Peugeot 308 GTi review: It’s a good all-rounder and packs a punch — but there is room to improve
You probably won't regret buying the new Peugeot 308 GTi, but keep your options open
GROWING up is painful tissue of disappointments and let downs.
The first gut-punch is discovering it’s really your mum and dad filling the stocking and drinking the sherry each December 24th.
As you get a little older you realise a lot of people are, well, d***heads. And something close to depression sets in when every teacher starts telling you over and again that “these are the best days of your life”.
As childhood fades in the rear view mirror on the highway of adulthood, so does our innocence.
So how do we cling on to that youthful, frothy exuberance as we navigate a life of job interviews, bill paying and family responsibilities?
Buy a GTi.
A GTi is the acceptable face of youth in a grown up’s world.
It’s a four-wheeled portal back to the time when all we had to worry about was feeding our next thrill, except it has room for kids in the back and drives comfortably up the M1 for Boxing Day lunch with the in-laws.
At less than £29,000 the Peugeot 308 GTi is, on the surface, a sound family car. It’s as big as the VW Golf and a less brittle drive than its tantrum-prone sibling, the 208 GTi.
But it’s packing a tasty 272bhp produced by a tightly tuned 1.6-litre turbo engine, which means when the kids are dropped off, Mummy and Daddy can become 17 again.
I’ve heard people criticise Peugeot for how much it charges for the 308, citing the fact it’s only a few grand cheaper than the faster Ford Focus RS and Honda Civic Type R.
While that’s true, a few grand is a few grand, and every penny counts when calculating what you can pay back monthly.
And 300-plus horses under the hood starts nudging the car out of family runaround territory and into the category of expensive weekend toy.
A 0-62 time of six seconds is all the gallop you need. The handling is firm but not harsh, sitting 11mm lower than the non-GTi badged versions, and Peugeot has succeeded in keeping the driving experience fast but not overwhelming.
It has almost no torque steer, which I actually like in a hot hatch, but doesn’t add up to rapid off-the-line performance.
It’s a pretty car, with looks good enough to make the other mums and dads envious at the school gates.
It bristles tastefully with chrome trim, an integrated twin exhaust and glaring LEDs framing the signature grille.
But the 2017 308 GTi is far from perfect. My main gripe is the steering.
While I’ve always been a fan of Peugeot’s signature small steering wheel, this has pitifully low amounts of feedback and it’s much too easy to over-input on corners, which can unsettle the car when you most want it stable.
The interior doesn’t match the exterior’s flair, either.
They’ve gone for a minimalist design, but it lacks French flamboyance.
And the ominous- looking Sport button makes the dash light up with an angry red glow, a bit of a gimmick.
Earlier, I wrote off comparisons to the Focus RS and Civic Type R.
But there is one car which you should definitely test- drive before the 308, and that’s the Hyundai i30N.
You’ll bag the same speed for three grand less, and it doesn’t have the same niggles as the Peugeot, especially when it comes to steering.
The hot-hatch market is keenly contested, which means the 308GTi has to be marked very harshly in light of so much competition.
You won’t regret buying one, but just shop around first.
After all, this is the car which will keep you young in your middle age.
Key Facts
Peugeot 308 GTi
Price: £28,590
Engine: 1.6-litre turbo petrol
Economy: 47.1 mpg
0-62mph: 6seconds
Top speed: 155mph
Length: 4.2 meters
CO2: 139g/km
