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TECHNOLOGY – PEUGEOT 908 HYBRID4


Test mule. Peugeot’s 908 HYbrid4 was in the latter stages of development when the programme was abruptly stopped in January. The carbon fibre bell housing was initially built to accommodate the hybrid system, but at the last minute due to reliability issues, the battery pack was put into the tub


integrated and be suitable for racing, and so while the project provided useful knowledge for the team, it was mothballed until the 908 HDi FAP’s successor was signed off. ‘The problem was that the old 908, the V12, was not designed for the system,’ said Peugeot’s technical director, Bruno Famin. ‘Pierre [Calippe, head of electronics] was in charge of the project at the time, and we wanted to go quickly to see how this system would work. We had no other option than to just put the system in the car, but it was not at all optimised. It was functional, and it was good to learn, but not to race because it was not safe, and not reliable enough. The complete system, the suppliers and the teams learned a lot about the system, particularly in Formula 1 in 2009. Even the technical rules and the safety rules, everyone learned a lot from it.’ It took until the end of the 2009 season before the Peugeot board agreed to fund the development of a full hybrid,


and the successor to the V12, also called the 908, was given the green light. The new car featured a 3.7-litre V8 and required considerably smaller ancillary devices, which allowed more space to fit a system, and options for where to put the heavy battery. ‘By the end of 2009, we got the final rule for 2011,’ said Famin. ‘We designed


with the level of power and storage level to use the rule as it is,’ continued Famin. ‘We were working with the ACO and FIA to adjust the rule because we were discovering new things together. One of the questions was that the technical rules say you can deliver the 500kJ between two braking areas. But what is a braking area, and how many are


“You could perhaps get 4MJ for one lap, maybe more, but you


will not be able to do it for 400 laps, that is for sure”


the new 908 chassis to have the possibility for the hybrid.’ Discussions between the


ACO and the manufacturers saw the amount of useable energy reduced from 1MJ to the 500kJ that the cars will use at Le Mans this year. ‘We thought that 1MJ was too much, and fought to get it reduced, for economic reasons, and we had good compromise


there in the Le Mans track?’ Other details had to be sorted


out to ensure the 908 would be competitive against Audi’s energy recovery system that delivers power back to the front wheels, creating a four-wheel drive, or Quattro, system. ‘We had to decide with the main manufacturers, the ACO and the FIA. And we had a big fight


about the 120kmh rule, to reduce the advantage of a four-wheel drive car,’ said Famin. ‘At least it was something! We were definitely against the four-wheel drive system at Le Mans, and the ACO and the FIA agreed, and tried to reduce the obvious advantage given to Audi.’ Even at 500kJ, the Peugeot


system was approaching its limit per lap, although the system was in its early stages of development. ‘We think the system should do 3MJ per lap,’ said Oliver Jansonnie, head of chassis R and D. ‘It is a temperature limit for the system. You could perhaps get 4MJ for one lap, maybe more, but you will not be able to do it for 400 laps, that is for sure. ‘It is not only a matter of the


cooling. You have to extract the heat from the components, so you need to have a big radiator. You cannot extract the heat because you can’t have the flow, even with a big radiator. To increase the size of the radiator would not solve this.’ The duty cycle was the


July 2012 • www.racecar-engineering.com 57


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