We’ve discussed the merits of Peugeot making
tenuous grasps at past glories
to enliven current doldrums but in the case of Sebastien Loeb’s 208 T16 Pikes Peak car the revival of an iconic badge has not been taken lightly. And if ‘T16’ has you in mind of Peugeot’s
rallying glory days
with mid-engined, four-wheel-drive monsters loosely based on road-going equivalents, Loeb’s 208 does a better job than
the 208 GTI
in reviving ghosts of the 205.
More Le Mans racer than rally car
Images and a few details of the car, which will race up Pikes Peak on June 30, have
already been released
but now Peugeot has announced the full spec and background to the car, shared here.
Pikes Peak has changed since Peugeot’s previous triumphs in 1988 and 1989 in the hands of Ari Vatanen (compulsory Climb Dance link here) and Robby Unser respectively, not least in the fact that it’s now tarmac all the way to the summit. Meaning, according to the official release, “the machine conceived by Peugeot Sport is practically an out-and-out endurance racing prototype” rather than a rally car at heart. Which isn’t to say it doesn’t share anything in spirit with the 405 T16 that previously triumphed here. Beneath that huge clamshell rear bodywork is a mid-mounted twin-turbo V6 driving all four wheels with 875hp, equating to that headline figure of one horsepower per kilo. With an engine originally designed for endurance racing, the 208 T16’s running gear, brakes, intake system and rear wing are all taken from the 908 HDi FAP and integrated into a tubular chassis clothed in carbon fibre bodywork.
Rear wing borrowed from a 908 HDI FAP
Turbocharging is essential given the thin air even at the start, which is itself 2,865m above sea level. "In the case of a normally-aspirated engine, you basically lose one per cent of the available power every 100 metres you climb," says Peugeot Sport Director Bruno Famin. He goes on to note that some engines have lost nearly a third of their regular power output at the start line, nearly 1,500m below the 4,301m summit, highlighting the unique technical challenge and need for such seemingly outrageous power and aero.
And if the top speed of 150mph seems modest, just look at the acceleration figures: 0-62mph comes up in 1.8 seconds, 125mph and that vmax, from standstill, in just seven seconds dead. Brutal stuff, the car set up for acceleration out of the 156 corners on the 12-mile route to the summit and as much speed around them as possible, with the speeds on the run ranging between 30-150mph. And if the visible aero looks spectacular, Peugeot points out that half of the car’s downforce is generated by the underbody.
Loeb's got two cracks at 25-year celebration
Outright victory is, of course, the goal but Peugeot will also be looking closely at Rhys Millen’s 9min 46.164sec course record, set in a Hyundai Genesis. That it’s 25 years since Vatanen’s victory puts some additional pressure on Loeb, not that he’s known for being fazed by such things. And, handily, if it doesn’t happen this year he’s got another crack at the same anniversary next year against Unser’s 1989 win.