On September 26th, French automaker Peugeot will celebrate 210 years since the business was founded. But, as is customary, it decided to jump the gun a little – and behold the all-new Peugeot Sport Engineered performance division. The new group is not showing up empty handed either, as it premiered the most powerful production car the French ever made.
These days are particularly good for Peugeot and its parent group. PSA is on the verge of combining with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to create Stellantis, the fourth largest automotive OEM by volume, and to make sure it all happens smoothly it is even repurchasing shares from China’s Dongfeng Motor Group (DFG).
The French are also on the brink of celebrating 210 years since the creation of the family business that led to the birth of the Peugeot car brand. With an eye on the past and another one on the future, the French carmaker is carefully plotting its return to the U.S. market.
And creating more performance-oriented models to set itself apart in a crowd will certainly help.
Case in point, we have been introduced to the new Peugeot Sport Engineered unit with help from their brand-new high-performance version of the 508 series. It will become Peugeot’s most powerful road car ever at 360 hp / 520 Nm (384 lb. ft.) and combines all-wheel drive technology with sporty looks and a plug-in hybrid powertrain.
The design has been teased before with help from the Concept 508 Peugeot Sport Engineered, and the official take is a remarkably close match. It will be offered with just three body shades - Selenium Grey, Nera Black, and Pearl White, possibly to perfectly compliment the Kryptonite touches or the 20-inch alloy wheels.
Future owners will find a sporty but restrained atmosphere inside the cockpit, with Peugeot building the 508 PSE as a top-level offering that has all the perks and technologies currently on offer.
Of course, the Peugeot i-Cockpit is on duty, while luxury touches include the Mistral Nappa Leather / Alcantara leather mix, as well as the dual Tramontane Grey and Kryptonite stitching.
The most important part of the new release is the “Lion King’s heart” - aka the PHEV powertrain that includes a turbo 1.6-liter gas engine and two electric motors. We have seen this setup before on PSA models, but on this occasion, it has been massaged to the new power level in order to sprint to 100 kph (62 mph) in 5.2 seconds and then continue onto a maximum speed of 155 mph (250 kph, electronically capped).
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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