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Le Mans: Peugeot Unveils 2009 908 Hy Hybrid Racer

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LE MANS: Peugeot Unveils 2009 908 HY Hybrid Racer

Written by: Marshall Pruett 09/13/2008 - 04:46 PM Silverstone, England

peugeot908hy3.500.jpg

Peugeot revealed their future LMP1 challenger, the '908 HY', at Silverstone today. The French manufacturer announced their intent to build a Hybrid a little over a year ago -- initially titled the '909H', and are believed to have advanced solutions in place that await direction from the ACO for final implementation.

Using a new metallic-silver paint scheme with a lightning bolt motif and the letters 'HY' at the base of the engine cover, the livery is reminiscent of the Panoz Q9 'Sparky' Hybrid of the late '90's with it's similar use of a lightning livery to denote the electrical-assist powerplant.

The 908 HY, demonstrated using their standard 908 chassis with older generation bodywork, was claimed to run with the Hybrid system in place at a net weight addition of 45kgs (99lbs). Their stated goal is to pare 10 to 15kgs from the system before it sees competition.

The attributes and advantages of the 908 HY, as noted by Peugeot, existed only in a virtual world until now; their efforts had been largely restricted to computer simulations, but once the ACO reveals their final rules and restrictions for the first wave of Hybrids, expect Peugeot and other manufacturers to fastrack their development cycles.

DailySportsCar.com's Graham Goodwin shared the following quotes from the Peugeot press conference. "We will put our resources towards the 908 HDI FAP while developing the demonstrator. Our first priority in 2009 is Le Mans," said Technical Director Bruno Famin. Team Manager Serge Saulnier says the 908 HY won't be seen in a race for almost one year. "I don't think you will see the HY racing before Le Mans, after that we will see." Finally, Nicolas Minassian, pilot of the demonstration car, noted the different sensation the car gives to the drivers. "The car is a fantastic technical achievement, the main thing that takes adapting to is the car under braking where the car recovers the energy. That means a very different feel and that will take a little time."

Michel Barge, Peugeot Sport's Director, said, "This hybrid 908 HDi FAP is in perfect keeping with the overall mission of our endurance racing program which covers not only the challenge of competing, of course, but also the fact that as a car manufacturer we can use motor sport as a research and development tool for the Peugeot brand as a whole. After innovating through the use of our HDi FAP technology in competition, running a hybrid car in endurance racing would give Peugeot a chance to gain extremely valuable experience that would benefit the development of production cars.

Whether we use this technology or not in 2009 will obviously depend on the details of the new regulations published by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest."

HY technology enables a portion of the kinetic energy produced under braking to be either recovered or stored. In the case of a non-hybrid car, this energy is dissipated in the form of heat via the brakes. However, when harnessed, it enables the vehicle's efficiency to be improved in one of two ways:

1) Enhanced performance with no increase in the amount of energy consumed thanks to the combination of the stored mechanical energy and the energy produced by the internal combustion engine.

2) Reduced fuel consumption for the same level of performance thanks to the availability of stored mechanical energy.

The system featured on this demonstrator comprises three key elements:

1) A 60kW gear-driven electric motor-generator which takes the place of the conventional starter motor,

2) Batteries which permit recovered energy to be stored in 600 lithium-ion cells divided into 10 battery packs (six in the c#ckpit instead of the conventional battery and four on the left-hand side of the flat bottom).

3) An power electronic converter (located in the rear part of the front left wing) which controls the flow of energy between the batteries and the motor-generator.0A

The 908 HY can be powered in one of three ways:

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Jacques Villeneuve will be laughing!

Until Alan McNish beats him again.

Jacques Attack for 2009 Le Mans

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by the way Peugeot lost the LeMans series with Sarrazin and Minasian in the last race! Hey "lion guys" WRC is better for you!

Tech issues aside is clearly a marketing and lobbying car: Peugeot is pushing hard to change the rules of LeMans and Le Mans series in order it suit their car in the same way Audi did it a few years ago.

The FIA must improve the relationship between Diesel and Otto engines with realistic ratios based on today state of the art and not 10 years ago state of the art!

Do you wonder why while others like toyota, honda, etc. currently are selling hybrid cars Peugeot only made an statement about Diesel hybrid 3 years ago? They are a little bit late...

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Toyota and Honda don't sell diesel hybrids, Peugeot will.

Realistic ratios ?!

Pure bulls##t, it about the superior technology beating the inferior one, just like mid engined cars beat the front engined ones, just like slicks beat groves and so on.

It's a marketing car and lobby but also an "improve the breed" car, witch is all that matter to me.

And FIA doesn't sanction Le Mans and its series, not since the early 1990s.

Every good thing that came out of the Le Mans and its series was because FIA/Mosley wasn't in charge.

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Here's a nice article:

A new unlimited road racing series? The time is now.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. Back when the original Canadian-American Challenge Cup made its debut, no one knew that the "Can-Am" series would become a legendary moment in racing history, when the stars would align to create one of the most memorable eras in the history of the sport. People continually talk about the Can-Am in reverential terms, as well they should, because the allure of its magic "unlimited" raison d'etre was irresistible. But pining to go back to that era will not accomplish anything, and besides, you can see and feel the glorious thunder of those original racing cars at any of the major vintage racing events across the country every summer.

But I believe the time is now for a "new" unlimited racing series, one that doesn't hinge on current racing technology as much as it would embrace the kind of alternative technology that's being developed today by the world's automobile manufacturers.

Imagine a new racing series with a set of racing rules that consisted of just two specifications: 1. A car would be required to meet a dimensional envelope in terms of size. And 2. The car must have four wheels, but none of the wheels can be driven by an internal combustion engine (the ICE can only be used as a generator for the main power source). Everything else would be entirely "free" including the type of propulsion system, the aerodynamic devices (movable would be allowed) and the construction (as long as it met all leading edge safety standards).

The world's auto manufacturers could then use this new racing series as a developmental showcase for advanced technologies, restoring racing's rightful place as the proving ground of the kind of automotive technology that would directly transfer to our production cars down the road.

Too simplistic? Possibly.

But right now I only see one racing series in the world managing the transition to an alternative propulsion future (the "greening" of the ALMS is the most noteworthy and obvious example). But that's it. And after that I don't see the kind of truly radical vision coming from any of the sports' governing bodies today that would lead me to believe that they'd be willing to actually create a new, technologically relevant future for racing.

As long as the powers that be in racing today continue to miss this golden opportunity to create a new era for the sport, I will always be wondering what could be.

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Toyota and Honda don't sell diesel hybrids, Peugeot will.

Realistic ratios ?!

Pure bulls##t, it about the superior technology beating the inferior one, just like mid engined cars beat the front engined ones, just like slicks beat groves and so on.

It's a marketing car and lobby but also an "improve the breed" car, witch is all that matter to me.

And FIA doesn't sanction Le Mans and its series, not since the early 1990s.

Every good thing that came out of the Le Mans and its series was because FIA/Mosley wasn't in charge.

I will no argue with you or anyone who said "pure bulls##t" to a different opinion. Bye!

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Looks class in silver! Go Penske!!!!! (if the ACO let them race @ Le Mans). As for the hybrid, what if it causes mechanical problems like with the Pugs in '07 & JV's this year? If it is relaible then Peugeot might finally get their LM win!

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Lovely side profile, but I hate the bird beak nose. The ACO need to do something ahout the raised noses on prototype racers - they just look awful.
I know! Anything copied from a McLaren is bound to be that way!

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This is why racing is good for the general public. Let the technology of the future be tested in the world's best testbed, racing, and have the gremlins sorted out before it can be made for passenger cars.

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