It's official: the 707 hp Peugeot 9X8 hybrid will compete without a rear wing to be one of the coolest LMHs at Le Mans

If there's one body element that has defined a  racing car  above all others for over 60 years, it's the spoiler. More discreet, like a 'ducktail' or a 'Gurney flap', or ultra complex like today, a racing car without a fin is incomprehensible.

And yet,  Peugeot  will race in  LMH  with a  Peugeot 9X8  without spoiler. There were still doubts as to whether the absence of a spoiler was just to create expectation and that in the end the French brand should equip the 9X8 with a spoiler. But no, it's official, the Peugeot 9X8 will run without a spoiler.

Peugeot will make its WEC debut at Monza

The 9X8 is finally ready for competition. And here is its final version, which will pass the approval of the FIA ​​and the ACO. And indeed, it has no visible rear spoiler.

The Peugeot Sport team announced on Friday that the 9X8 will make its racing debut in July, at the  6-hour round of the Monza World Endurance  Championship, WEC, and presented to the media at the Portimao circuit. (Portugal) the definitive version of the 9X8. And it's one of the most beautiful and coolest racing cars on the scene.

And it is that Peugeot goes against the current of what is established and usual. The absence of a spoiler is a breath of fresh air in the competition. On the one hand, on the aesthetic level it is original and on the circuit it will be easily identifiable in a multitude of more or less identical cars.

And on the other hand, it responds to that old idea that competition should be a laboratory of ideas and solutions, where manufacturers push the limits of what can be done.

The theory is known, the car itself is a wing and does not need a spoiler, but technically and practically it is more complicated, asks  Mark Webber  , whose Mercedes literally took off and looped around the circuit of the 24 hours of Le Mans. hours of practice.

A hidden adjustable spoiler

This atypical Peugeot solution was made possible by the "balance of performance" of the new Hypercar category, whose aerodynamic load and drag ceilings (among other things) are lower than those of previous LMP1s.

The regulations allow only one adjustable aerodynamic element, which allows the balance to be changed from race to race. But since the 9X8 does not have a classic spoiler, Peugeot Sport had to find another solution. It is only known that it is located under the car, rather in the front area of ​​​​the flat bottom and therefore it is not visible.

However, it is still far for the engineers. Indeed, Peugeot had initially planned to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2022 (next month), but at the start of the year  decided to delay the debut of the 9X8 to ensure its reliability  before homologation. And it is that they were not at all clear that doing without a spoiler was in practice a good idea. In the end, Peugeot chose to do more track testing and make the car more reliable.

The move will give the Peugeot Sport team almost a year of competition in training before the main event, where they will face established LMHs from Toyota and Glickenhaus, new Ferrari and LMDhs from Porsche, BMW, Lamborghini and Cadillac. And it is that if a WEC title is good, the reality is that all the teams, basically, take the WEC as training for Le Mans. In the end, the title that counts is the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

A 707 hp hybrid system

Aesthetically, not much has changed in the 9X8 since its first appearances, only details have changed, such as the roof air intake. The  Peugeot 9X8 measures exactly 4,995 mm long, 2,000 mm wide  and 1,145 mm high and  weighs 1,030 kg  , the minimum required by the regulations.

The engine is a  2.6-liter twin-turbo V6 developing 680 hp at 90º  . This power is transmitted to the rear wheels, while a 272 hp electric motor drives the front axle on which it is mounted. It is an engine created  expressly  by Marelli. In total, the 9X8 has 707 hp at its disposal. The set is associated with a 7-speed sequential gearbox and a 900 V battery.

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The regulations impose a maximum cumulative power of 680 hp and the race management monitors the power management of each car in real time. However, if the battery is empty, the regulations allow the engine to  exceed the power limit by 3% to recharge the battery  and with a maximum output of 15 kW (20.7 hp) in a straight line.

We will be able to see the debut of the Peugeot 9X8 in competition on July 10, 2022 on the Monza circuit. It can also be seen at the  24 Hours of Le Mans  this year, but not on the track. Peugeot will exhibit it, to create expectation.