The Peugeot 9X8 is more than just a racing car, a landmark masterpiece, an aesthetic and technological innovation, and an ultimate design adventure. Ahead of his 2022 auto endurance race, Peugeot design director Matthias Hossann placed the Peugeot 9X8 in an exquisitely brutalist concrete building. Professional fashion and supercar photographer Agnieszka Doroszewicz captures the 9X8 supercar as light collides with concrete. Agnieszka Doroszewicz, who is also a professional photographer for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, believes that in this legendary event, photographers can capture the changes in light and shadow at different times.
To create this new 9X8 hybrid supercar, the Peugeot design team took great pains. They incorporated the modern aesthetic code of Peugeot cars: the majesty of the lion; the smooth lines; the symbols of movement; the staggered and stylish sides; and, of course, the peugeot's unique lion's claw lamp shape. Compact and lightweight, the Peugeot 9X8 is a symbol of speed and passion.
Ultimate design
Designing a racing car is the ultimate dream of every car designer. However, this dream is usually a zero chance of being realized: the designer's primary consideration is not the brand's style and personality, but the performance, so much so that all the cars look no significant difference. The designer's play space is limited to a few design details and body painting.
During the design of the Peugeot 9X8 hybrid supercar, engineers and designers worked closely together to create a supercar that perfectly blended design style with cutting-edge technology. Matthias Hossann, Peugeot's design director, said: "The process we discussed together is absolutely unprecedented. We always work hand in hand with the Peugeot Sports team. ”
"To determine the theme of the future supercar, we first launched a design competition and received a large number of design proposals. The project sparked a wide range of enthusiasm among designers, who envisioned one day seeing their cars compete on the world's most legendary tracks and compete with the most famous car brands.
"We worked with Peugeot motion engineers to select the design theme and then started the development side by side. The engineers' primary consideration is the performance of the car, which can not be compromised, but also to comply with the rules of innovation, on the basis of which to provide designers with the maximum creative space. The Peugeot 9X8 is designed to follow the rules laid down by the Organizing Committee of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the "Western French Automobile Club (ACO)" and the "Fiafa", for the new Le Mans Supercar (LMH) category, showing the basic characteristics of Peugeot cars. The car will be a milestone in the history of automotive endurance racing. ”
Lion Soul
Motorsport requires a lot of input and thus accelerates the innovation of a brand, and Peugeot Motors was one of the first car brands to participate in the sport and has a special love for it. In all areas of peugeot's involvement, auto racing helps Peugeot explore new areas and make Peugeot more creative and competitive.
As the ultimate ambassador for Peugeot's design division and a source of inspiration for future product development, the 9X8 hybrid supercar leads the way. Peugeot's new Lion Logo, launched in early 2021, was the first to debut on the Peugeot 9X8 supercar.
Matthias Hossann explains: "The technology used in the Peugeot 9X8 is entirely the creation of Peugeot Sports, and we needed to reflect this in the design. We had to both guarantee optimum performance and convey a unique attitude through it, while also maintaining a streamlined body, in stark contrast to the last generation of stylized endurance cars. ”
The cabin of the Peugeot 9X8 also fully reflects peugeot's technical expertise and design style, and the cockpit inherits the peugeot brand's unique i-Cockpit combat cockpit design, with distinct Peugeot personality characteristics. As in the production model project, the design team pays as much attention and rigor to the interior design as the exterior design: the driver and fans in front of the screen will feel without any doubt that they are sitting in a Peugeot car. In addition, the entire Peugeot 9X8 cockpit offers the driver the highest level of ergonomics and intuitive driving control.
subversion
Observers and experts agree: the Peugeot 9X8 is very different from the multi-generational cars that preceded it, and it ushers in a new era. Racing drivers exclaimed at first sight of it: "The 9X8 is a real milestone in motorsport. It's unprecedented, and we'll be very lucky to be on the field with it. ”
Matthias Hossann said: "We posted three keywords on the walls of the design studio: iconic, efficient and sensual. The Peugeot 9X8 was naturally born in this design studio. In this way, the entire design team is aware of these design concepts, regardless of which designer is involved in which stage of development. I instilled the word 'iconic' into everyone's head, hoping that the cars we built were both highly recognizable and groundbreaking, a milestone for a new generation of cars. ”
"Many of the schemes in our in-house design competition are of a very high standard, but one one comes out on top. It breaks the original frame of the previous generation of endurance racing cars. The design concept is to weaken the characteristics of the car and strengthen the characteristics of the Peugeot brand, which is both a very attractive racing car and a sports car that can theoretically be driven on the road. ”
No rear wing design
The most prominent feature of this supercar design concept is the lack of tail fins, which is also the biggest feature that many people have summarized. The ingenious design of the 9X8 tailless wing demonstrates the aesthetic and aerodynamic excellence of Peugeot's designers and engineers.
In 1967, the rear wing first appeared at the Endurance Race at Le Mans and has since become standard in The Endurance Race at Le Mans. Since 1971, more than 50 years ago, winning cars have been equipped with rear wings. The bold removal of the rear wing demonstrates the pioneering and innovative spirit of Peugeot's designers and engineers.
In the process of building the Peugeot 9X8, the design team put a lot of effort into the tail. Following the original design, the cockpit is low in front and high in the back, ready to go like a lion, and the rear wheel arch is unique in shape to maximize aerodynamic performance.
Electrification!
Peugeot won le Mans with two cars of different generations: the Peugeot 905 with the V10 petrol engine, which won the championship in 1992 and 1993, and the Peugeot 908 with the V12 HDi-FAP engine, which won the championship in 2009. Today, the innovative and technologically powered Peugeot 9X8 has once again opened a new era. Olivier Jansonnie, Technical Director of the Peugeot 9X8 Project, explains: "The rules of the Automotive Endurance Race allow us to showcase Peugeot's know-how in all electric powertrain categories. ”
When it comes to hybrid all-wheel drive systems, the Peugeot 9X8 has some similarities with several Peugeot models such as the Peugeot 3008 and Peugeot 508. The rear axle is equipped with a 500 kW (680 hp) 2.6-litre V6 twin-turbo internal combustion engine and a 200 kW (270 hp) electric motor on the front axle.
Olivier Jansonnie said: "With the launch of the 9X8, Peugeot has opened a new chapter in hybrid sports cars. High-performance cars are becoming more and more environmentally friendly, while the performance advantages of sports cars are not diminished. ”
Matthias Hossann adds: "We wanted to express technological and cultural innovations through a new colour, which we call 'Kryptonite Green'. Shortly before the launch of the 9X8 Hybrid Supercar, we were already using this color on the all-new Peugeot 508 PSE model. In addition to color, the 508 shares several technical configurations with the Peugeot 9X8. The release of the two models, just a few weeks apart, together they propelled the Peugeot brand into the era of electric, high-performance cars. ”
virtual reality
The Peugeot design team innovatively introduced cutting-edge technology from "virtual reality" in styling work. Matthias Hossann explains: "Designers have the flexibility to move between design and 3D tools, and not only that, but also introduce virtual reality in the visualization phase to achieve the most perfect convergence of technology and design. ”
Designers use 3D tools and CAD (computer-aided design) to make digital models. With this technology, it is easy for designers to share files with a team of engineers. After completing the digital modeling, we enter the virtual reality stage, which is a creative process.
"When we showed the team of engineers the Peugeot 9X8 through the VR headset, Technical Director Olivier Jansonnie wore the VR headset around the car for a long time. His enthusiasm has infected many people, and everyone is emotionally high. ”
Light up the night
"Our Peugeot design team also has Le Mans 24 Hours of Endurance racing fans. They had been to the scene to watch the race, knowing that at night, the car had almost no particularly obvious markings, and it was difficult to recognize them next to the track. Some racing cars can be discerned by the sound of the engine, but in most cases, the visual image of the vehicle is mainly based on bright lines, which are invisible in the night. ”
"To make sure that the Peugeot 9X8 is different and easily recognizable by the average person day and night, we added some light-emitting elements to the vehicle's silhouette. In terms of lights, the lion's claw shape on all current production models is obviously the best choice. It wasn't a hassle for us to put it in the headlight position of the 9X8 supercar, but it wasn't so easy to put it in the taillights. We integrate the three light claws into a separate combination of components, and the gap formed between the components is used to vent. We can't wait to see the effect on the track. ”
As the photographer of this series of Peugeot 9X8 images, Agnieszka Doroszewicz immediately recognized the potential of Peugeot 9X8 lamp markings. "We wish we had been shooting from day to night." She said, "I was able to present the 24 Hours of Le Mans perfectly in my images. Daylight, artificial lighting and bright lights from the headlights of the race car complement the domineering pattern of the 9X8 lion's claw lights. Although we are not in Le Mans now, there is the overall atmosphere of Le Mans here. ”
Photographer AGNIESZKA
"Swift, pure, intense, like Italian espresso." Agnieszka Doroszewicz describes himself. She is passionate about design, architecture and fashion. "Photography allows me to combine these three interests. However, as a photographer, I never wanted to limit myself to one area. For example, I've taken photos for clients in many areas, including magazines, fashion, designers, agencies, businesses, and the telephone and electronics industries. Photographing supercars and racing cars is purely accidental. Automotive photography is a hot field today: there are high demands for originality and uniqueness. ”
Agnieszka graduated from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences with a degree in Photographic Design, has been a freelance photographer since 2007 and currently lives in Hamburg, where he works in photography and post-production.
"I'm often invited to Shoot at Le Mans and other 24-hour endurance races, such as the Nürburgring (Germany) and Spa (Belgium). However, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has always been the most exciting and my favorite. The excitement, tension and excitement is breathtaking, and the history of this event permeates your pores and stays with you. The Le Mans Endurance Race is one of the purest and most extreme car races. ”
"Every photography has some tidbits. This time the 9X8 shooting, the weather was unusually cold. But nothing dampened Matthias and his team's enthusiasm for getting involved in the shoot. They gave me a lot of encouragement and we used the opportunity to have a real discussion. The shoot was wonderful: the rugged concrete structure looked like a car track, and the extreme design of the Peugeot 9X8 collided with the unique architectural style, sparks splashed everywhere. ”