical Director.
“The idea was therefore to go back to a car design that is similar to 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 31/31 cm tyre widths on all the wheels, choosing to fit 29 cm tyres at the front and 34 cm tyres at the rear.
“And 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.
“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 9X8 2024 will also come with new graphics featuring a pattern reflecting the marque’s lion’s head motif.
The 2024 revamped design will make its track début at the 6 Hours of Imola, the second round of the FIA WEC season, to be run on 21 April.
