Did Peugeot crib from Pescarolo?

[davehenrie]

I was looking at photo of the Pescarolo 01 the other day and it struck me how simple the front end looked. In fact it reminded me of the Le Mans aero treatment...it took me a few moments to reverse that and say to myself, The Pug's updated nose looks very similar to the Pesca. Who help whom?

dh

[Lola T70]

I am sure Pescarolo are not better at aerodynamics than Peugeot so I would venture Pesca got the car and ran it.

[cmk]

I think that's called missing the point, he wasn't talking about the Pescarolo Peugeot, he was likening the 2009 LM-spec nose to the previous Pesca LMP1 designs.

I don't think there was any literal cross-pollination because Guillaume Cattellani, the aero design head, came from Dallara. Obviously you can come up with similar interpretations, but I think they had a few more resources available to refine things at Peugeot too!

[davehenrie]

Yes, sorry, I re-read my post and it was pretty garbled. Late night I suspect. Let me try and rephrase it.

The 'new' aero treatment for the Pug seems rather simple. Especially when compared to all the voodoo in the Audi's front end. But it wasn't until I was looking at the photo of the petrol Pescarolo, that I saw a similarity. For the last two years the 01 Pesca has had a very simple slope between the wheels and the footbox.
In the previous years, that same area in the Pug was very complex. So here comes Le Mans, and word of a new aero treatment for the 908. It was so simple that I spent some time on the tv looking for the changes...looking at the extended nose, the fender widths...I finally saw the smooth black sloped area between the wheels and footbox and realized that was the new aero treatment.
Move ahead a week or two and the Petrol Pesca photo I was looking at. Only then did I make the connection. So, it almost seemed to me to be TOO convieneant that might Peugeot spent money in a wind tunnel to come up with Pescarolo's solution.

that's all.

dh

[gwyllion]

Audi tested a similar solution on the R10. See http://www.mulsannescorner.com/audir10-1.html So I highly doubt there is any connection.

[isynge]

Leaving aside the aerodynamic arguments, the simple front end with the gap between the floor and the wishbone filled in makes it look a lot more 'sportscar' and a lot less single seater on steroids.

Don't get me wrong - I'm as big a fan of innovation as the anyone else, and think the Acura and R15 are both really interesting, and while the old aerospace argument that runs "if it looks right it probably is right" has long since been disproved, it strikes me that a couple of styling cues like this would go a long way to making the LMPs look that little bit more appealing.

[zac510]

It's aerodynamics, everyone's cribbing from everyone aren't they?

PS is cribbing an American word?

[davehenrie]

I think it comes from my School days. When you want to sneak some notes into a test, you would use a Crib sheet.
I have no idea if I used the term properly, but I didn't want to say steal....lol! There are no American words, we cribbed them all from everybody else.

dh

[naughtymutt]

Originally Posted by davehenrie

There are no American words, we cribbed them all from everybody else.

And then spelled them wrong.

I agree with isynge, lets get rid of things like those "legality louvres" and get them looking more like a sports car.