Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar Review

I can’t help but want to start this review with ‘Start your engines LEGO®️ fans’…..but I shouldn’t. Although I kind of just did. Well now I can have it both ways. Anyhoo! Today I’m taking a look at the latest Technic vehicle from The LEGO®️ Group with the stylish Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar. First revealed on April 16th, this set has been in the works for a good while. Like all the larger scale branded sets, this newest beast was designed in conjunction with the team at Peugeot back in January 2022. That’s a good 5 months before the car’s official public reveal. Fast forward to today and we have a vehicle that’s pretty faithful to it’s real-life counterpart. Let’s find out what’s in stock for all you race fans.

NOTE: The LEGO® Group provided this set for review. However, the provision of products does not guarantee a favorable review. True North Bricks’ usual rating system applies (click here for more information).

SET SUMMARY

QUICK REVIEW

• VALUE: 80% (the higher price isn’t a great value, but a great cost/min brings up the final score)
• BUILD: 80% (a fun, challenging build at this size, but the sheer amount of sticker detail is excessive)
• ENTERTAINMENT: 85% (great set for display that will appeal to car collectors and race fans)
• OVERALL SCORE: 82% (nicely done set that replicates the source material well, nice for display)

Racing History

The Peugeot 9X8 Le Mans Hybrid Hypercar (full title!) is a modern feat of racing technology. The release of this set celebrates the 100th anniversary of the famous race. I don’t know much about racing, but I am familiar with the Le Mans Endurance Championship. And all that is thanks to the movie Ford v. Ferrari. I highly recommend giving it a watch – it’s a brilliant and exciting film. Racing for 24 hours is no small feat and you really learn to appreciate what goes into making a winning car. This modern hybrid car is a great idea for a set given the brand’s pedigree and the popularity of the sport. There’s history and modern ingenuity to simultaneously appreciate. So keep it in mind for any racing fans in your life.

VALUE: 97%

The Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar will retail for $279.99 CAD when it releases on May 1st. With 1775 bricks in the box, that gives us a cost/brick of $0.16. That’s definitely on the higher end of average than we like to see – $0.12-$0.14 is ideal. With that value we get a score of 73%. Our average for the Technic sets we have reviews of to date is $0.13. Funnily enough, our most recent Technic review – the Ferrari Daytona SP3 (42143) – comes in at that lower value. And that’s with 2000 more pieces AND a price upwards of $200+ CAD more. But in both cases you are getting the extra cost of a high end brand name.

One thing you can guarantee from a Technic build (especially the bigguns) is a great cost/minute score. Putting together all those pieces with what feels like a billion pins definitely takes time. And I for one always want my builds to take longer. You just get your money’s worth that way. The 9X8 has a build time of 401 minutes which is a cost/min of $0.70. That translates to a score of 88%. That’s nicely above our current average for reviewed sets as well. Taking both results together we get a final score of 80%.

BUILD: 80%

The Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar is packaged in a standard box with a greebling border and an all-black background. The car stands out nicely enough on the box, but I wish there was a little bit more to the packaging. Given the cost and collaborative work done to bring this set to life, it could be a wee bit bolder. I just expect most of these advanced Technic cars to just up the ante a bit. But it’s a very small critique. Inside this tragically drab (kidding….) box are 19 numbered bags (1-5), a 378 page instruction book, tires and ….. oh boy, TWO large sticker sheets. We’ll definitely get to that in a bit.

Advanced Building

Like many a Technic set, there are plenty of advanced building techniques to both stump and engage you. This is only my second Technic set, but I have to say I really enjoy the vastly different building experience. You really have to pay attention to each step and not forget any parts/stages. The build comes together in a logical way. You will build a very complicated internal framework, a working 6 cylinder engine, suspension system and then the body. And that wildly intricate frame and engine are very impressive. I do like how sturdy the under structure turns out. My one big concern with the Ferrari was it felt too fragile to move around. Happily that’s not the case with the Peugeot. Creating complex curves isn’t easy with Technic bricks. It’s mostly successful here though so a big thumbs up to the design team.

Functional Fun

Like most (or all) Technic cars, you will build a functional engine and steering. Or, you will if you don’t forget any important gears. Sadly I am guilty of this on a few occasions. The steering wheel connects to the front wheel drive. But you can also maneuver the front wheels by turning a gear on the roof of the car. Pushing the car forward will activate the pistons in the engines. And although you can never see this in motion without lifting the back off, I appreciate that level of detail. The gullwing doors are quite small and at first it confused me. Then I remembered this is an advanced racecar and then it made sense – you gotta crawl in there if you want to drive I guess.

Accuracy

I have to admit that when I saw the real-world Peugeot 9X8, I wasn’t exactly blown away by the aesthetics. And sadly I had the same reaction with it’s brick-built version. But after having built this and taken a closer look at the car again, I’ve definitely come around to liking it. The gray and black colour scheme is nicely rendered. And while I’m not a fan of lime green, it really works here. Those splashes of colour help break up the monochromatic look. At first I thought there were pieces missing over the front wheels, but no, they are like that on the real car. I guess that helps it go fast. Sorry, I’m not a car scientist so please cut me some slack. The front of the car is the least successful, it comes across quite flat and short where it should be longer and tapered. I wouldn’t call this a fail, but it’s apparent when you compare the pics.

Glow-in-the-dark headlight rods are a very fun detail and easily replicated here. I do wish that the rear lights could have been done in trans red somehow. They are such a cool design detail in the real car – very TRON esque. It’s a shame they are realized with stickers in the set. But on they whole they are constructed nicely and get the point across. There’s no windscreen to speak of, but that’s usually how it goes with large Technic cars. At a 1:10 scale you get plenty of smaller details but the interior is lacking. Green seats are much simpler and there’s no consoles or displays. While that doesn’t take away any points, it makes me think how much more interesting the result could be at a bigger scale.

“Peel and ____”

Alright. Let’s talk about the obvious. There are a LOT of stickers in this set. And while I’m sure that many a Technic set uses stickers, it does feel excessive. And this is from someone who doesn’t ultimately mind them. Admittedly I only have the Ferrari to compare this to. And that’s not exactly apples-to-apples. But even with that, I think there’s a wildly disproportionate amount for a set at this price point. This will no doubt turn off the staunch sticker haters out there. You can leave them off though – I don’t think it would look too strange. But is it really a Peugeot 9X8 at that point? Most of the stickers are branding and logos and making printed pieces wouldn’t make sense. Consequently the price would easily climb into the absurd range. So here we are. This will make or break it for some of you. I’m curious to know which way it lands the most 🤔.

Despite the stickers and pricing and the rest, this is still a pretty great build. It’s challenging yet fun, with plenty of great details to realize in the Technic palette. I totally warmed up to the very unique design and found the majority of the stages a treat to build. For the size and the source material, I think the designers did a great job capturing as much as possible. But even I have to dock marks for the strict need for stickering. I’m giving the 9X8 a final score of 80%.

ENTERTAINMENT: 85%

Much of the entertainment in the Peugeot 9X8 is in the build. If this was an even smaller scale or something akin to the Speed Champions theme, then it would be a great play set. But this is very clearly a display item. LEGO®️ car enthusiasts will enjoy adding this to the shelf. I’m not a big car afficionado, but I do appreciate great design. And while this isn’t on the same level as the Ferrari for me, it does have some decent shelf appeal. If you have similar sets, they will all look great together. If you omit the stickers you have a substantial amount of pieces to MOC with too. The one missing piece is a display plaque – what would one more giant sticker have hurt?? Ah well. I’m giving this set a final score of 85%.

OVERALL: 82%

The Peugeot 9X8 is a really decent set overall. The design work is quite excellent. Translating the design into Technic is actually quite well done – the team really nailed it in most spots. There’s plenty of challenge and fun throughout the build process too. As a display piece, you get quite a nice model to add to the shelf. And if you collect LEGO®️ cars, this will fit right in. The scale is good, but not perfect. I actually think this would benefit from going bigger. That would also allow for printed pieces and less reliance on stickers. And that’s easily the biggest con in the set. There’s just a lot and ultimately there’s no way around ’em if you want that accuracy. But thankfully it’s mostly positives to talk about and my final score is 82%.

Q U I C K R E C A P

And that’s the Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar folks. I am definitely becoming a bigger fan of the larger Technic sets. I quite enjoy the challenge and the abstract-yet-realistic designs. They’re definitely a unique experience. But what are your thoughts? Do you enjoy the Technic line of super cars? Are you a big racing fan? How angry or happy or indifferent are you towards the stickers? Comment below and in all the usual spots to let us know. Thanks as always for reading and until next time, keep on brickin’. 🧱

– Frank

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