Last year, the extremely spectacular machine also won the award for the most beautiful hypercar of the year.
Last year we also reported on the Peugeot four-wheeler about his “automotive laboratory”, i.e. the Peugeot 9X8 Hybrid Hypercar about the race car named, which the French brand planned to launch at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The design was so successful that the special vehicle won the prize at last year’s Paris International Motor Show. award for the most beautiful hypercar of the year.
They probably noticed this LEGO designers as well, because for the first time in its history, this Peugeot model was added to the Technic set series of the Danish toy manufacturer. The 9X8 Hybrid racing car is an ideal addition to the technically oriented product line in several ways.
The LEGO building system that we know today was born in 1955 with the introduction of the Lego System concept. A year later, the first LEGO set appeared: a car repair shop. Although the set with serial number 236 did not contain a car, this choice foreshadowed the key role that vehicles, mobility and, within that, the automobile, played in the life and development of LEGO.
In the more than sixty years that have passed since the appearance of the first LEGO wheels (1961), hundreds, if not thousands, of cars have been designed by the engineers of the toy factory. And when LEGO introduced its Technic series in 1977, specifically for builders with a technical interest, one of the very first sets included the automobile (#853). The kit stylishly contained only the mechanical parts, not the body, so the builders could feel like they were in the heroic era of the automotive industry and were free to design superstructures on the chassis.
In the Technic series, more and more accurate and detailed cars followed each other, and with this, in addition to the generic “fantasy vehicles”, kits modeled after existing iconic car models appeared in increasing numbers.
However, until now, the LEGO Technic design team has not considered two things. With so many motorsport series, they have never designed a Le Mans racing car, and never once have they drawn inspiration from Peugeot’s rich model history. These two gaps are being filled at the same time by creating the melodically named LEGO Technic Peugeot 9X8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar set.
Peugeot’s hybrid Hypercar racing car is one of the most complex and sophisticated creations in the automotive industry; and accordingly presented an extreme challenge to even the most experienced LEGO engineers.
The collaboration began in January 2022 – i.e. five months before the world premiere of the Peugeot 9X8 – and the design of the set took an entire year: LEGO set itself no less a goal than to reproduce all the technical subtleties of the Le Mans racing car. into the model. Specialists from Peugeot Sport and LEGO met countless times and discussed at length about the design of the chassis and the structure of the hybrid system, so that the toy does not only resemble the racing car in appearance.
From the forward and upward opening doors to the open front wheel arches to the Peugeot 9X8’s unique aerodynamic package, everything has been authentically recreated – in reality, the blade-like lamps using special LED technology have been built from fluorescent elements, so they really glow in the dark.
The most beautiful detail, however, is the drive chain hidden under the cover. Not only was the V6 petrol engine driving the rear wheels and the seven-speed gearbox implemented, but the electric motor connected to the front wheels was also modelled; the designers did not even forget about the high-voltage cable bundles of the hybrid system.
In order to achieve the greatest possible level of detail, the LEGO designers worked on a scale of 1:10, so after assembling the 1,775 building elements that make up the set, we get a car that is 130 mm high, 220 mm wide and exactly half a meter long. The set code 42156 is recommended for adult builders due to its complexity. The LEGO Technic Peugeot 9X8 24H Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar can be purchased from the first of May in the LEGO network and in Peugeot dealerships; the recommended retail price of the set is 199 euros, i.e. approximately HUF 75,000.
The Peugeot 9X8 racing car competes in the Le Mans Hypercar (LMH) machine class developed by the FIA and introduced in the 2021 World Endurance Championship (WEC). These cars use a full hybrid drivetrain built around a four-stroke gasoline engine of any configuration; the total system power cannot exceed 500 kW (680 hp) at any moment of the race.
The length of the cars was maximized at five meters and their width at two meters. The rear wheels of the 4995 mm long Peugeot 9X8 are powered by a 2.6 liter biturbo V6 petrol engine with a peak output of 520 kW (707 hp), while a 200 kW (272 hp) electric motor works at the front. The energy supply of the latter is ensured by a 900V battery pack specially developed for this purpose, while the petrol engine receives its fuel from a 100% renewable source from a 90 liter tank. Undoubtedly, the most unique feature of the Peugeot 9X8 is the aerodynamic package designed with the help of artificial intelligence, which provides the necessary downforce through the special design of the bottom plate instead of the usual upper spoiler.
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