Peugeot 908 RC: First pics

The 908 RC will be Peugeot's star turn at the Paris motor show next month.
At the heart of the 908 is hardware that will power next year's Peugeot Le Mans contender.

Having seen Audi waltz off with Le Mans honours on its home turf with its R10 racer, Peugeot has come up with its own turbodiesel race engine.

The Peugeot V12 HDi DPFS creates 700bhp and a road-rippling 885lb ft of torque.

All of this power will put the Peugeot in a prime spot to take on the Audi R10 racer.

However, Peugeot has not forgotten to do its bit for the environment with its new race engine, and a pair of dustbin-sized particulate filters keeps all that nasty diesel soot from spilling into the atmosphere.

The V12 engine has quite a shallow 'V' at 100-degrees and sits on top of the electronically controlled six-speed sequential gearbox.

No word on performance, but Peugeot reckons it's in with a good chance of repeating its 1993 Le Mans success.

More immediately, it looks like the 908 RC saloon will be a success with visitors to the Paris show.

Designed to have a predatory feline look, the 908 has muscular wing lines and ready-to-pounce haunches.

Helping things along are huge chrome alloy wheels, stretching to 20 inches at the front and 21 inches at the rear.

We reckon some of the more contrived styling elements, such as the 'whiskers' just to the fore of the front wheelarches and headlights with an 'eye' in their centres, are taking things a little too far.

The body is made from race-car materials, including carbon-fibre and aluminium-honeycomb structures, while the engine is wrapped in a tubular frame.

The suspension is surprisingly humdrum for such an exotic machine and is derived from the 407 saloon's, although the carbon-ceramic brake discs and monobloc calipers are anything but ordinary.

On the inside of this slinky body is a four-seat cabin that is much more Maybach than Le Mans.

Each seat has masses of room, despite the engine sitting at the back of the 908 RC, and Peugeot has thrown every known luxury into the cockpit of its Paris show concept.

We particularly like the windscreen that arcs up and over the cabin to turn into a glass roof.

So, we've not taken leave of our senses and the 908 RC has a real purpose as a concept.

More to the point is whether Peugeot will take leave of its sensible cars and make the 908 RC a reality.

© Source: original article on topgear