Peugeot 208 GTi 2013 Review - International

Ever since then the company has been battling to match up to those heady heights. Successive 200 series GTis (and RCs as they have also been known) have failed to excite the same rabid enthusiasm and following.

In some ways it’s an impossible task, because time and all things automotive have moved on. A car as scanty and simple as the 205 GTi just couldn’t survive in a world where safety and environment have come to be as important as performance.

Enter the 208 GTi, which nominally fits in the same market segment as the 205 GTi but is an entirely different offering. It’s one that Peugeot makes no bones about describing it as a comfortable all-rounder for enjoyable everyday use rather than a focussed scratcher that’s brought out for track days and the occasional blast up a mountain pass.

Peugeot even boasted this car erased the legendary lift-off oversteer traits of its predecessors. Sacre bleu!

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Based on the three-door 208 bodyshell, the GTi is powered by the 147kW/275Nm turbo-petrol engine also seen in the RCZ coupe (and the Mini Cooper S) and transfers drive to its front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox.

The lack of dual-clutch auto might seem a bit odd nowadays, but no auto suitable for this car fits in the engine bay. Peugeot engineers told motoring.com.au only a manual gearbox would be offered with this car throughout its lifetime.

The pricing places the 208 GTi toward the upper end of the mini hot hatch spectrum, but the argument from Peugeot Automobiles Australia is the standard equipment list more than compensates for that.
The big ticket items include sports seats, half-leather red-black trim, satellite-navigation, six airbags, stability control and a leather steering wheel. Heated seats and auto parking are offered in Europe but not yet confirmed for Australia.

Exterior embellishments include 17-inch alloy wheels, a re-styled grille, rear spoiler, LED daytime running lights, red painted calipers, chromed side mirrors and trapezoid chrome double exhaust outlets.

Inside there is red stitching on seats, seatbelts, dash and the steering wheel, red side-door inserts, an instrument panel backlit in red, GTi logos embossed on the seats and the touch-screen from the standard 208.

In Australia the plan is to sell 300 per annum from a global total of about 10,000 in a full year.

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At the heart of it all is the 1.6-litre turbo-petrol THP engine which produces 147kW at 5800rpm and 275Nm at a low 1700rpm. Its technical features include direct-injection, variable inlet and exhaust valve timing, variable valve lift and a twin scroll-turbocharger.
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The exhaust system is fundamentally lifted from the RCZ, but without the pipes that feeds the engine note into the cabin. Instead noise insulation has been reduced to allow the mechanical soundtrack to be heard more clearly by occupants. Hey, saves money and weight.

Speaking of kerb weight, the GTi benefits from the donor car’s diet. Weighing in at 1160kg, it is at least 95kg lighter than the old 207 GTi. At the same time the engine ups power by 18kW and torque by 35Nm.

So it’s no surprise the GTi is reasonably quick. Peugeot claims it can accelerate to 100km/h in 6.8 seconds (one second faster than the 207 GTi), to 1000 metres in 26.9 seconds (1.6 seconds faster) and a top speed of 230km/h (just in case you are headed for a racetrack or Germany!).

At the same time a 5.9L/100km combined fuel consumption average is claimed using ECE testing criteria. CO2 emissions are just 139 g/km.

The chassis is the area where the 208 GTi is most identifiably its own machine. Peugeot claims a 10 per cent reduction in bodyroll, courtesy of 20 per cent stiffer springs and stiffer front and rear anti-roll bars.

The front subframe, lower wishbones and joints are more rigid, as is the rear cross-member. The dampers have been revised with a 22mm larger diameter shaft.

The software mapping of the electric-assist steering has been retuned in search of more feel, while the front disc brakes have been enlarged and use unique Galfer pads within their single piston calipers.

The GTi rolls on a 10mm wider front track, 20mm wider rear track and 205/45 Michelin Pilot Exacto rubber. A full-size spare tyre sits under the boot floor.

It measures up at 3962mm long, 1739mm wide and 1460mm high. Inside that translates to the occasional knee pat for your front-seat passenger when you go to change gears and some head brushing in the rear if you are 180cm or taller.

The kneeroom is not too bad for adults in the back. Access is excellent via the wide-opening doors and front seats that slide well forward.

But just why did Peugeot bother to put three head restraints and lap-sash seatbelts in the back? It’s tight enough with two adult passengers back there before you even consider the discomfort the hard, short and upright backrest provides.

By contrast, the front passengers are supported by terrific sports seats with heavy bolstering and extended under-thigh support. They also lower the hip point by 10mm compared to the standard 208 seat.

But the driver must put up with a couple of particular ergonomic blunders. The small flat-bottom steering either blocks out the instrument panel or has to be lowered into a position that some people will find just plain weird.

Peugeot hypes the size of the wheel as some sort of ergonomic breakthrough but we’d prefer to see what speed we’re doing.

Also, the space between the brake and small throttle pedal makes heel-toe gearchanges a challenge for those with smaller feet.

There is a reasonable amount of storage up front, including door pockets, dual cup-holders, a moderately sized glovebox and an open bin in the centre console. There are no overhead grabs, but there are proper door-handles to hang on to when the road starts getting twisty.

The boot is quite small at 285 litres and quite basic with no tie downs or pockets. The loading lip is also quite high. However, the rear seat does split-fold, which grows space to 1076 litres.

The interior presentation of the 208 GTi is strong, with an overall dark demeanour lifted by the various red and matt chrome details. The quality of fit, finish and material was quite high in the test car, bar the rumpled ill-fitting carpet bulging over the exhaust tunnel in the rear.

There was some excitement about the fact the 208 was the first mini offered in Australia without a CD player when it launched last October. It also came with a big iPad-like media screen in the centre stack that did not much at all, but the GTi’s sat-nav at last puts it to good use.

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?COMPETITORS?>> Plenty to consider and more on the way
The GTi is less expensive than the Fiat Abarth 500 Esseesse, Mini Cooper S and soon to be superseded Renault Clio RS 200.

It sits lineball on dollars with the DS3 Sport of fellow PSA subsidiary Citroen, is $1000 more expensive than the newly launched Opel Astra OPC and $2000 more expensive than the Skoda Fabia RS.

Most significantly, the three-door version of the Volkswagen Polo GTI, the flag-bearer in this class, is $27,990 (the five-door is $29,190) and comes fitted with a dual-clutch automatic transmission standard.

Of course, the 208 GTi is the first in a stream of new mini-hotties, including the next Renaultsport-tuned Clio and Ford Fiesta ST. The former, powered by a 1.6-litre petrol-turbo mated to a dual-clutch auto is tipped to be priced well beyond $30,000, although now Peugeot has stated its case that might change.

The Fieta ST, which is also combines a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine and manual gearbox, will certainly be well priced considering its big brother Focus ST is very competitive in its class.

And here’s car from left field; the base model of Toyota’s rear-wheel drive 86 lines up directly against the 208 GTi at $29,990.

Then there are cars that are liked. Enjoyable to drive, yet not that memorable. At the end of the day the keys are handed back without regret.

The 208 GTi is of that latter ilk.

It would be great to say it is better than that. And to be fair to Peugeot the incredible drive route laid out in the mountains behind Nice, including the famous Route Napoleon and various Rally Monte Carlo stages, gave it every opportunity to reveal a character worth loving.

But the 208 GTi just couldn’t quite manage it.

The primary shortfall is the steering. There is just not enough feel to really understand what the front-end was doing. No hitch, bobble or vibration, be it fast or slow corner, smooth hotmix or corrugated bitumen.

For many cars this is an advantage rather than a problem. But for a bonafide hot hatch such a vacancy is a significant flaw. It simply prevents the level of driving intimacy much of the car is capable of delivering.

There was also a sense of distance in the gearchange; it is quick and mostly precise (the miss-shifts I will take responsibility for in a left-hand drive car), but there was a lack of mechanical connection that again reduced the sense of occasion.

The same could be said of the underdone engine note that still seems too well insulated from the cabin for a car with this sort of intent.

The brakes could use more resilience. The front calipers seem a tad underdone for this job, one long downhill run producing obvious fade.

And then there is the ride. Peugeot is clear about its intention to make this a comfortable car and in that it has succeeded admirably. It ranks amongst the best hot hatches for ride quality.

But should that actually be a hot hatch priority? OK, we don’t want our teeth loosened, but a certain toughness is part of the appeal of these cars.

And yet so much else about the GTi approaches greatness. The engine’s torque-drenched punch from low revs through to the 6200rpm redline is just wonderful. Not overwhelming or at all brutal, simply strong and always there.

A flexible third gear is its willing and able accompaniment, coping with a wide array of speeds and revs. Second is for the truly tight stuff and fourth is usually a brief pit stop on the way through to sixth when the road opens up.

The GTi’s front-end is a delight. A combination of excellent set-up and Michelin rubber, it allows remarkably high turn-in speeds. Only at silly speeds does it scrub into understeer.

On the exit of corners, even with traction control off, it refused to break into any noticeable wheelspin, instead providing just a skerrick more feel and the vaguest suggestions of torque steer.

And with stability control off, thankfully a little lift-off oversteer could be coaxed out of the car.

But it never got ragged or really phased. Even with the comfortable ride the body control of the GTi was quite outstanding, as was its ability to change direction quickly and accurately without fuss.

Such stability, capability and performance mark the 208 GTi as a car of potential greatness. It just has not been fully realised.

So here’s our recipe to achieve that: return to hydraulic steering assistance, add power and torque, tie the whole thing down a tad firmer, beef up the brakes, hone the gearbox feel and swap that silly steering wheel for real one.

In essence, we’re saying the 208 GTi is not really a performance flagship. It is warm and enjoyable but just too soft-focussed for that role.

Peugeot Sport to develop a hotter version in the same way it’s done the hyped up RCZ R. The 208 GTi R? Sounds good to us.

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