Peugeot 208 GT Line is a bit of a case of style over substance

FULL disclosure. I have always had a soft spot for small Peugeots.

The love affair goes back to my wet-look-spikey-fringe phase in the late Eighties when I bought a 205 XS.

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I couldn’t afford a GTi, so the XS with its lively 1.4 was the next best thing.

I played a blinder a few years later when I persuaded the wife she needed a white 106 Rallye with white steel wheels.

What an absolute joy that car was. There is a gap in my back catalogue because kids meant our next motor was a sensible saloon. So I missed out on the 206 GTi and 207 GTi but by all accounts they weren’t anywhere near as good as their forefathers.

The next spicy hot hatch with a lion on the front was the 208 GTi 30th by Peugeot Sport.

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That was an absolute peach. It had a Torsen diff nicked off the RCZ R and banged out 208hp. So I grabbed the keys for the new 208 with much enthusiasm — only to find, like your first girlfriend, it is never quite as good as you first remember. Don’t get me wrong. It looks fantastic — particularly the GT Line with its black wheel arch extensions and rear pillar badging. Obviously a nod to the 205 GTi.

It will sell like hot sausage rolls on looks alone. And it’s the same story inside.

The snazzy cabin is a real crowd-pleaser with its 3D iCockpit, 10in touchscreen, piano key switches, carbon trim, and all sorts of driver assistance tech first seen on the 508.

But it’s a bit of a case of style over substance, if I’m brutally honest. My heart says Yes but my head says, er, maybe.

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And here’s why. The ride quality isn’t brilliant. It’s a bit jiggly. The boot has shrunk. And Peugeot’s signature small steering wheel doesn’t work in this car — particularly for taller drivers who like to sit low. Like moi. It means you have to set the steering wheel stupidly low or you can’t see the instrument cluster.

HEAVY GIRL

But the biggest crime comes from the marketing department who priced the top-spec 130hp GT Line at £23,350. What? I criticised the Corsa GSi for being overpriced at 19 grand.

The GT Line costs more than a Fiesta ST-3, which has got it licked for power and driving thrills. Yes, Peugeot is making nicer cars these days but it needs to keep a lid on premium pricing. Now you can buy a 208 for £16,250 if you really wanted. But you wouldn’t.

That’s the basic 75hp non-turbo Active which is nothing more than a headline ‘208 from £16,000’ figure and best avoided.

Spend a few quid extra per month on the £18,850 Allure and you’ll unlock decent kit, bigger wheels and the cool lion’s claw LED rear lights.

Now here’s the really clever bit from Peugeot.

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You can have a 208 in one of three ways: petrol, diesel or fully electric. Whatever suits you best. The e-208 has a 50kWh battery, 211-mile range, and costs £25,000 after the £3,500 Plug-in Car Grant. It’s also the nippiest of the lot, despite being a heavy girl at 1,455kg.

Peugeot says the total cost of ownership over four years works out less than petrol and diesel because fuel and maintenance are cheaper. No exhaust, no clutch and so on.

That may be so. But the reality is that e-208 is still only a second family car for buzzing around town and the school run. The Achilles heel remains charge time and convenience — 7.5 hours with a 7kW home charger, assuming you don’t live on the 36th floor, or 30 minutes for 80 per cent juice at a 100kWh public rapid charger, if you can find one.

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So is the GTi dead? Maybe not. Will it return as a battery-powered 208? Let’s hope so. GTi is part of Peugeot’s DNA. People know what it means.

Porsche kept Turbo and Turbo S with the Taycan and electric cars don’t have a turbo.
A Peugeot engineer told me: “If we do it, it must have a high level of sensation. We won’t just do it to continue the story.”

Excellent. I’ll have one. If I can afford it.

2020 Yaris

THREE cars often spotted outside Gala and the village bowls club: Honda Jazz, Hyundai i10, Toyota Yaris. Why? Because they are good, sensible cars for old people.

But the thing is, I reckon this new Yaris will catch the eye of younger people who don’t have a perm and fish supper every Friday. It looks tidy.

It’s the first small Toyota to be built on a new platform that radically improves pretty much everything really: dynamics, safety and design. The end result is a car with a lower centre of gravity, stiffer body, longer wheel-base and bags more style. I can’t wait to see next hot Yaris GRMN.

And of course, being a Toyota, it will be powered by a new 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol hybrid that’s more powerful, more fuel efficient and cleaner.

On sale next summer, prices around £15,000.

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