Skip advert
Advertisement

Peugeot 208 GTi and GTi by Peugeot Sport review - a return to 205 GTi form? - Peugeot 208 GTi Ride and handling

The Peugeot 208 GTI trying to channel the spirit of its seminal predecessor, the original 205 GTI. Does the latest hot hatch get close?

Evo rating
RRP
from £19,515
  • Best Peugeot hot hatchbacks in years; fast and involving
  • Ford Fiesta ST runs it very close

We’ll cover the interior in greater detail later, but it’s impossible to talk about the 208 GTi’s ride and handling without discussing your main point of interface with the car. Peugeot’s i-Cockpit design, with a small, low-set steering wheel and high-mounted dials, is a love or hate it affair, but with your seat and the wheel correctly adjusted, it should be possible for most drivers to find a comfortable and natural driving position. You soon get used to the small wheel too and its initially darty responses.

Advertisement - Article continues below

This is aided in the regular car by a nicely-judged spring and damper setup, that makes for good body control without ever feeling crashy over rough surfaces. It allows you to carry good speed on roads where a Fiesta ST – or even the 208 GTi by Peugeot Sport – might encourage you to slow down as you’re pitched around.

Where the regular GTi lags the Peugeot Sport is in its focus and involvement. It doesn’t grip as hard, its front wheels don’t bite into the road with quite as much eagerness – nor send as much information to the steering wheel rim – and its rear axle doesn’t feel quite as inclined to aid with direction changes.

The Peugeot Sport does all of these things, with the added benefit of strong traction thanks to that Torsen diff.  Front springs are 30 per cent stiffer at the front and 80 per cent at the rear, there are new dampers, it’s 10mm lower and has a wider track – 22mm at the front and 16mm at the rear. The Peugeot Sport’s chassis has the boisterous feel we love from really engaging hot hatchbacks, letting you brake deeper into a given corner and accelerate out of it harder and earlier.

Put simply, the Peugeot Sport is the more fun of the pair – and more fun than most of its rivals too.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

The most extreme Porsche 911 we’ve ever seen spied – a GT2 RS or something more?
Porsche mule Nürburgring
News

The most extreme Porsche 911 we’ve ever seen spied – a GT2 RS or something more?

Wild 911 prototype is much wider with a reprofiled rear end, pointing to a GT2 RS-flavoured model in the works
14 May 2025
Why I can't stand Cars & Coffee, even as a caffeine addict
Cars and coffee
Opinion

Why I can't stand Cars & Coffee, even as a caffeine addict

They’re all the rage, but Cars & Coffee meets aren’t Meaden’s cup of tea
1 May 2025
We never thought the day would come – the De Tomaso P72 is ready for production
De Tomaso P72 – front
News

We never thought the day would come – the De Tomaso P72 is ready for production

Having first appeared in 2019, De Tomaso is finally building its retro, V8-engined P72 hypercar
14 May 2025