The 308 GTi looks amazing, aside from the aluminium GTi door sill finishes, front wing and tailgate badges, there’s the large twin exhausts, black rear diffuser, a ride height lowered by 11mm, black radiator grille, sports front bumper skirts and a red lower bumper finisher. Looking at the GTi as a whole, it’s certainly a very impressive piece of hot hatch architecture.
Climb inside and you’re in no doubt as to the origin of your car as up ahead you have Peugeot’s now iconic iCockpit with it’s new GTi twist. This includes vibrant red stitching which adorns the upholstery, door panels, gearshift lever bellows and the high-end floor mats. In addition the pedals, foot-rest and gear lever knob are all finished with aluminium. What you have is a quality interior that provides you with the feeling that you’re about to set off in something special.
There’s also the driver sports pack that increases the responsiveness of the engine and gearbox, turns the dials in-front of you from white to red, displays vehicle dynamic parameters – acceleration, power delivery and turbo – and amplifies the engine sound inside the cabin itself. The 308 GTi is a fast and fun hatchback, a car that you’d be more than impressed with every time you take it out of the garage for a spin but once the dynamic mode is activated, you’d better hold on tight as with 272bhp to play with, it just keeps getting better and better.
With maximum torque of 330Nm available at just 1900rpm this incredible engine gives you the tools needed that allow you to concentrate fully on placing the 308 exactly where you want it to go. With corners arriving thick and fast the Peugeot’s 380mm ventilated front brake discs mounted on aluminium hubs and squeezed by vibrant red fixed callipers, offer powerful braking with plenty of feel for those moments when retardation is the name of the game whilst the finely-balanced suspension system, allows you full control at all times.
The Peugeot is a hot hatch that truly lives up to the name, a car that can be thrilling in the right situation, a car that offers phenomenal speed and acceleration combined with a chassis, brakes and suspension that combine to become an extension of yourself. Think about attacking a particular stretch of road and the car responds brilliantly to your every input, no matter how small, delivering a visceral thrill ride that’s impossible to beat at this price point. It really is an incredible experience.
Then there’s the 308 GTi By Peugeot Sport you get for everyday use. A car that offers room for 5 adults, a large 9.7-inch multi – function touch screen that houses a number of key standard features such as Satellite navigation, Reversing camera display, Dual zone climate control settings to keep things comfortable and so on.
Overall, Peugeot have taken the already brilliant 308 GTi By Peugeot Sport as was and along with the rest of the range, made it even better. Everything about this car shows the duality that a hot hatch should offer: Everyday driving, Shopping, School run, commuting and then, at the press of a button you have a proper sports car. And all with a proper size boot. At £29,050 Peugeot have another worthy addition to their GTi lineage.
And did I mention a potential 47.1mpg combined?
Where will you go?