A Nice drive in Peugeot 208 GTi

MANILA, Philippines - Somewhere on the outskirts of Nice, France—One side of the road is a sheer 200-foot drop. The other side is a vertical mountain wall made of solid stone. Not exactly a place to put a wheel wrong—especially if you’re going quite fast.

But the car I’m driving is not an ordinary car. Even if it’s not a waist-high super-wide sports car, it does wear three iconic letters in its model name.

G.T.i.

You can count on one hand the cars that have sported these initials. Car enthusiasts know that this designation instantly means performance. Not mind-numbing wallet-draining supercar performance, but one that’s enormously practical and eminently affordable—yet scintillating and extremely capable nonetheless.

The car I’m driving is the Peugeot 208 GTi. And it’s making short work of roads that are its natural habitat—serpentine mountain roads with a delightful blend of slow and fast curves, a few uphill and downhill stretches that let you wind the engine at full throttle, and several tight hairpins that test the mettle of the car’s brakes and suspension.      

The 208 GTi redefines the sporty driving experience with its agility, compact form, fuel efficiency, versatility, and yes, even its style. This is the car that brings with it Peugeot’s World Rally Championship-winning heritage. The French company may no longer be competing in that particular series, but the DNA in this latest GTi is certainly making itself felt.

“The 208 is an excellent base for developing a sports hatchback. We have worked with particular attention on the steering response, the chassis dynamics and the rigidity of the suspension. The 208 GTi successfully combines performance, safety and driving pleasure,” said Marie Beaumont, the 208 GTi’s Dynamic Synthesis Manager.

True enough, the 208 GTi delights its driver with an incisive driving experience due to the involving chassis dynamics, providing superb driving sensations. Springs, calibration of the shock absorbers, anti-roll bar, enhanced front subframe and rear crossmember rigidity, plus that the suspension and wheels are specific to the vehicle.

The 208 GTi balances from one turn to the next with complete precision. Controlled by the steering the settings of which have been revised to increase firmness, the front suspension returns the information perfectly and responsively. Fitted with 205/45 tires, the 17” diamond Carbon wheels, with Storm paint and matt varnish, house big 302mm ventilated discs at the front and 249mm at the rear. Cooled by dynamic air intakes, they provide controlled and incisive braking.

Surprisingly, all these chassis dynamics does not come at the expense of a harsh or too-firm ride. In fact, driving purposely over potholes or bumps on the road—or on Nice’s numerous cobblestone streets—revealed an impressively solid and well-damped feel. They say that BMW is the best in marrying a supple ride with sporty handling; well, the 208 GTi has taken a page right out of the Bavarian’s textbook.   

From under the sloping hood, the 1.6-liter 200-bhp turbocharged gasoline engine expresses itself through a reworked exhaust system. As soon as the ignition is switched on, it emits an appealing sound note that delights the ears. Coupled with a close-ratio 6-speed manual gearbox, the engine draws the full potential from this chassis. With its 275Nm of torque, the 208 GTi can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in less than 7 seconds. That’s solidly in Toyota 86 territory.

Standing on its tracks—widened 10 mm at the front and 20 mm at the rear—this 3-door hatch sports a very purposeful profile highlighted by the elements of the bodywork that are very close to the wheels for a hunkered down look. Particularly appealing, visible by day as well as by night, are the intricately detailed headlamps with state-of-the-art LED lighting that graces the car’s front.

These lamps fit around a specific grille. The slightly larger chrome strip gives stability while the mesh contributes to its dynamism. On the 208 GTi, the gloss black grille focuses attention with its bright chrome inserts, which reinvent the checkered flag in 3D.

Crossing the gloss black rear skirt, the exhaust emerges with a trapezoid chromed double tailpipe, which emphasizes the uniqueness of this model. The chromed trim strip decorates the window lower edge culminating in a signature accent that pays tribute to the illustrious 205 GTi. Furthermore, the quarter panel trim proudly bears the GTi logo, in bright chrome accentuated in red highlights. Regardless of the color chosen, this red punctuates the vehicle: on brake calipers and on the grille’s lower edge. The whole is subtly enhanced by the touches of bright chrome on the fog lamp trim surrounds, the grille upper trim and the door mirrors.

Opening the doors reveals a cabin which reflects the paintwork. From the sill, with the “Peugeot” name embossed on it, the passenger compartment is notably sporty. It has a stimulating color scheme combining red, black and satin chrome. With red GTi stitching throughout, the interior is striking, down to the smallest detail.

Resolutely sporty, the seat combines full grain Club Nappa leather and the Caro Weave cloth, made dynamic by a red line. The dashboard, with a black polyurethane PVC covering with red stitching, has a decoration of red graduating to black, matching the door crossbars.

The vehicle performance information is provided via high-mounted instrument panel, which is equipped with a color matrix surrounded by dials with a chromed bead back-lit in red by LEDs. On their brushed aluminum background, decorated with a gloss black checkered motif, the white needles rise through to the red zone.

The driver is well supported in the cossetting seat structure, harnessed with black seat belts with a red pinstripe, so that the driving position is comfortable and well-supported even during high-lateral-g cornering. The feet find the aluminum pedals and footrest naturally, the heels in contact with the top-of-the-range floor mats with black surround, again with red stitching.

Intuitively, the hands rest on the small black perforated full grain leather steering wheel, which is a delight to grasp. With the hands resting naturally on the wheel, a driver can operate the large 7’’ touchscreen, with its extended connectivity (jack socket, USB port, Bluetooth). The right hand easily and naturally finds the aluminum gear lever knob or the leather handbrake lever—both with red stitching.

The 208 GTi boasts Park Assist. This technologically advanced system magnifies the benefits of the 208 GTi’s compact size to facilitate urban driving. Parking maneuvers are now almost fully automated and become a pleasure. Using ultrasonic sensors (those of the front and rear parking sensors plus two lateral sensors at the front), the Park Assist system measures the size of free parking spaces until it finds one that is big enough. The 208 GTi then parks itself automatically by operating the electric power steering. The driver needs only to control the gas and brake pedals.

A nifty trick—but one that is overshadowed by the car itself. Truly, the Peugeot 208 GTi is more than just the sum of its parts. Which leaves me with just two words for Peugeot’s local distributor: Bring it!