It didn’t take long for Peugeot Sport to put its
mark on the all-new 208 supermini following the road car’s Geneva Motor Show
world debut. Peugeot’s performance and motorsport division unveiled the 208 R2,
the first rally version based on the new generation model. The new rally car
recently turned a wheel for the first time in the Vosges region of France as it
entered the dynamic phase of testing.
Peugeot Sport wants the new 208 R2 to follow in the
footsteps of the previous-generation model which
was the best-selling rally car in the history of the company as well as the
best-seller in the category. Peugeot Sport built more than 450 units of the
outgoing 208 R2.
For its successor, Peugeot Sport used a
three-cylinder 1.2-liter turbocharged PureTech gasoline engine, making it
eligible for FIA R2C regulations. Engineers have adapted the engine for
competition by adding a bigger turbo, motorsport engine management system, and
a new gearbox. No specs have been released but Peugeot Sport director Bruno
Famin says the new engine “will lead to a substantial increase in performance.”
The folks from Peugeot Sport have been working on
the car since summer 2018 and their brief was quite straightforward: “create a
rapid and reliable car that’s great fun to drive, but also benefits from
running costs that are as low as possible.”
The results of the first tests suggest that these
objectives are already being met, Peugeot Sport claims. Based on the all-new
Peugeot 208, the 208 R2 benefits from all the technical and aesthetic
evolutions present on the road car — chief of which is the new CMP platform
which offers reduced weight and enhanced vehicle dynamics. Peugeot Sport’s goal is to
deliver the first cars in time for the 2020 season.
