Peugeot E-T16

Do you recall the Peugeot 205 T16? Of course you do. The homologation special was just one of the bonkers creations made for the wild days of Group B rallying. Now that car’s spirit has been revived with a new concept car from the French automaker called the Peugeot E-T16. The new concept was unveiled to celebrate Peugeot’s back-to-back world rally titles in 1985 and ’86.

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Pugnacious Racer

The original 205 T16 was based on a 205 GTi, except the engine was moved to behind the front seats. The more powerful turbocharged engine fed power to all four wheels. Homologation rules called for 200-units to be produced, so, quite ridiculously, you could buy one of these toned down rally cars to drive on the road.

Click here to read about our drive experience of a 205 GTi.

The modern concept tries to keep the ‘feral’ aspect of the origonal, but modernised for a new era. There are elements of its so-called ‘three-claw light signature’ on the front as well as in the taillamps. Yellow was the chosen colour for the trio of lights at the front, evoking the foglamps from rally cars. Carryover cues from the original include the red pinstripes down the flanks.

The newer car also has bulging wheel arches as per its design inspiration. These cover wide rubber at both ends. Those intricate looking alloys (we’d have gone for an OZ rally rep look) cover massive brakes: 380 mm all round.

Racy Inside

The Peugeot E-T16 Concept continues the rally-bred theme inside. Drift and rally fans would have already spied the vertical, hydraulic handbrake. There is also the kinky Hypersquare, a reinvention of the traditional steering wheel. The system uses ‘steer-by-wire’ tech for a 170-degree full-lock rotation. Incidentally, the design is mooted for production. Deep-set bucket seats keep driver and nav in places when hot-lapping or setting stage times.

Most Powerful

Peugeot says the E-T16 Concept is the most powerful car it has ever built. It has 600 kW on tap courtesy of three electric motors. One mounted at the front, two at the rear vary the torque distribution between them according to the conditions and selected drive mode. AWD helps deliver a 0-100 km/h sprint in 2,5 seconds. 300 km/h comes up in 16 seconds after take off. Peugeot claims a range of 400 km. The company also says it can complete three laps of the Nürburgring Nordschleife—more than 60 km—in Performance mode, with no power limitation.