Peugeot has a history of making great race cars out of their run-of-the-mill hatchback models, usually by taking the engine from under the bonnet, throwing it out, and putting an all-new and much more powerful unit in the middle of the chassis, for better balance and traction.
Sadly, modern WRC rules are rather limiting, and in order for the Peugeot engineers to stretch their wings, they need to look elsewhere, and more specifically, the Pikes Peak hill climb, for which they created the 208 T16 Pikes Peak.
Nine-time WRC world champion, Sebastien Loeb, will sit behind the wheel of the car and from what we gather, he is very impressed with it. He likes the power, the immense downforce, excellent grip from the super-wide slick tires and last but not least, the all-wheel drive system, all of which are needed to keep twin-turbo V6 engine’s 875 horsepower in check.
Peugeot is clearly trying its best to give its little 208 a sportier image, through both the road-going GTI model (check out our review here), the rally version, and now this Pikes Peak monster, which can reach 240 km/h (150 mph) in just seven seconds.
Check out the video posted below to see Loeb’s reaction to the T16, and the expression on his face after he drives it…
By Andrei Nedelea
VIDEO