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Remember the Peugeot 205 GTI? Course you do- it was the best small hot hatch in the 80s
and early 1990s. Do you remember the 206 GTI and 207 GTI? Yeah, nor me. And I've apparently
driven them both. Well forget them anyway - Peugeot reckons this new 208 GTi will be
just as memorable as the 205.
It's certainly a smart looking car. The normal 208 is quite a pretty thing and rather than
making the GTi all boy racery they have gone for a more sophisticated design, though look
closely and you can spot signs sportyness.
GTi additions include this chequered flag effect grille. 17inch alloy wheels these GTI
badges here -- like the 205 had -- bigger brakes with red calipers a spoiler and twin
sports exhaust.
Peugeot has spruced up the 208's already stylish interior to with some sporty bit of red trim
on the dash.... on the door handles and round the dials. You also get a brushed aluminium
gear stick, a smaller steering wheel, some body hugging sports seats plus a digital radio
and reversing cameras as standard.
And while the GTi is only a three-door space in the back is still good while the boot is
quite practical for a small sporty car like this.
The 208 GTi is powered by a 1.6-litre 200hp turbo charged engine from the Peugeot RC-Z
Coupe and can propel this hot hatch from 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds and on to 143mph. Now this
kind of performance would have worried me in the normal 208 because it's not exactly
the best handling small car. Somehow though this one is totally different. In fact I am
quite surprised how much fun it is.
The 208 GTI has a wider front track than the normal car and faster more responsive steering.
And this plus the lower stiffer suspension and performance brakes transforms the 208
into a sharp handling hot hatch.
So you turn the wheel into a corner and where on the normal car the nose would easily start
to running wide this one just holds on the rest of the car follows. You really can drive
this car very fast and you will probably run out of talent before it does. It's not quite
the sharpest small hot hatch but it isn't far off.
And it manages to handle really well yet also ride very well. In fact when you are just
going about your daily business you kind of forget it's actually a hot hatch because it's
just so easy to drive.
This in a way is a problem with the 208 GTI. Some will find it a bit too subtle. The engine
note isn't raucous, the controls are so light it's as though they have been set up for your
grandmother, and the styling is covert rather than overt. This means 208 GTI doesn't goad
you to have fun like the cheaper Fiesta ST does and really a small hot hatch should.
I'm also just going to say that depending on your driving position the steering wheel
can sometimes block the instrument dials which is a bit of a design flaw, especially on a
performance model.
Still, this is a cracking little hot hatch. And while it may not turn out to be quite
the legend the 205 GTi it actually carves its own niche by managing to be both fun and
friendly all at the same time. Bravo Peugeot. Bravo!