The teams on this ongoing Audi Mileage Marathon aren't the only ones trying to maximize their fuel efficiency right now. Over in Britain this week they held the third annual MPG Marathon. Compared to our trans-continental trek, the British event was a sprint at a mere 411 miles. However, that event was open to all comers and is run more in the fashion of the hyper-miling rallies often held in the U.S. The goal is for each driver to top the rated mileage number of their car by the biggest possible margin. Puegeot entered four cars in the event, including a 107 and a trio of 308s. Among the 39 competitors, 15 topped 58.3 mpg (U.S.) with eight of those going over 66.6 mpg (U.S.) including all four of the Peugeots. The top Peugeot 308 HDi 90 managed 69.15 mpg (U.S.) beating its official rating by 32.45 percent. The Peugeot press release is after the jump.

[Source: Peugeot]

Traditionally, automakers use the biggest auto shows in their home countries as a platform to display their latest and greatest ideas, both aesthetic and technological. Such was clearly the case this week at the Paris Motor Show for PSA, the parent company of Peugeot and Citroën. One of the technical highlights on the stands of both PSA brands was something called HYmotion4, a new through-the-road hybrid system. HYmotion4 was featured on four different vehicles including the Peugeot RC and Prologue and the Citroën Hypnos and C4 WRC.

The idea of a through-the-road hybrid system is not new and has been used previously by a number of manufacturers. To date however, no mainstream manufacturer has produced such a hybrid configuration. In engineering a car, there are many ways to skin a cat, and judging by the number of examples that PSA showed in Paris, it seems that Peugeot and Citroën may follow this path for production as an alternative to the hybrids being produced by the likes of Toyota, Ford, GM and others. Learn more about through-the-road hybrids after the jump.

[Source: Peugeot]

The tenth running of the Petit Le Mans took place on Saturday and along with celebrating a decade of the American Le Mans Series it also marked the debut of the ALMS Green Challenge. For those of you that TIVO'ed the race you can come back later. The rest of you can follow the jump to see who won.

[Source: American Le Mans Series]

We really dig Peugeot's new HYmotion3 Compressor Concept. It's got three wheels -- two up front and one in back, our preferred arrangement -- and a hybrid drivetrain. The two front wheels are independently powered by individual wheel-mounted hub motors and have no connection to the supercharged four-stroke 125cc engine that powers the rear wheel. Regenerative braking is all that provides power to the scooter's battery pack. Like the Piaggio MP3, the HYmotion3 is a leaning machine. Besides that radical powertrain, the scooter features a full safety cage that encompasses both the driver and passenger. A real windshield sits at the front with a second large sunroof overhead.

The engine shuts down when it's not needed and the electrically-driven front wheels are capable of powering the machine by themselves. The HYmotion3 is extremely fuel efficient, recording 118 miles per gallon. Could it see production? It's not beyond the realm of possibility, as the supercharged engine is already sold in other Peugeot scooters and the aforementioned MP3 has proven that the design can be a success on the sales floor. In other words, stay tuned.


[Source: Peugeot]

Peugeot's Prologue HYmotion4 concept is in many ways the opposite of the same company's RC HYmotion4 concept. The upright crossover style Prologue is a different animal from the sleek four-door coupe. Both vehicles use the same through the road hybrid architecture but flipped front/rear. The Prologue puts the internal combustion engine up front and runs on diesel instead of gasoline with the electric motor going at the back. The diesel puts out 163 hp while the motor is limited to 27 kW. With both the engine and motor running, 221 lb-ft of torque are available to the front wheels while the rears get 148 lb-ft. As with the other HYmotion4 concepts, the vehicle can be propelled by either the engine, motor or both. In rear wheel drive electric only mode, speeds are limited to about 30 mph by the 36 hp output and the use of a nickel metal hydride battery. Nonetheless, the Prologue generates some pretty impressive numbers. The French automaker claims a combined mileage of 52.3 mpg (U.S.) and CO₂ emissions of just 109 g/km. One interesting performance enhancement that Peugeot mentions is the interaction between the transmission and motor. The 6-speed manual gearbox features automated shifting. The electronic controls automatically activates the electric motor during shifts to fill the gap in power flow smoothing out the process.


[Source: Peugeot]

The RC HYmotion4 concept unveiled by Peugeot at the Paris Motor Show is just one of several hybrid drive concepts being shown by that brand and Citroen. All of these feature an interesting new through the road hybrid system that I'll write more about later. The RC is a four-door GT coupe that has a 1.6L gas engine in the back driving the rear wheels with 218 hp and 206 lb-ft of torque. Up front, a 70 kW electric motor provides up to another 132 lb-ft of twisting force for those wheels. The combined output is limited to 313 hp and acceleration to 62 mph comes up in 4.4 seconds. In the combined drive mode, the carbon dioxide emissions are rated at only 109 g/km. The system allows the car to operate in either internal combustion, electric only or blended modes. Peugeot claims it achieves 52.3 mpg (U.S.) in combined driving. Having the electric motor at the front wheels allows the car to maximize its regenerative braking capability and the energy is stored in a lithium ion battery pack. Even with the RC's 4.7 m length, the overall weight comes in at only 3,141 lbs.


[Source: Peugeot]

We have seen a lot of lucky personalities get a hold of the BMW Hydrogen 7 for a test drive. We don't know who you need to be to get on that celebrity list, but we know that it's still a big honkin' car. Therefore, it comes as a pleasant surprise that Peugeot is sharing a 308, a clever-sized compact car, to the French minister of Environmental affairs, Jean-Louis Borloo - and this 308 is a hybrid HDI. Yes, that means it pairs Peugeot's efficient HDI diesel engines to a hybrid transmission. Because the Peugeot 308 and the Citroën C4 have a lot in common, this configuration could be also available on the C4, but the last news we heard about this was that PSA was going upscale with hybrids. Nevertheless, the 308 Hybride improves the standard 1.6-liter HDI consumption figures by 40 percent and emits only 90 grams of CO₂ per km. Plans call for the French Minister of Industry to get a hybrid 308 HDI, and for the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, to drive an all-electric 5-door Peugeot 106 (with chauffeur!).

[Source: Le Blog Auto]

It seems that Audi and Peugeot's winning ways have not gone unnoticed by the powers-that-be in the assorted racing series in which they compete. Whenever a design does well in racing, you can count on a few things happening, usually either other teams begin using that particular technology, rule modifications are made to minimize its advantage or it gets banned entirely. This seems to be exactly what is taking place with the turbo diesel engines now being used in the Le Mans racing series. The Automobile Club de l'Quest, the sanctioning body of the series, will mandate smaller air-restrictor size and reduced turbo pressure for the hugely powerful oil-burners.

Other changes will be made across all teams and cars, regardless of fuel type, including smaller rear wings, one tire gun in the pits and no tire heaters. These latter modifications are supposed to make the cars a bit slower and make them cheaper to operate. Perhaps Peugeot had an idea that changes might be made when it developed its new hybrid racer. As technology marches on, so must the rules ... and the teams' attempts to stay one step ahead.


[Source: Autosport]

Do you own a fleet? Aren't you interested in knowing in real-time how cars on this fleet are performing? Would it be nice to verify if a vehicle is burning an abnormal rate of gas and trace the most polluting drivers? Do you want to schedule maintenance and keep all security systems under control? This is where Active Fleet Data comes in hand. Just launched for the Peugeot Partner van (pictured above), it's being spread to all fleet Peugeot models, such as the 207 and 308 in October and the 407 in November, as long as they're leased in France through Peugeot's Location Longue Durée. Spain will follow in 2009, as well as the rest of European markets. How much does this system cost? €1 for three years, if your company leases the car before the end of this year.

[Source: Peugeot]

Using the Internet to share a ride is not new at all and we've found another system to help you share a car if you use Facebook. There's a new Facebook application developed by Peugeot called EcoSharing and it allows Facebook users to get in touch to share a ride, either by offering a seat on a car or looking for one. According to Peugeot, EcoSharing offers a very intuitive interface that will easily allow Facebookers to share rides. This initiative belongs to Peugeot's Blue Lion environmental program, which Peugeot says is not about simply creating a label to slap on greener cars but a set of initiatives to reduce pollution from cars.

[Source: Peugeot]

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Following the introduction of the RC... concept, Peugeot is showing off the Prologue, a new concept using a hybrid architecture. Although Peugeot says that it defies all classifications, it's likely to be the base for the future 3008, a compact crossover that would fight against the Nissan Qashqai and the Volkswagen Tiguan. Currently, the only SUV available at Peugeot dealers is a Mitsubishi Outlander clone, called 4007. For the record, the 308 is Peugeot's subcompact, and the 407 is the Lion's marque sedan.

Based on the platform of the Citroën C4 Picasso, the Prologue uses a claimed "new generation" hybrid powertrain which gets 200hp and produces 109 g/km of CO₂ for the European mixed driving cycle and 0 g/km when running exclusively on electrons. Could it be a plug-in hybrid?


[Source: Peugeot]

In the current world of big time international endurance racing, two cars stand head and shoulders above the rest, the Audi R10 TDI and the Peugeot 908 HDi. Put these two Le Mans Prototype class 1 cars, both powered by 5.5L turbo diesel V12s, on a wide open track and nothing can run with them. With Formula 1 introducing hybrid kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) in 2009 and the American Le Mans Series introducing a Green Challenge award, Peugeot has decided to take the next step with its program. The French manufacturer is using the last race of the 2008 Le Mans Series at Sliverstone to unveil a demonstrator called the 908 HY which may foreshadow the next generation of its Le Mans challenger. The 908 HY adds a 60 kW electric motor, a set of lithium ion battery packs and corresponding power electronics. The diesel hybrid system will allow the car to operate in electric-only mode in the pits, and get a power boost on the track thanks to recaptured kinetic energy. The current demonstrator has a net weight gain of 45 kg (99 lbs) compared to the standard car. Whether Peugeot runs a car based on this powertrain depends on the ACO, the organization that sets the rules for Le Mans. Corsa Motorsports recently announced its plans to compete in the American Le Mans Series beginning next month with an E10 fueled hybrid electric racer.


[Source: Peugeot]

Click on picture for high-resolution picture

One of Europe's sexiest sedans, the Peugeot 407, has gotten a mid-life boost. Besides some aesthetic tweaks, Peugeot has updated the 2.0-liter HDi 140 engine with a 6-speed manual gearbox which develops 140hp - an increase of 4hp over the previous HDi 136. It also benefits from lower fuel consumption, at 49.5 mpg imperial (41 mpg U.S. or 5.7 l/100 km) and CO₂ emissions have been reduced to 150 g/km. It also gets a Diesel Particulate Filter (nicknamed FAP at Peugeot) as standard. The FAP is also available on the 1.6-liter 110hp base diesel model. Two additional diesels, a 170hp and a V6, remain available. All PSA diesel engines built after 1998 are certified to use biodiesel blends up to 30 percent. For flex-fuel lovers, Peugeot is offering a new 2.0-litre 'Bioflex' engine that can burn E85 fuel starting in November. Full UK press release after the jump.



[Source: Peugeot]

Peugeot has just released a group of teaser images of the new concept it will be unveiling at the Paris Motor Show in October. The RC is a four door, four seat coupe that features a hybrid powertrain. Peugeot hasn't provided any other details yet, but the previous RC Spade and RC Diamond concepts from 2002 and the 908 RC from 2006 were all diesel powered. Considering that Peugeot runs diesels in the Le Mans Series and previously showed a 308 diesel hybrid, it seems a safe bet that the new concept will also use a similar setup. Peugeot claims an output of 313hp and carbon dioxide emissions of 109 g/km when running in hybrid mode.


[Source: Peugeot]

Last March, Peugeot brought its diesel-powered 908 HDi LMP1 prototype to Sebring for its first race outside of Europe as a warm up for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Peugeot demonstrated some amazing speed compared to its German rival - the defending champion Audi R10 TDI - but wasn't quite robust enough to last on the bumpy Sebring circuit. Peugeot has decided to return to North America in October for the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Peugeot is bringing two cars this time around and they will be challenging Audi, Porsche and Acura, not only for the overall victory but also for the Green Challenge. The Atlanta race will be the debut of ALMS' Green Challenge which will award points on formula based on fuel efficiency, and total net carbon emissions. The car with the best combination of low carbon footprint and performance will win. Next year ALMS will run the Green Challenge throughout the entire season. In the meantime, this race should prove to be another epic between the French and German diesels.

[Source: American Le Mans Series]