#Peugeot #9X8 #receives #wide #rear #wing #FIA #WEC
The French hypercar for the World Sports Car Championship (FIA WEC) has been fundamentally revised. Now the Peugeot 9X8 has a rear wing. There are also changes to the tire width and new stickers.
Peugeot has been competing in the FIA WEC since mid-2022. Except for one podium, there have been no major successes since then. This prompted the French to thoroughly rework the prototype called 9X8 (which is built according to LMH rules). The result has now been presented – and as expected, the 2024 9X8 now has a wide rear wing.
But that’s not all: the tire widths have also been revised. Instead of 31 centimeters wide tires all around, there are now 29 cm widths at the front and 34 cm widths at the rear. This is primarily intended to improve grip and traction on the rear axle. The conversion is accompanied by further changes to the aerodynamics. Overall, 90 percent of the body was retained. In addition, the 9X8’s center of gravity was changed by moving certain components and making others lighter.
“We have made decisions that are no longer up to date and this difference in performance has not been sufficiently compensated for by the BOP (Balance of Performance) in 2023,” says Oliver Jansonnie (Technical Director of Peugeot Sport). «The idea was therefore to return to a vehicle design that is similar to that of our competitors so that it can be treated equally at the BOP. For this reason, we decided to no longer use the identical tire widths of 31/31 cm on all wheels, but rather 29 cm on the front axle and 34 cm on the rear axle. Strictly speaking it is not a new vehicle as it has the same chassis, but there are a lot of improvements.”
The stickers were also adjusted. A design was developed that uses the lion’s head at different scales. Yellow, gray and black are the predominant colors. The debut of the revised Peugeot 9X8 is scheduled for the next WEC season round on April 21, 2024 in Imola.
