WEC Bahrain
Peugeot plans "big evolution" of Le Mans Hypercar for 2024 WEC
Peugeot will undertake a major evolution of its avant-garde 9X8 for next year with a raft of changes that are expected to include the addition of the rear wing.
Gary Watkins
Edited: Nov 3, 2023, 10:34 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The French manufacturer’s motorsport boss, Jean-Marc Finot, has revealed that the in-house Peugeot Sport team is undertaking what he described as a “big evolution” of the 9X8 Le Mans Hypercar, which made its debut in the World Endurance Championship last summer.
He revealed that the overhaul of a design that has so far finished no better than third in the Hypercar class of the WEC will include a switch away from the same width tyres all round for which the 9X8 hybrid was conceived.
Rather than running the 31cm Michelins on both the front and rear axles, Peugeot will move to the narrower front tyres (29cm) and wider rear tyres (34cm) run by the Toyota and Ferrari LMHs as well all LMDh machinery.
Finot would not reveal whether or not the revised 9X8, which will exploit the ‘evo joker’ rules that allow five performance upgrades during the life cycle of an LMH or LMDh, will run a conventional rear wing.
Motorsport.com understands, however, that an updated version of the 9X8 will begin testing with a rear wing as soon as Peugeot Sport kicks off its winter development programme in the wake the final round of the 2023 WEC this weekend in Bahrain.
“We have made the decision to design the car again,” said Finot in Bahrain. “We will come with a strong evolution for next year to enjoy the 29/34 tyres.
“At Peugeot Sport we are fighters, so we made the decision to make a big evolution of the car because we want to be back with the front-runners.”
On the subject of a rear wing, he remained noncommittal.
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Loic Duval, Gustavo Menezes, Stoffel Vandoorn
He explained that both the car's weight distribution and the aerodynamic centre of pressure will be pushed backwards to exploit the move to wider rear tyres.
“We have to increase the downforce on the rear and decrease the downforce on the front,” he explained. “There are many ways to do that, so we will keep a surprise.”
Finot wouldn’t be drawn on whether the revised 9X8 could be ready for the opening round of the 2024 WEC in Qatar at the start of March.
“The schedule is very tight and we will do our best,” he said. “The schedule is not totally frozen; we have to negotiate this schedule with the FIA and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest [the WEC rule makers and organisers].”
His comments suggest that Peugeot could start its 2024 campaign with the existing version of the 9X8 before bringing the revised car on stream in the run-up to the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.
Finot insisted that Peugeot had been forced to undertake the major upgrade because “after one year we see that the Balance of Performance is not fulfilling our expectations”.
He pointed out that 9X8 had been designed for a front-axle deployment speed of 120km/h as laid down by the original LMH regulations.
Photo by: Shameem Fahath
#94 Peugeot Totalenergies Peugeot 9X8: Loic Duval, Gustavo Menezes, Stoffel Vandoorn
This currently stands at 135km/h for the 9X8 in the latest BoP, but a decrease from the 150km/h at which electric drive through the front axle was previously allowed has not overcome the traction limitations of the car.
The concept of the 9X8 was undermined, Finot explained, by a change in the regulations that allowed a manufacturer running an LMH hybrid to chose the 29/34 tyre option.
This followed changes in the regulations that were part of the convergence process to align the performance of LMH and LMDh machinery.
This included a reduction in the minimum weight from 1080kg to 1040kg for four-wheel-drive LMHs.
Toyota argued that its design was compromised by this because it wasn’t able to optimise the weight distribution of its GR010 HYBRID for the 31/31 tyre option at the lower minimum weight.
It was allowed to revise the GR010 to run the 29/34 tyres between the 2021 and ’22 seasons.
Finot argued that Peugeot was not able to follow suit because the 9X8 design was already completed and the car in manufacture when the decision was made in the autumn of 2021.
A change in the regulations for 2023 mandated the 29/34 option for all new LMHs.
Read Also:
WECWEC Bahrain: Toyota remains on top in second practice
WECMotoGP legend Valentino Rossi to sample LMP2 car in Bahrain rookie test
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article WEC Bahrain: Toyota remains on top in second practice
Next article Calado: Ferrari "scratching its head" over Bahrain WEC pace
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Gary Watkins
WEC Monza: Antonio Fuoco takes pole for Ferrari
WEC
WEC
Monza
WEC Monza: Antonio Fuoco takes pole for Ferrari
More from
Peugeot Sport
Peugeot promotes test driver Alex Quinn to race seat for 2027 WEC
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
Peugeot promotes test driver Alex Quinn to race seat for 2027 WEC
Stoffel Vandoorne to leave Peugeot’s WEC Hypercar team after Fuji
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Stoffel Vandoorne to leave Peugeot’s WEC Hypercar team after Fuji
Why Peugeot is confident its 2027 evo update can address long-standing hypercar issues
WEC
WEC
Fuji
Why Peugeot is confident its 2027 evo update can address long-standing hypercar issues
Latest news
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
28 min
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
49 min
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
1 h
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe