Peugeot 308 GT Sport Hatch PHEV 2024 Review

There’s no avoiding the fact that the new-generation Peugeot 308 has undergone a significant price jump – not that it’s alone in that. Whereas the 308 GTi 270 was the most expensive 308 in 2016 at $49,000 plus on-road costs (later dropping to $45,990), the 2024 Peugeot 308 GT Sport PHEV now tops the range at $64,990 plus ORCs.

Of course, there has been a sizeable increase in equipment between the two generations and the latest 308 is now auto-only, rather than the manual-only GTi, which will appeal to a much wider section of the market.

Other sporty plug-in hybrid hatches include the Cupra Leon VZe at $61,690 and Mercedes-Benz A 250e at $71,889 (both plus on-road costs), while in the pure-electric field the MG4 Essence (from $47,990) – carsales’ 2023 Car of the Year – makes a very strong case for itself.

The new 2024 Peugeot 308 GT Sport PHEV does attempt to justify its lofty ask with more equipment.

If you compare it to the previous-generation range-topper, the Peugeot GTi 270, there’s now Nappa leather upholstery, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and Matrix LED headlights.

The panoramic sunroof is now standard and there are nice little touches like lined front door pockets, too.

Of course, despite the Sport badging, performance gear like bigger brakes and a limited-slip differential are now absent.

Peugeot offers a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty in Australia as well as five years’ roadside assistance, with the battery being backed by a separate eight-year/160,000km warranty.

Capped-price servicing is available, as well as the option of pre-paid servicing packages available at the time of purchase ($1200 over three years or $2000 over five), based on 12-month/20,000km service intervals.

The 2024 Peugeot 308 GT Sport PHEV has much of the safety equipment expected, such as six airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian and cyclist detection, adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go function, speed limit recognition and recommendation, lane departure warning with unmarked road edge detection, active lane positioning assist, driver attention warning and rear cross traffic alert, though not braking.

Parking is covered by front and rear sensors and a bird’s-eye view camera, while tyre pressure monitoring is also handy.

Nevertheless, the official ANCAP rating is only four stars, with occupant protection and no rear AEB contributing to the lower-than-optimal score.

Tech highlights of the 2024 Peugeot 308 GT Sport PHEV include a 10-inch infotainment touch-screen and 10-inch 3D instrument cluster, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, wireless phone charging, a premium 10-speaker audio system, TomTom navigation and FM/DAB radio.

One area the new 308 improves over its predecessor is functionality. The previous 308 was one of the first cars to sandwich the climate control functions into the touch-screen, but the new model has at least a hard key to instantly bring up the climate screen.

Despite its increased complexity, the new car’s tech is easier to use and less clunky.

Being a plug-in hybrid, the 2024 Peugeot 308 GT Sport PHEV combines a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor and 12.4kWh battery for combined outputs of 165kW/360Nm, which compare pretty favourably to the GTi 270’s 200kW/330Nm.

This is especially the case with the electric motor’s instant torque and eight tightly-stacked gears in the automatic gearbox rather than the six-speed manual of the GTi.

However, it doesn’t quite stack up like that. The 7.5sec 0-100km/h claim tells its own story but even that feels optimistic.

Purring around on electric power alone is impressive, but the sharp response isn’t followed up when the petrol engine fires up.

It’s certainly no match for the fiery GTi 270 which, yes, can fall off boost but once it arrives comes alive in a way the PHEV does not.

As ever with a PHEV, the official combined fuel consumption claim of 1.3L/100km for the 2024 Peugeot 308 GT Sport PHEV is deeply misleading.

Nevertheless, over a full tank with just one recharge we managed 4.8L/100km in mostly city use.

The electric-only range of 42km was short of the 62km claimed but it does help reduce the fuel use, which would be around 8.0L/100km in the GTi 270 in similar conditions.

Owning a hot hatch is all fun and games until you have to commute in it daily – or turn 40. The GTi 270 is far from the most focused hot hatch around, but it isn’t a patch on the 2024 Peugeot 308 GT Sport PHEV in terms of refinement, at least while in EV mode.

The smooth, serene progress is abandoned when the engine fires up and it sounds and feels quite coarse in comparison, especially above 3000rpm.

Nevertheless, while the GT Sport might be a little firmer than its pure-petrol siblings, it’s far more lush than its GTi 270 predecessor.

The flipside to this is handling that’s nothing like as engaging – it weighs 450kg more, for starters, and you can’t escape that mass.

There is a clear step up between the older GTi 270 and the new 2024 Peugeot 308 GT Sport PHEV, both in presentation and design.

Quality is better, with a soft-touch dash and subtle application of leather and piano black finishes.

The gearshift rocker switch takes a bit of getting used to, especially if you’re doing a hurried three-point turn, and while the i-Cockpit concept – essentially putting the steering wheel down low to view the dials over it – has been used for a while now in Peugeots, this is the first time it’s taken me several goes to get the right seating compromise.

The older car’s seats are more supportive, though they do lack the heating and massaging of the new car. Interior room and boot space are competitive for the class.

The first port of call with this test was to find out if, as the name suggests, the new 2024 Peugeot 308 GT Sport PHEV is a worthy successor to the previous GTi 270.

In hot hatch terms, we’d have to say no.

The outputs might be there or thereabouts, but the 450kg weight penalty is huge and it never comes together in an enthusiastic way.

Instead, the 308 GT Sport is more luxurious, comfortable and laidback, not to mention very expensive for a small hatch, although this is offset by its long list of features, advanced tech and the fuel-saving potential of the plug-in hybrid drivetrain.

The French newcomer makes for a compelling alternative to other PHEV or pure-electric hatches, but lacks a real standout feature to ensnare buyers.

2024 Peugeot 308 GT Sport Hatch PHEV at a glance:
Price: $64,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol-electric
Output: 132kW/250Nm (electric motor: 81kW/250Nm)
Combined output: 165kW/360Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Battery: 12.4kWh lithium-ion
Range: 60km (ADR)
Fuel: 1.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 30.2g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Four-star (ANCAP 2022)