208 GTI 30th anniversary, future classic? or not?
Discussion
Hi all!
Had my 208 GTI 30th anniversary for a good few months, and one thing that's always sat on my mind is this:
'will this be at the same point in 30 years as the 205 GTI is now?'
Now I've never driven a 205 GTI to compare, but i find that the 30th is a fun car, a real hoot to chuck around on a B road, but has yet to solidify it's place as a 'keeper'. I can't see myself owning the car 5 years down the line.
first a few good points about my recent purchase:
The seats are great and are surprisingly comfortable on a long journey, really hold you in the corners.
It looks great in my opinion!
the engine has buckets of torque down low, and is plenty powerful enough for a small hatchback.
And a few more negative points:
the small wheel takes a long time to get used to fully, and to me doesn't inspire confidence in the car when driving.
Doesn't quite have enough poke to compete with the likes of a golf GTI
Very stiff ride, that while excellent for hooning about, causes quite a bit of road noise in conjunction with the low profile tyres and 18'' wheels.
18'' wheels are too big, should have been 17's
I'm still evaluating the car in my own way, and i just wanted to hear the perspective of the car community on this one as all owners clubs are bias, whether they admit it or not.
I fully understand you have to compromise some comfort for performance, but i think peugeot may have missed the boat a bit, and gone too far.
Would love to hear everyone's thoughts!
Had my 208 GTI 30th anniversary for a good few months, and one thing that's always sat on my mind is this:
'will this be at the same point in 30 years as the 205 GTI is now?'
Now I've never driven a 205 GTI to compare, but i find that the 30th is a fun car, a real hoot to chuck around on a B road, but has yet to solidify it's place as a 'keeper'. I can't see myself owning the car 5 years down the line.
first a few good points about my recent purchase:
The seats are great and are surprisingly comfortable on a long journey, really hold you in the corners.
It looks great in my opinion!
the engine has buckets of torque down low, and is plenty powerful enough for a small hatchback.
And a few more negative points:
the small wheel takes a long time to get used to fully, and to me doesn't inspire confidence in the car when driving.
Doesn't quite have enough poke to compete with the likes of a golf GTI
Very stiff ride, that while excellent for hooning about, causes quite a bit of road noise in conjunction with the low profile tyres and 18'' wheels.
18'' wheels are too big, should have been 17's
I'm still evaluating the car in my own way, and i just wanted to hear the perspective of the car community on this one as all owners clubs are bias, whether they admit it or not.
I fully understand you have to compromise some comfort for performance, but i think peugeot may have missed the boat a bit, and gone too far.
Would love to hear everyone's thoughts!
205 GTI was iconic... it was the car the Joe Public could buy and pretend to be Markku Alen or Stig Blomqvist plus in it's own right, it was pretty awesome given it weighed nothing, had plenty power and handled superbly. It was also an 80's child thus made of bog roll and tin foil and was a complex as a spoon. It's fan base was huge then and now, I just don't think any of the above applies to a 208 GTi...
BuzzBravado said:
The 205Gti is climbing because of the cult status it had, it was a desirable car in its time. I cant see ANY modern Peugeot following the same path.
The RCZR's are holding their value very well considering they were suppose to be at the 12k mark by now according to the 3 year % claims, those will gain invalue and the RCZ's in general hold their value pretty well.Limited edition Pugs normally do well as long as they are pretty good, hence you are starting to see good 306 GTI-6's/Rallye's going up in value, that will never happen with the 206 GTI's or GTI 180's or the 207 GTI's.
Pig benis said:
Absolutely not. The 205GTI came from a time when Peugeot made good cars, the 208 GTI is unfortunately from a time where Peugeot make terrible cars
Do they make terrible cars now? The 205 GTI was fun, and a great car. But objectively better than a 208?Or is it that you just don't like Peugeot? Fair enough of course...
Pig benis said:
Absolutely not. The 205GTI came from a time when Peugeot made good cars, the 208 GTI is unfortunately from a time where Peugeot make terrible cars
The terrible cars were a few years earlier - 307, 207 etc. They are good cars now, but aren't 'desirable' because of the badge and because of the reliability problems of the French makes in recent years.Futse said:
Do they make terrible cars now? The 205 GTI was fun, and a great car. But objectively better than a 208?
Or is it that you just don't like Peugeot? Fair enough of course...
Drove a 208 the last three months, for ~8K miles, and i can honestly say i hate the damn thing. Seats are sOr is it that you just don't like Peugeot? Fair enough of course...
t, electronics are st, radio is st, waaaaaay too much nannying, and it looks like a 206 with a melted aftermarket front and read bumper and lexus look lights. Top it off with the engine being boring (to be expected from a diesel, and will not apply to the GTI obviously), and the handling being terribly uninvolved, and you end up with basically the automotive equivalent of a washing machine. Itll get you where you are going, but you wont give a single st about the uninspired device.I had a lot more fun in the pre-facelift Clio MKIV i had a few years ago
Either way, there is no way any of todays hot hatches will achieve the same cult status as the originals, if only because these days 99% of them are on private lease policies, get absolutely shagged and dumped etc..
Vitorio said:
Futse said:
Do they make terrible cars now? The 205 GTI was fun, and a great car. But objectively better than a 208?
Or is it that you just don't like Peugeot? Fair enough of course...
Drove a 208 the last three months, for ~8K miles, and i can honestly say i hate the damn thing. Seats are sOr is it that you just don't like Peugeot? Fair enough of course...
t, electronics are st, radio is st, waaaaaay too much nannying, and it looks like a 206 with a melted aftermarket front and read bumper and lexus look lights. Top it off with the engine being boring (to be expected from a diesel, and will not apply to the GTI obviously), and the handling being terribly uninvolved, and you end up with basically the automotive equivalent of a washing machine. Itll get you where you are going, but you wont give a single st about the uninspired device.I had a lot more fun in the pre-facelift Clio MKIV i had a few years ago
Either way, there is no way any of todays hot hatches will achieve the same cult status as the originals, if only because these days 99% of them are on private lease policies, get absolutely shagged and dumped etc..
Vitorio said:
tonyb1968 said:
Are you sure you drove a 208 as it looks nothing like a 206
Yes, just look at the side profile, head/tail lights, clearly inspired by the 206, albeit "jazzed up" by about 15 years.Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff