Peugeot 9X8. The Peugeot 9X8 is a sports prototype racing car built by French car manufacturer Peugeot for the Le Mans Hypercar category in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Peugeot states the 9X8's name to be a combination of multiple elements: the 9 symbolizes the brand's high-performance models, the X represents all-wheel drive and electric drive technologies, and the 8 corresponds to the brand's contemporary models.

Development
On 13 November 2019, Peugeot announced its return to the WEC and 24 Hours of Le Mans for 2022 in the new Hypercar category. This debut was subsequently delayed, with Peugeot stating that "Team PEUGEOT TotalEnergies’ PEUGEOT 9X8 Hybrid Hypercar will not race at the 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans and will instead make its racing debut in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) this summer". The car eventually made its debut at the 2022 6 Hours of Monza on the 6th of July.

Succeeding the 905 and 908, the 9X8 was designed to take full advantage of the freedoms allowed by the new regulations for the Hypercar category. The first area to benefit from the new regulations is aerodynamics; the vehicle is allowed to have only one adjustable aerodynamic element without the FIA specifying what it should be, thus allowing Peugeot to do without the rear wing. The 9X8 is powered by a  twin-turbo 2.6 L V6 engine mated to a 7-speed sequential gearbox driving the rear wheels, while a  electric motor drives the front wheels.

Peugeot’s on-track testing program began in December 2021 and has since visited Algarve International Circuit, Circuit Paul Ricard, MotorLand Aragón, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, with the 9X8 clocking up more than 10,000 kilometres over the course of 25 test days.

In April 2023, a Lego Technic 1:10 scale model of the 9X8 was announced. The set consists of 1,775 pieces and was released on May 1, 2023.

Competition history 
In the World Endurance Championship, the two Peugeots use numbers 93 and 94, as a reference to Peugeot's overall victory at the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans.

2022 
Paul Di Resta, Loïc Duval, Mikkel Jensen, Gustavo Menezes, James Rossiter and Jean-Éric Vergne were nominated to share driving duties and form the crews of the two-car entry in the 2022 6 Hours of Monza, with the composition of each trio due to be confirmed at a later stage following the conclusion of the car’s testing program. The two 9X8s were then set to contest the remainder of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 2022 6 Hours of Fuji and season finale, the 2022 8 Hours of Bahrain.

2024 
On 25 March 2024, Peugeot presented an updated version of the 9X8 with an added rear wing; the previous version of the 9X8 proved uncompetitive due to its dependency on ground effect, especially harmed by uneven road surfaces like at Sebring (where WEC did not race in 2024). Peugeot also abandoned equal tyre widths, switching from 31 cm tyres all around to 29 cm tyres at the front and 34 cm at the rear like all its competitors. The new concept made its first competitive appearance at the 2024 6 Hours of Imola.

Complete World Endurance Championship results
(key) Races in bold indicates pole position. Races in italics indicates fastest lap.

References

9X8
Le Mans Hypercars
24 Hours of Le Mans race cars
Sports prototypes