Peugeot have revealed the technical
specifications of it's 2013 Pikes Peak challenger, the 208 T16.
The former WRC-winning manufacturer
will return to the legendary Colorado hillclimb after a long absence,
armed with a brand new car and a driver capable of dominating the
whole thing on his own. Being a nine-times World Champion, Sebastian
Loeb certainly knows how to get from A to B as fast as possible, and
as he is now semi-retired he was Peugeot's perfect choice.
“Your imagination is the only limit”
said the engineer given the job of designing the new car,
Jean-Christophe Pallier. These words give a small hint towards what
kind of machine he and his team have built.
Pallier's creation sports an
earth-shattering 875bhp, created by a twin-turbo 3.2 litre V6
(originally designed for Endurance Racing) driving all four wheels
underneath a pure carbon fibre body shell. And it's just that as
well, the bespoke shell is mounted to a tubular steel space frame
chassis. The car also sports a six-speed paddle-shift sequential
gearbox.
Stopping is taken care of by carbon
brake discs and one-piece alloy callipers, while cornering is left to
a spectacular aerodynamic package, which hosts a two metre wide rear
spoiler and specially designed underbody, (which generates half of
the car's total downforce), and massive slick tyres.
The total car weighs in at 875kgs,
bringing the Power-to-Weight ratio up to the near mythical 1:1, with
one BHP taking care of one kilograme of weight. Allied to this are
the relatively small dimensions, being only 4.5 metres long and 2
metres wide.
The vast majority of the parts in the
car are of similar spec to the hugely successful Peugeot 908 Le Mans
car. But, whereas the 908 could hit speeds near 200mph, the 208 T16
will only go to 150 mph. However, it'll get there in seven seconds!
Testing gets under way this week near
Pau, South-West France. Endurance racer Greg Guilvert will take the
wheel of the car for this test. Pikes Peak runs on 30th
June.
Photo Credit: Red Bull
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