Wednesday 7th March 2012

Geneva 2012: Peugeot 208 GTi Concept

Is Peugeot serious about getting its hot hatch rep back?

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One of the most pleasing concepts of the Geneva show is surely the Peugeot 208 GTi Concept, a positive sign that the French car manufacturer is keen to rekindle its reputation as a maker of serious hot hatches.

Powered by the 200hp 1.6 turbo from the top-of-the-range RCZ and mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, the little 208 GTi also gets a 36mm wider track.

Should they make it, the little Pug hot hatch could be a strong rival for the likes of the Clio Renaultsport or Corsa VXR. But can it fill the boots of the 306 GTi-6, Rallye or 205? We hope so...

[anonymous-user]

Rear lights look a bit like the Focus rear light.
Neither like or dislike this.

[kambites]

They should be aiming to get it under a tonne, or at least not much over.

[e8_pack]

Sadly there are too many safety features and driver aides required to make aalike they unything like they used to.

Edited by e8_pack on Wednesday 7th March 11:57

[Frimley111R]

Predicted first test drive summary: Meh!

[king arthur]

I suppose it's hard to design a really pretty small car these days due to crash regs, this certainly isn't one.

[EDLT]

HURR DURRR ITS NOT A 205 -6/10.

[BrewsterBear]

doogz said:

It need to be light, and tail-happy.

And it'll probably be neither.

This.

Unless it's <1100kg then it'll just be another let down, like the 206GTi.

[Krikkit]

At least they've started moving away from the awful widemouth styling a bit.

Please pug, make it light, put narrower wheels on it and make sure it's a bit tail happy.

[uremaw]

Looks like a fiesta has mated with a corsa. I know regulations mean that designers are limited in how much they can shape a car these days, but surely it must be possible to inject a bit of style and uniqueness. What are Pininfarina doing these days?

[rwindmill]

Its a bit of a shape-less blob really, isnt it. There is nothing there that makes it stand out and be noticed. The old 205 GTi had the black plastic wheel arch extension and side trim. Sure it was very 80's but at least it meant that you knew that it was a GTi coming towards you, and not some weedy base model :-)

[EDLT]

doogz said:

EDLT said:

HURR DURRR ITS NOT A 205 -6/10.

Well spotted

Thanks. I'm pretty good at PH facts, this car is not a 205 and therefore even if it is really good it will always be st.

[Thejimreaper]

No doubt it will be >£20k. Cant get interested in Pugs at the moment. They really need to do something special to get their name back in mix.

[mat205125]

Isn't the two-owe-something range now actually a class higher and bigger than the Clio and Polo sized competitors?

[EDLT]

doogz said:

EDLT said:

Thanks. I'm pretty good at PH facts, this car is not a 205 and therefore even if it is really good it will always be st.

I see. I wondered what point you were getting at. Personally, i preferred the 309 to the 205, and i also though the 106 and 306 were great, but i guess they must all be st too.

Yes, but for slightly different reasons. PH facts are complicated.

Anyway, to give you an answer on weight: According to TG magazine's article the 208 GTi is going to be about 100kg lighter than the 207. Also, outside of Thrill of Money magazine, reviewers said nice things about the RCZ and 508's ride and handling.

[Dave Hedgehog]

looks like a vauxhall ...

[kambites]

EDLT said:

Anyway, to give you an answer on weight: According to TG magazine's article the 208 GTi is going to be about 100kg lighter than the 207. Also, outside of Thrill of Money magazine, reviewers said nice things about the RCZ and 508's ride and handling.

Hmm, so an improvement but still much heavier than the Fiesta. I guess we'll have to wait and see how it actually drives.

[annodomini2]

Poor fiesta clone

[TonyHetherington]

Alas, the 206 came out - people had high hopes, it didn't go down well.

The 207 came out - people had high hopes, it didn't go down well.

I'm not holding out that the 208 is going to be anything special, but wouldn't it be great if they came up with a viable alternative to Renault's superb offerings.

[Stew2000]

Does this rival the Fiesta S or ST?

[soad]

Stew2000 said:

Does this rival the Fiesta S or ST?

Has 22bhp more than a ST.