Peugeot pitches 208 GTi at $29,990

Peugeot will have yet another crack at living up to the legend of the 205 GTi as well as topping current-day rivals when it launches the 208 GTi hot hatch in Australia in July.

Priced at $29,990, the latest GTi will come in a single three-door specification powered by a 147kW 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine mated only with a six-speed manual transmission.

The pricing undercuts its predecessor, the 207 GTi, by more than $3000, while it is also less expensive than the Fiat Abarth 500 Esseesse, Mini Cooper S (with which it shares its engine) and soon to be superseded Renault Clio RS 200.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 seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission as standard.

“When you go spec-to-spec you’ll see we are very strong against Polo,” insisted Peugeot Automobiles Australia General Manager/Director Bill Gillespie.

“We are confident we have the right balance of spec and price. I think it will appeal to a lot of people because it is a nice solid all-round package.”

Of course, the 208 GTi is the first in a stream of new mini-hotties, including the next Clio and the Ford Fiesta ST, which will no doubt do their best to grab the pricing and equipment advantage when they land.

The big-ticket items in the 208 GTi package 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 chromed trapezoidal dual exhaust outlets.

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

Whether all that is enough to convince many punters in this class to pay the extra over the Polo is probably immaterial, as PAA expects to get only 300 cars annually and strong European demand is already seeing that quota being nibbled at.

“We have had a month of production pulled out already… so demand is already hotting up for this car,” Gillespie said.

Not that the GTi was ever expected to be a bulwark of PAA’s ambitious sales drive over the next few years. Instead, says Gillespie, it is intended to reawaken the passion for Peugeot some people will remember from the 205 GTi days in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as bring a whole new group of performance-oriented customers to the brand.

“This market responds overall to performance,” he said. “The environment is important of course and so is safety, but the Australian market responds pretty well to performance cars, so it is a nice thing to be able to add to your brand. It is another pillar in your brand; you might have safety and quality, but performance resonates with buyers in Australia.”

What the 208 GTi’s direct-injected and variable valve timed THP engine – also in the RCZ coupe - offers is 147kW at 5800rpm, 275Nm at just 1700rpm and the ability to race to 100km/h in 6.8 seconds.

Performance of a different kind comes at the bowser, with a claimed combined fuel consumption average of 5.9L/100km (and 139g CO2/km) on the ECE cycle.

Chassis modifications compared to the standard 208 hatch include wider tracks, an 8mm lowering of the ride height and specific tuning of springs, shock absorbers, anti-roll bar, front subframe and rear cross-member.

The electric-assist rack-and-pinion steering has also been revised, while brake discs are larger as are the 205/45ZR17 tyres. The standard car contributes a weight reduction compared to the 207, so the GTi version is 165kg lighter than its predecessor.

For all that, the 208 GTi is not designed to deliver the sort of skateboard experience of the 205 GTi, a car that pioneered the hot hatch genre. It is instead intended to provide swift and entertaining – but also comfortable – transportation.

“A track day car is fantastic but not everyone wants to drive one of them every day,” said Gillespie. “The reports on this car are it is a driveable car, the suspension is supple enough you are not going to get your teeth fillings rattled out, so you can drive it every day and then take it out to a specific event if you want to.”

Given all that, how will PAA handle the legacy of the 205 GTi, a car still venerated as a hot hatch that Peugeot has yet to surpass?

“We don’t want to hark back to that as the old good old days,” admitted Gillespie. “But we can reference back to that and it is something nice to do without getting bogged down in it.

“The 205 GTi, in a sense, revived the brand when it was going through a tough time. So I think it’s a bit unspoken, but we view the 208 GTi as an opportunity to bring that sort of spirit back to market. It is a bit of beach head in the sense of bringing that spirit back to the brand.”

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