Peugeot readies 9X8 hypercar for race debut at 2022 Le Mans

Peugeot will return to the Le Mans 24 Hours in June with its new 9X8 hypercar, which features a 670bhp hybrid powertrain – and unusually not a rear wing.

The French firm last competed at Le Mans in 2011. It will campaign a pair of the Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) machines in the FIA World Endurance Championship next year, taking on the Toyota GR010 Hybrid.

The new LMH rules feature controls on key bodywork areas and cap the total powertrain output at 670bhp but give manufacturers considerable freedom to showcase differing designs and technology. Performance balancing will be used to try to create a level playing field between the LMH and LMP2-based LMDh machines.

Peugeot Sport technical chief Olivier Jansonnie said that the new LMH rules gave his team “freedom to invent, innovate and explore off-the-wall ways to optimise the car’s performance, and more especially its aerodynamics.”

Rear wings have long been one of the key aerodynamic devices used to generate downforce, but Peugeot Sport says that the high aerodynamic efficiency of the 9X8 allows it to run without one.

Jansonnie explained: “The regulations stipulate that only one adjustable aerodynamic device is permitted, without specifying the rear wing. Our calculation work and simulations revealed that high performance was effectively possible without one.”

Jansonnie didn't specify which aerodynamic element of the 9X8 has instead been made adjustable.

The 9X8 features sculpted bodywork for aerodynamic efficiency, including sculpted wheel rims, wing vents above the tyres and integrated mirrors. The styling also features a number of Peugeot design signatures, including the ‘claw-like’ headlight design. 

Peugeot said it has also paid attention to the design of the interior, which features a cockpit modelled on the firm’s i-Cockpit design.

Peugeot design director Matthias Hossann said that decision was taken so that the 9X8 would be “immediately identifiable as a Peugeot in on-board camera shots”.