Driving a car quickly takes plenty of concentration. You need to be on the lookout for any potential hazards, you need to be checking the road surface ahead to see if there’s a change in conditions and you need to be able to know how the car wants to move as you push quickly from corner to corner. This type of excitement is fun on a quiet back road, or best left to a track day. There is one little car, however, that just loves the fast lane. It seems to thrive on making everyday drives a whole heap of fun. This particular hot-hatch brings loads of smiles and is, in fact, the dynamic new Peugeot 208 GTi. A tiger at heart, but happy showing off the lion logo proudly, Peugeot plays the right feline tune with its fierce new little pussy cat: the 208 GTi.

Just looking at the racy exterior of the new 208 GTi makes you just want to get inside and drive. There is the 3D grille, rear roof-spoiler, wide alloys, and gorgeous lights. But slip inside the 208 GTi, and the excitement continues with a full on red and black sports interior. You feel as though this car might just be able to grow wings and fly! Black leather seating with red pinstripes, red side bolsters, red surrounds on the black dash facia, red surrounds for the black air vents, and red trim on the interior door handles are just some of the agreeable bits that aid your first impressions that the new Peugeot 208 GTi is a real little flyer. Peugeot has also placed the GTi emblem on the base curve of the steering wheel. The small steering wheel fits perfectly into all of your typical driving positions you’ll use with your hands. The chunky nature of the small steering wheel helps to enhance the driving enjoyment. Also chunky, and great to hold, is the ergonomically positioned manual gear lever that loves to be snapped from gear-to-gear. Once you manoeuvre the seat about to get your own body set behind the wheel of the Peugeot GTi, fire it up and you very quickly become at one with the car.

Get the 208 GTi moving, and you very quickly notice the car’s pick-up is instantaneous. Weighing in at a light 1160 kg, the 208 GTi is super agile, and effortless to drive quickly through the city streets and out onto your favourite twisty bit of road. On the right piece of road you can give the Pug full herbs, and the 150 kW engine sings along harmoniously as you sip between gears in the close-ratio six-speed manual gearbox. Turbo-charging works a treat to ensure that there is always plenty of pulling power at any engine revs. Peugeot claim a 0-100 km/h dash in less than seven seconds, and you can be sure that after driving the 208 GTi you can seriously believe this. Top speed will raise a few eyebrows, as the 208 GTi can clip 230 km/h on the right roads. Speed, at least in the small Peugeot hot-hatch, doesn’t always mean copious amounts of CO2 emissions. A very clean 139g/km is right up there with the best in its class.

Handling is firm, however Peugeot have done a great job of enabling the 208 GTi to soak up the harsher bumps well. Trust me – you’ll be too busy enjoying the fabulous road holding and precise steering. When you feel the 208 GTi running too quickly into a corner, the chassis is so good that late braking, even through the corners, is controlled and easy. The confidence you have behind the wheel of the new 208 racer just continues to build. ESP is a standard active safety feature, along with some great ABS managed disc brakes on all of the four wheels.

Luxury items in the new Peugeot 208 GTi feature things like electric windows, a 7-inch multi-function colour touch screen in the centre of the 208 GTi dashboard, optional satellite navigation, audio touch controls via the multi-function screen, climate air-conditioning, and leather trim.

Safety for the 208 GTi is taken care of in a comprehensive manner. To keep you as safe as possible, the 208 GTi has six air bags as standard – two at the front and four along each side of the car. Cruise control with a speed limiter ensures that you keep the speed in check, and the cruise control and speed limiter are controlled from the steering wheel or the touchscreen.

A sensational car to drive for any occasion, the Peugeot 208 GTi is a new kid on the block that is drawing plenty of positive attention. If you are looking at the Clio and Fiesta alternatives, do take the 208 GTi on a date, you may well match up well.

The current new Peugeot 208 models include the:

• 208 Allure Sport (3 dr)
• 208 Active (5 dr)
• 208 Allure (5 dr)
• 208 Allure Premium (5 dr)
• 208 GTi (150 kW)

For any more information on the new Peugeot 208 GTi or, for that matter, any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181. If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quote requests out to our national network of Peugeot dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!

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