Peugeot Reveals Its 208 T16 Pikes Peak Racer

Peugeot has pulled the wraps from its new 208 T16 racer, revealing rally champion Sebastien Loeb's ride for this year's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Following in the footsteps of the 405 T16, which took back-to-back wins in 1988 and 1989, the 208 racer borrows the look of its production sibling - but little else. "Its proportions are very different to those of the production 208," Peugeot designer Michael Trouvé said. “This difference gives it an almost beast-like appearance. Peugeot Sport provided us with a number of technical constraints, such as the width, body height, location of the wheels and engine, and we worked to this brief to produce an extreme take on the 208." Underneath the familiar skin (now carbon-fibre) lies a lightweight race-ready spaceframe chassis, wrapped around a central driving position. The exterior has been given all the necessary aero tweaks, while a mid-engined layout and all-wheel-drive system are also in play. Peugeot is keeping quiet on numbers, but as a point of perspective, the T16's Nurburgring 24 Hour cousin offers a huge 224kW - up from 147kW in the roadgoing 208 GTI.(themotorreport)