Peugeot 308 GTi 2016 new car review

“It’s a GTI” was one of those phrases in my UK-based childhood that made me and my friends bestow more kudos on a car. Almost always it was a Volkswagen Golf GTI or a Peugeot 205 GTI. They competed in our minds with the Fiesta XR2, but we were much more likely to be driving an Austin Metro (and not the 6R4 rally version).

It’s a car that squeezes 200kW and 330Nm of torque from a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, and that is sufficient to get you to 100kph in six seconds if you’re quick enough with the six-speed manual gearbox. It rides on 19-inch wheels and sits 11mm lower than a standard Peugeot 308 on stiffer springs.

These wheels are shod with 235/35R19 tyres and that gives a lot of stopping power, given the Peugeot weighs only slightly more than a plate of croissants.

Peugeot says it’ll achieve a fuel consumption of six litres per 100km. I’ll take their word for it as when one has a car like this for a mere seven days, one does not tread lightly.

I’m glad to see that Peugeot hasn’t followed the trend of cars with headlights stretching back to the A-pillar. The exterior design is well-crafted – simple and sporty: twin exhausts and venturi at the back, massive brake callipers behind those large alloy wheels, and that iconic GTI badge on the flank. It’s a car with looks to match the oomph.

The problem with this is safety. Peugeot has packed the car with airbags and electronics to give it a great crash test rating, but by forcing drivers to take their eyes off the road for longer than is necessary to navigate a frustrating touchscreen, they increase the likelihood of the driver having a crash, especially seeing as the 308 GTI doesn’t come with any kind of automatic braking or other collision avoidance features.

The driving position is great, if you’re just talking about the act of driving – the alcantara-covered bucket seats are fantastic with huge amounts of lateral grip, the small sports steering wheel is nicely weighted and the pedals are perfectly positioned – but it’s impossible to see half the screen between the speedometer and rev counter as it’s obscured by the top of the steering wheel.

Of course, Peugeot must have known this was a problem because they reversed the odometer to avoid the steering wheel obscuring readings between zero and two-thousand. Instead, it obscures readings between 7-9000rpm.

The indicator is on the left, which is much less convenient than on the right in a manual car, and the cruise control is on a wide wand completely hidden behind the steering wheel.