BURLINGTON, Mass., June 21, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Exa® Corporation (Nasdaq:EXA), a global innovator of fluids simulation solutions for product engineering, and the Peugeot Sport team are anticipating success with the new Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak at the International Hill Climb race, to be held in Colorado later this month. What makes this car unique is that the first road test occurred only few weeks ago, and all prior car aerodynamic development and optimization was done solely with Exa PowerFLOW® simulations at the Peugeot Sport engineering facility in Vélizy France.
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The Pikes Peak race is extremely fast and short — under 10 minutes long. Bruno Famin, Director of Peugeot Sport, states that their driver, Sébastien Loeb, is hoping to "smash" the record with the 875hp 208 T16 Pikes Peak and scale the mountain with incredible speed. Famin said, "We achieved our goal, using PowerFLOW, of maximum downforce for this racecar — giving our acclaimed driver the best car possible. We are reasonably optimistic that on June 30th, this will prove to be a winning combination for Peugeot Sport."
"As always, we need to provide our drivers with a performance racecar that sticks to the road," commented Famin. "We had complete confidence in using Exa PowerFLOW simulations for all of our aerodynamic testing and optimization. With this car's aerodynamic kit and massive rear wing, we had to be sure the aero engineering was perfect." Bruno Famin continued, "Due to timing constraints, we had no hope to develop a prototype and be able to complete some wind tunnel testing. Based on our previous experience with PowerFLOW, acquired during the 908 Race campaign, we decided to fully rely on simulation for this aerodynamic development. The first track test results confirmed that we made the right choice." Peugeot's driver, Sébastien Loeb, stated that the car feels like it has the downforce of a Formula 1 racecar.
Peugeot Sport has been a customer of Exa's since 2006, but it was mere months ago, in early 2013, that they commenced the 208 T16 Pikes Peak racecar design. "We watched them build this car from scratch in weeks, and it has quickly evolved into this highly efficient design," remarked Jean-Paul Roux, Exa's President of European Operations. "Peugeot has not raced Pikes Peak since Robby Unser drove their car in 1989, we are hoping to be a part of the team that brings Peugeot Sport another win."
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.
Founded in 1991, the company is headquartered at 55 Network Drive, Burlington, MA, USA 01803. Tel: 1.781.564.0200; Fax: 1.781.564.0299; Email: info@exa.com; URL: www.exa.com; NASDAQ:EXA
For more information on Peugeot Sport:
Please visit the Peugeot Sport website at: www.peugeot-sport.com and their sponsor, Red Bull motorsports, at www.redbull.com/motorsports
Live stream of the 91st PPIHC on June 30th on peugeot-sport.com and redbull.tv
Exa, PowerFLOW, DIGITAL PHYSICS, PowerDELTA, PowerCLAY, PowerVIZ, PowerINSIGHT, PowerCOOL, PowerTHERM and PowerACOUSTICS are registered trademarks of Exa Corporation
