Peugeot has introduced some radical changes to its 9X8 for 2024. The French hypercar will now sport a rear wing and adopt different tyre widths between the front and rear axles (29/34 cm). Peugeot Sport has redesigned 90% of the vehicle body.

“We made choices that are no longer the right ones now and this difference in performance was not sufficiently offset by the BOP (Balance of Performance) in 2023,” explained Olivier Jansonnie, Peugeot Sport Technical Director. “The idea was therefore to go back to a car design that is similar that of our rivals’ car design, so that it would then be given equivalent treatment by the BOP.  This is why we decided to drop the use of identical 31/31 cm tyre widths on all the wheels, choosing to fit 29 cm tyres at the front and 34 cm tyres at the rear. Strictly speaking, it’s not a new car, as it has the same chassis, but there are a lot of upgrades. For the tyres to work effectively, we had to alter the centre of gravity of the Peugeot 9X8, which meant moving certain components and working making others lighter. And in order to have a better aerodynamic balance, we also had to look at redistributing the aerodynamic loads, which resulted in us redesigning approximately 90% of the bodywork components, most notably adding the rear wing. As well as all this, we decided to use this new homologation to add some reliability and performance upgrades to give us the best opportunities in the championship.”

Get back in the game

Peugeot Sport engineers have been extremely busy redesigning the car since last March, alongside running the 2023 FIA WEC programme. “We’re now really looking forward to showing off the result of their hard work. The target is clearly to get back among the frontrunners, fight regularly for podiums and even challenge for race wins,” Jansonnie said.

The 9X8 2024 will also come with new graphics featuring a pattern reflecting the marque’s lion’s head motif. ”This graphic design, symbolising a ‘pack of lions’, conveys the sense of collective that reflects the values of Endurance racing perfectly,” said Matthias Hossann, Peugeot Brand Design Director. “We wanted to highlight this team spirit and the wealth of talent in the team. The design is produced in different sizes and different colours taken from the Peugeot Sport colour chart, including black, grey, white and kryptonite. This theme is equally deployed on the lifestyle merchandising products developed by Peugeot’s graphic design team,” Hossann added.

The 2024 version of the Peugeot 9X8 will make its track début at the 6 Hours of Imola, the second round of the FIA WEC season, to be run on 21 April. In the meantime, enjoy some more photos of the upgraded 9X8 in the gallery below.