Peugeot Sport has revealed new images of its 9X8 endurance racer that will do battle with Toyota, Ferrari, Audi and Porsche in the World Endurance Car Championship. The 9X8 will make its competitive debut later this year, and has the expectations on its shoulders of giving Peugeot its fourth Le Mans win – a tall order against so much new competition.

Thanks to the new regulations, Peugeot Sport’s racer controversially does without a rear wing having reached the target downforce limit without it. Instead, downforce is built on top of the 9X8’s body panels, with engineers confirming that aero balance is then able to be adjusted with devices built into the bodywork itself. The benefit of running without a rear wing is a reduction in drag, which will help on the long straights of Circuit de la Sarthe. 

The new regulations have also allowed Peugeot’s designers more free-range to relate the design to its road cars, which can be seen in the lighting and surfacing. To ensure it’s easily identifiable to spectators at night, Peugeot has made an effort to incorporate its new triple claw lighting signature into the front of the racer, something you’ll also find on Peugeot’s more recent road cars.

Under the tall rear fin sits a bespoke 2.6-litre twin-turbo 90-degree V6 petrol engine mounted longitudinally behind the driver in a mid-rear layout. The engine will produce a maximum of 671bhp and power the rear wheels via a seven-speed sequential transmission. The decision to develop this new V6 was drawn from its ideal compromise between power density, packaging and weight, hitting the scales at 165kg. A single-turbocharger layout was initially considered, but failed to hit Peugeot Sport’s centre-of-gravity targets. The engine is purely motorsport derived, with no plans to make it available in a road-going form.