Wild 816hp E-T16 hints at hot Peugeot future

The E-208 GTI was an encouraging start, but there's plenty more where that came from...

Funny, isn’t it? While mention of Group B rallying tends to evoke images of Audi this and Lancia that, it was Peugeot that earned back-to-back drivers’ and constructors’ championships in 1985 and 1986. Now, 40 years later, Peugeot is celebrating that WRC achievement - as well as one of the coolest homologation specials of all time - with this, the E-T16 Concept. It’s a car Peugeot says is ‘transforming a legend into a unique and futuristic experience that delivers exceptional driving pleasure.’

They also reckon that this E-T16 is an ‘instantly recognisable object’ and, well, yeah - it is. If you know the 205 T16 the cues here immediately stand out, from the familiar fonts and wheel design to the Winchester Matte Grey and the opening rear hatch. The stance, too, perfectly evokes the old 205, hunkered down and seemingly as broad as it is long; the charge port sits where an air intake used to sit for the mid-engined car. The ‘cat-ear’ rear wing is just as bonkers as the one for the old rally car. There’s always a danger when resurrecting a much-loved nameplate so many years later that it looks cynical or overwrought - not a bit of it here. And while Peugeot is known for its stupendous concept cars that go nowhere, this one really does have some real-world relevance, said to represent the ‘ultimate vision of the next Peugeot E-208’. Dial it down a bit (or maybe a lot) and BSM’s next learner machine is right here.

As befits a car that pays tribute to Group B, power for the T16 is wild. Three electric motors are supplied by an 85kWh Lithium Nickel Manganese battery, all sufficiently wound up to produce 816hp - about the same as was in the epic 208 T16 Pike Peak car that Loeb drove. Peugeot reckons it’ll hit 186mph from a standstill in 16 seconds (!). And while we’d like to dream of Peugeot creating its own 5 Turbo 3E rival (stranger things have happened, but still), the more relevant production features from the T16 are the 800V architecture that delivers a 10 to 80 per cent charge in less than 15 minutes. Consistent power, too: Peugeot reckons three flat-out Nordschleife laps are possible without any drop off. That’s possible through side cooling - rather than cooling cells from underneath, doing it from the side - which sounds like another feature that could make it to production cars.

In addition, expect future fast Peugeots to make use of the torque vectoring tech seen on the T16, both between the rear wheels and two axles, plus some new drive modes. There’s a track setting, for example, that adjusts the suspension, power delivery and torque vectoring for ‘unrestricted extreme driving’ - that’d be new for a Peugeot.

Expect to see plenty of this interior going forward as well, if not maybe the hydraulic handbrake and rollcage. The Hypersquare wheel (inspired by the 9X8 Le Mans car) has been talked about for a while now, and with steer-by-wire tech more prevalent, such a design becomes more viable. Peugeot goes as far to say, in fact, that the Hypersquare seen here ‘remains faithful to the version that will equip the future E-208.’ You saw it here first. There’s no mention of where an airbag would go, but a configurable central display and ‘access to key functions with a simple finger movement’ are much cooler.

The wheel is just part of an overhauled Peugeot i-Cockpit, the interior concept that’s been around for a while now with mixed success shrinking wheels and moving dials around. For the E-T16, i-Cockpit means an ultra-slim 21-inch curved display, a head-up in front of the driver and a few dash buttons (if you can get around the handbrake). If not exactly keeping with the retro vibes, this probably is quite a good look at what the next E-208 will be like inside, recycled offcut leather and all. With maybe a touch less red.

Peugeot’s Design Director Matthias Hossann said: “E-T16 Concept reinterprets the lines of the future Peugeot E-208, pushing every proportion to the extreme. A radical design that celebrates our heritage and transforms power and sportiness into a true design language.” Hossann has been a busy man, too, as Peugeot has also brought a new RCZ concept to Paris.

Resurrecting a badge not seen for more than a decade now, the RCZ Vision is like the T16 in employing Peugeot’s ‘Feline Future’ design language. It too gets the Hypersquare and an i-Cockpit, but is even more future-focused, powered by a solid-state battery and with transparent displays. So a 500hp Peugeot coupe that charges in 10 minutes and has a dash made of micro LEDs seems unlikely; but a Peugeot two-door of this sort of size with these design cues - see the lights like the T16 - doesn’t feel impossible. A 208 GTI was never going to exist again, and now look - anything could happen.

Alain Favey was the man who greenlit the GTI project, in fact, when he became CEO. He said the RCZ Vision is a car “firmly focused on the future, dedicated to delivering the ultimate driving pleasure.” Peugeot making more cars like that certainly sounds like good news to us. Let’s hope it kicks off with an E-208 that really does resemble this sensational T16…

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Puddenchucker

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