2013 Peugeot 208 GTi Road And Track Review
PEUGEOT 208 GTi REVIEW
Vehicle style: Light hot-hatch
Price: $29,990 (plus on-roads)
Engine/trans: 147Kw/275Nm 1.6 petrol DOHC turbo | 6spd manual
Fuel consumption listed: 5.9 l/100km | tested: Not recorded
OVERVIEW
Yep, 30 minutes into a ‘nip and tuck’ winding road loop in the Gold Coast hinterland in Peugeot’s new 208 GTi, and I’m liking what I feel.
Twenty-five full-bore laps of Holden’s Norwell race circuit, and I like it even more.
Peugeot finally - finally - has a worthy successor to its wild and raw little eighties rocket: the classic 205 GTi.
It’s about the size and weight of a size-ten shoe, packs 147kW and 275Nm under its stumpy bonnet, and sits on 17-inch guards-filling alloys and fat low-profile 205/45 rubber.
It will lay down a 6.8 second 0-100km/h, run to 230km/h, has what must count as among the best sports seats in the business, and, at $29,990 plus on-roads, costs not a great deal more than a ‘garden’ hatch.
Yes, for anyone with a hankering for a brattish, rorty hot-hatch, the 208 GTi has a lot of boxes ticked even before you point it at the track.
THE INTERIOR
You know what I like most about the 208 GTi? It’s that it doesn’t look and feel like it was squeezed out of the same old sausage machine as every other hatch in town.
Inside and out, it’s different, and full of personality.
The leather-bound steering wheel is tiny, it’s go-kart size. It feels superbly ‘hooked-up’, needs little movement left and right to fang the 208 GTi around a mountain road, and, even with big boots down below, is perfectly weighted.
Sitting up above the wheel in perfect line of sight (for me... I’ve got duck’s disease) is a really smart pop-up instrument binnacle with red illuminated highlighting, and nice clear sports dials.
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