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Nine-time World rally Champion, Frenchman Sebastien Loeb recently tested the stunning Peugeot 208 T16 he will drive at this year's Pikes Peak hill climb in Colorado.
Loeb declared himself extremely impressed with his new race car. “The 208 T16 Pikes Peak is a rocket! It's so powerful! The first time you drive it, each gear change practically stuns you. The shifts are really brutal, and it takes a little time to anticipate the sudden jarring. You get used to it, but it was quite disorienting to begin with,” said Loeb.
“I've never driven anything that accelerates so fast!” he added. “In the lower gears, a Formula 1 car doesn't deliver maximum power. With the Peugeot, though, it's bang, bang, bang as you move up the box from standstill. Thanks to its four-wheel drive transmission and turbocharged engine, its pull-away performance is phenomenal! You find yourself in sixth gear at 240kph in no time at all!” Indeed, as the 208 can accelerated some zero to 100 km/h in just 1.8 seconds.
“Thanks to its aerodynamic downforce and wide tires, the braking is amazing, too. In fact, the 208 package is a combination of the best of several worlds: it's got the downforce of a Formula 1 car, the wide tyres of an endurance racing prototype and a differential, like a WRC car...” Loeb explained.
“The track here isn't very wide and there aren't any run-offs, so I'm taking things one step at a time. I don't know what the car's limits are yet but it was important to do this run on a circuit today. Now we have a better idea of where we stand and a better overview of the car's potential. After that, the challenge will be to try to feel totally at one with the car on the Pikes Peak Hill Climb itself. That will take some work...” Loeb declared.
To get a proper understanding of the car's behaviour, Peugeot Sport has scheduled a busy test programme at circuits, on roads and at altitude as the next phase of this amazing project.
 |
| Photo: Peugeot Sport |
Loeb declared himself extremely impressed with his new race car. “The 208 T16 Pikes Peak is a rocket! It's so powerful! The first time you drive it, each gear change practically stuns you. The shifts are really brutal, and it takes a little time to anticipate the sudden jarring. You get used to it, but it was quite disorienting to begin with,” said Loeb.
 |
| Photo: Peugeot Sport |
“I've never driven anything that accelerates so fast!” he added. “In the lower gears, a Formula 1 car doesn't deliver maximum power. With the Peugeot, though, it's bang, bang, bang as you move up the box from standstill. Thanks to its four-wheel drive transmission and turbocharged engine, its pull-away performance is phenomenal! You find yourself in sixth gear at 240kph in no time at all!” Indeed, as the 208 can accelerated some zero to 100 km/h in just 1.8 seconds.
 |
| Photo: Peugeot Sport |
“Thanks to its aerodynamic downforce and wide tires, the braking is amazing, too. In fact, the 208 package is a combination of the best of several worlds: it's got the downforce of a Formula 1 car, the wide tyres of an endurance racing prototype and a differential, like a WRC car...” Loeb explained.
 |
| Photo: Peugeot Sport |
“The track here isn't very wide and there aren't any run-offs, so I'm taking things one step at a time. I don't know what the car's limits are yet but it was important to do this run on a circuit today. Now we have a better idea of where we stand and a better overview of the car's potential. After that, the challenge will be to try to feel totally at one with the car on the Pikes Peak Hill Climb itself. That will take some work...” Loeb declared.
 |
| Photo: Peugeot Sport |
To get a proper understanding of the car's behaviour, Peugeot Sport has scheduled a busy test programme at circuits, on roads and at altitude as the next phase of this amazing project.