Meet the 90X, Peugeot’s Next Le Mans Contender

Say bonjour to Peugeot Sport's next generation racing car, currently codenamed 90X. Set to compete in the 2011 racing season, the 90X will replace the four-year-old 908 HDi, which took first place in the 24h of Le Mans in 2008.

Peugeot had entered four 908 prototypes at this year's edition of the Le Mans, but while the racers took the top four spots in the qualifying round, all four cars had problems and were retired before the end of the race. This was the first time that none of the Peugeot 908s finished the 24-hour classic. So now, the French carmaker is preparing its successor that has just completed its first track test.

"Our objective was to start track testing before the end of the year," says Peugeot Sport Director Olivier Quesnel. "I am pleased to report that we have now done that. Even so, there is still a long way to go and a considerable amount of work to be done as we prepare for 2011."

The new car meets ACO's 2011 regulations and is also a closed cockpit model, meeting the mandatory 900 kg (1,984 lbs) weight limit. A new safety feature has been incorporated in the design, a "shark fin" placed on the engine cover, meant to prevent the car from becoming airborne in the case of a high-speed spin.

"We are still exploring several options with regard to the engine and technology we will use," Bruno Famin, the Technical Director of Peugeot Sport, pointed out. "Work on the engine's development is ongoing. Endurance racing is an ideal proving ground to provide us with the opportunity to showcase all the brand's technologies" he added.

By Csaba Daradics

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New Peugeot 207 Sportium Special Edition for Britain

There's a new addition to the range of Peugeot's 207 hatchback. It's called the "Sportium" and it builds on the specification of the previous special edition ["special edition" translates to "higher-spec model" in Peugeot's language...] 207 Millesim model. Available exclusively as a hatchback with a choice of either a VTi 95HP Euro 5 petrol engine or Peugeot's new HDi 92HP Euro 5 diesel engine, the Sportium is priced in the UK from £12,595.

All 207 Sportium models come with a chrome effect finish to the front grille, color-coded body side mouldings and 15-inch (petrol model) or 16-inch (diesel model) alloy wheels.

Other standard features include power steering, six airbags, remote control central locking with deadlocks ABS, EBFD, EBA, manual air-conditioning, front fog lights, Peugeot connect USB with Bluetooth and free Nokia 5230 smart phone with Satellite Navigation and in car mounting kit.

225 lb Mother Killed in Crash, Peugeot Admits Not Crash Testing for Heavier Drivers

On the 20th of January, 2009, 56-year-old mother-of-three Judith Evans was killed when her Peugeot 107 hit a Vauxhall Vectra in a head-on collision in Buckinghamshire, UK. The matter recently went to court where it was heard that the victim sustained multiple fractures and chest and abdominal injuries which the Thames Valley Police noticed were unusually severe given the force of impact.

Experts from Peugeot and Vehicle Safety Consultancy Ltd believe that the 107 should have provided good protection for this sort of crash, and yet this was not the case. Why?

Evans' Peugeot 107 met all EuroNCAP safety standards, with the 107 and it's Citroen C1 and Toyota Aygo siblings having scored four stars in a 2005 test. It was fitted with front seatbelt pre-tensioners and load limiters along with front and side body airbags for both driver and passenger.

The investigation suggests it may have to do with weight. Not the weight of the Vectra compared to the 107, as Peugeot has suggested, but the weight of the 107's driver.

You see, Mrs Evans weighed close to 16 stone (102 kg / 225 U.S. lbs). Meanwhile Peugeot, following European regulations, never tested the 107 with a dummy weighing more than 12 stone 14 lbs (78 kg / 172 U.S. lbs). As such, the safety features built into the 107 weren't calibrated for a heavier occupant.

The Evans's family lawyer, asked Peugeot safety expert Richard Zeitouni: "Have you tested with any dummies more than 78kg?" Mr Zeitouni, replied that Peugeot had not.

Mr Horner then asked: "So you have not tested with a weight of dummy that corresponds to 50% of the male population?"

Mr Zeitouni answered: "When we designed this car we found it was good, adequate protection for the majority of occupants. It's an official dummy, a regulation dummy."

Peter Gloyns, a mechanical engineer from Vehicle Safety Consultancy (VSC) Ltd made this comment:

"The accident raises a serious question over the stability of the response of the total restraint system for an occupant of this build and weight in an accident of this severity in which it would be hoped that good protection could be offered."

The driver of the Vectra sustained fractures in her kneecap and internal bruising, but was otherwise unharmed in the crash.

A spokesperson from Peugeot told UK daily 'The Independent' that the company had no comment to make at this stage.

We'll have more on this case as we get it.

By Tristan Hankins

Source: Independent

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Peugeot 3008 Crossover Officially Revealed (details and photos)

Peugeot has released the first official photos and details of the all-new 3008 compact crossover. The five-seater 3008 is more of a pug than a stud – at slightest in what concerns its exterior styling.

Peugeot officials said that it is positioned “at the crossroads between numerous free vehicles like the SUV, the MPV and track.” Something like an automotive varied grille in other language. The 3008′s most next rival seems to be the Nissan Qashqai cross, which has proven pretty successful in Europe.

Read more (details + photo)!!



Inside, the Pug skin a very nicely styled dash that looks suspiciously akin in goal with the Audi R8. As you’d demand from a French crossover, the 3008′s cubicle is honestly versatile and it includes an array of storage places with an entire valuable amount of nearly 50 liters. The encumber region (512lt under the packet ledge) is accessible through a tear tailgate that divides into two parts. Notably, it can be compartmentalized gratitude to a stagger with a 3-way height adjustment.

Europeans will be able to take among seven different powetrain options. For 2009, these involve: a 110HP 1.6-liter diesel with a 6-momentum physical gearbox or an electronically-controlled handbook gearbox; a 150HP 2.0-liter diesel with a 6-haste handbook gearbox; a 163HP 2.0-liter diesel mated to a 6-tempo sure transmission; a 120HP 1.6-liter gasoline engine hooked up to a 5-haste guidebook gearbox and a 1.6-liter turbocharged petrol thing with 150 or 156HP that’s mated to a 6-rush physical gearbox.

Sharing its platform with the Peugeot 308 C-segment tailgate, the 3008 crossover will primarily be unfilled exclusively with front-circle ambition. Peugeot does however deal a faux off-path embalm called “Grip Control” that consists of 16-inch M+S (Mud & Snow) tires and intelligent footing oppress. According to the French automakers own words, this container “gives the vehicle a genuine ability to overcome testing situations where the wheels have little grip.”

Those sharp for an all-sweep oblige account will have to linger awaiting the presentation of the Peugeot-Citroen PSA Group’s first pattern to be equipped with HYbrid4 technology. To be launched by 2011 the latest, the 3008 HYbrid4 will cartel a traditional engine that powers the front-wheels with a thrilling motor located under the burden quarter stagger near the hinge that drives the rear wheels.

Peugeot said that this technology will not only add all-wheel maneuver capabilities to the archetype, but it will also slash fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by around 35%. At the Paris Motor Show, the Prologue HYbrid4 belief car was unfilled with a 2.0 litre HDi FAP engine with an intensity of 163HP and an electric motor with a most space of 27 kW (37HP) for a total nation of 200HP and a limit torque of 300 Nm at the front and 200 Nm at the rear. The fuel consumption of this example in the united rotation was estimated at being only 4.1 liters/100 km (57.4mpg U.S.), with CO2 emissions of just 109 g/km.