- 2,192
- The failed experiment entitled “California”.
"GTI" in this industry means "Grand Tourer Injection", and has been the calling card of high performance Volkswagen Golfs since its first generation all the way back in the seventies—a tradition that continues to this day with the eighth–generation Golf GTI. For someone else to take those synonymous three letters and slap it onto another car then, is like someone barging into your country, speaking your language better than you, performing your job better than you, and then cucking your wife after all is said and done. And as if all that weren't enough of a kick in the balls already, you might be left with no choice at the end of the day but to have to admit to yourself that they really are that damn good, and deserve all the accolades you had more than you do.
The 2014 Peugeot 208 GTi by Peugeot Sport then, is a lesson on the importance of trademarks. If it were me naming the car, though, I'd name it the "2014 Peugeot 208 GTi by Way of Completely Disregarding Ethics and Sportsmanship™", because aside from its outlandish name–jacking shenanigans, the performance it packs in its minuscule B–Segment silhouette is completely heads, shoulders, and raised middle fingers above its category, as if it weren't playing by an unspoken set of rules obeyed by others; It has a whopping 204HP (152kW) in a class where 160HP would be considered quite extreme, and it's only a touch heavier than other B–segment cars at a nice and even 1,200kg (2,646lbs). Needless to say, then, no supermini in the game, be it Mitos, i3s, DS3s, Coopers, Swifts, or Polos, is going to even go close enough to get sprayed by the rooster tail coming off a 208; we'll have to go into full sized hot hatch to be able to find adequate competition for the plucky Pug. The Golf VII GTI struggles to stay with the 208 even with the latter's slipstream, and it'd take something much more high–tech and expensive, or just a straight up nutjob car, like a Clio EDC, Mégane R.S. Trophy, or a bloody FC RX-7, to comfortably edge out the tiny 208 on the track.
And don't think that the 208 is all numbers and no finesse, either, because the 208 GTi I opine might just be the best handling FF production hatchback in the game! This thing utilises a proper sports car recipe, with no frills, no gimmicks, no computer BS: just a good, rev happy engine with healthy mid range turbo torque, going through a snappy, close–ratio 6–speed stick shift to the front wheels, distributed via an excruciating rarity in its category: a Limited Slip Differential. It's therefore intuitive to drive, easy to place, properly talkative, and gives no surprises. It stops great, corners quick, puts down power well out of corners thanks to its Torsen LSD system, and pulls hard on the straights. For a car with the obscene power it has, power understeer is nearly non–existent, as the driver can very tactilely and proportionately control the increase of turning radius via the throttle pedal, and the Torsen Limited Slip Differential isn't as much torque sensing as it is thought reading. There is none of that awful lifting of the front end on power out of a corner, either; the front end just stays planted and responsive despite the tidal wave of power being transmitted efficiently onto the pavement, and the car never feels nose heavy despite being an FF, thanks to its tiny wheelbase helping it rotate.
In fact, this packet of fireworks rotates so well and handles so wonderfully that, on loose surfaces like dirt and snow, one needs only to lift off the loud pedal and flick the steering wheel hard for the front end of the 208 to bite in viciously, with the rear end starting a slide of ludicrous angles, and it genuinely feels no different from a bespoke rally machine all the way until power needs to be re–administered to hold a slide, at which point the power starts to pull the car back into a boring and slightly painful reality again, holding it straight and true. But god damnit, for half the corner, I could see, I could FEEL the damn thing's rally heritage in full, as though it never left. I really wonder what a rally homologation special version of the 208 must feel like!
About the only slight complaint I've felt throughout the week was that the car can take a while for its weight to shift laterally when tackling switchbacks and chicanes, but that's a pretty minor complaint in the face of all that it does impeccably well. If you'll pardon the bombastic statement, I genuinely think the 208 GTi by Peugeot Sport is the 911 GT3 RS of the hot hatch segment; sure, it's not the fastest thing in its category, but it does everything so well at such a high level, and its handling utterly shames faster and slower offerings alike, and it's just SUCH a joy to drive. Everything is judged and put together so well, that there isn't a single thing on it I'd want to change!
As if it needs me saying at this point, the Peugeot Sport 208 GTi is a Sleeper, Keeper, and oh my god where HAVE you been my whole life?!
Great review Square. One of your best of this series, no doubt
). Good stuff!
) classic watch they made back in 1998, the BVLGARI Aluminium VGT wears a glistening body over its rear–midship chassis, weighing in at just one tonne. It's also naturally aspirated with 7 forward gears, and its Barchetta body style is sure to win over those rich enough to have the fashionable PSVR2! The Bulgari at first glance seems to have all the right ingredients in the recipe for a good sports car, but can a fashion brand really make a car that actually drives well?
