Jul 22 2013
Exa® Corporation is pleased to report that in an astonishing 8:13.878 minutes, Peugeot's Sport's 208 T16 Pikes Peak racecar set a new world record at the International Hill Climb race in Colorado on June 30th. This racecar was optimized for maximum downforce solely through PowerFLOW® aerodynamic simulations.
Exa PowerFLOW aerodynamic simulation of Peugeot Sport's winning 208 T16 Pikes Peak Racecar. PowerFLOW helped Peugeot Sport achieve maximum downforce for the race.
The Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak racecar was expected to do well, but it beat all expectations. Bruno Famin, Director of Peugeot Sport remarked, "We smashed the previous world record by a minute and a half — a simply remarkable accomplishment." Famin continued, "We knew PowerFLOW would accurately simulate the real world, and our driver, Sébastien Loeb confirmed the car stuck to the road like a F1 racecar throughout the entire climb. We achieved the needed downforce to keep our driver safely on the road during this incredibly taxing race."
Peugeot Sport designed an extremely unique and efficient car. The trademark rear wing and front splitter were not only aesthetically interesting, but optimized aerodynamic devices. "Within only a few weeks, Peugeot Sport's team managed to optimize all the aerodynamic components as well as the underbody of the car using our PowerFLOW simulations," stated Jean-Paul Roux, Exa's President of European Operations. "Knowing this team and the potential for creativity in this 'Unlimited' class, I had high expectations that the car would be a winner — but to blow away the record and pull off such a commanding win is fantastic." The second place finisher came in at 9:02.19, almost 50 seconds behind. Many race experts feel that this dominant Peugeot engineering team might be able to approach the 7 minute mark in the future.
About Exa Corporation
Exa Corporation develops, sells and supports simulation software and services to enhance product performance, reduce product development costs and improve the efficiency of design and engineering processes. Our simulation solutions enable our customers to gain crucial insights about design performance early in the design cycle, thus reducing the likelihood of expensive redesigns and late-stage engineering changes. As a result, our customers realize significant cost savings and fundamental improvements in their engineering development process. Our products include, PowerFLOW®, PowerDELTA®, PowerCLAY®, PowerVIZ®, PowerSPECTRUM®, PowerACOUSTICS®, PowerINSIGHT®, PowerCOOL® and PowerTHERM® along with professional engineering consulting services. A partial customer list includes: AGCO, BMW, Ford, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Kenworth, MAN, Nissan, Peterbilt, Renault, Scania, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo Trucks.