Peugeot 208 GTi hatchback 2013 review - CarBuyer

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"Fun, fast and frugal, the 208 GTi is Peugeot's best hot hatchback for 20 years."

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!