Peugeot 208 GTI

There’s no clean slate here – the French manufacturer’s name and those three following letters secured their place in motoring folklore many years ago, and in some respects that has become a yolk for this latest hot-hatch interpretation.

Although the design of the 208 GTi Peugeot is many miles removed from past interpretations of the genre, there remain obvious nods to the past. They might be considered marks of respect.

But this is no second coming of the iconic 205 GTi, rather a modern blend of performance and style that is equally astute on motorway and B-roads.

Casting my eyes on it for the first time, I was struck by chrome touches that abound.

There are chromed inserts in the gloss black grille and new halogen headlamps at the front, while at the other end, a trapezoid chromed double tailpipe and gloss-black rear skirt crave attention.

The planted look comes as no surprise, achieved by a lowering of the ride height of 8mm and wider tracks at the front and rear.

The wheels, too, look the part – spectacular five-spoke alloys, with red brake calipers peering through, on which 17-inch tyres are wrapped.

Mmm… all-in-all a very good-looking machine – and what lies inside is equally tasteful, with nods to both sporty performance and comfort. Peugeot is moving its game upwards into premium territory, and this car is a reflection of that shift.

Bolstered cloth and leather seats with red line detailing put you in the right frame of mind for a sporty drive. There’s an aluminium gear knob, leather handbrake lever, aluminium pedals and footrest and lots and lots of black, red and chrome/aluminium detailing.

It’s a deep red that dominates the cabin, and the body colours of white, grey, silver, red and black all work perfectly well with the interior colour scheme.

Add to this beautifully-crafted interior a host of standard equipment such as a 7in colour touch-screen, GTI floor mats, dual-zone automatic airconditioning and excellent audio system and you have a near-perfect cabin.

And so to the open road… Peugeot chose some of Britain’s finest motoring routes, in rural North Wales, for the UK’s motoring press to test the performance.

In a nutshell, the 208 GTi is an everyday car, equally at home in city traffic or attacking a country road corner. The acceleration figure of 0 to 62mph in 6.6 seconds will tell you that it’s fast enough, and it combines this performance with agility and smoothness, ever-so-slightly tinged with what might be called oldschool playfulness.

Yet away from the B-road blasts that the test route offered, the three-door GTi had perfect manners, cossetting both driver and passengers.

With 197bhp generated by the 1.6-litre engine already giving fine service in the Peugeot RCZ, you make powerful and refined progress through the quick-changing six-speed manual gearbox.

The power feeds through quickly, although there is a lack of aural thrills to accompany the engine’s performance.

Don’t expect fireworks, but be ready for a driving experience that will make you smile.

Rough surfaces are smoothed out by the excellent suspension, while torque steer is virtually absent, and you make progress through the gears you begin to relish the nimbleness that comes with a loss in weight.

Indeed, the 208 GTi is such a complete package that it is hard to fault. It reeks of quality, performs brilliantly on a variety of surfaces and handles with aplomb.

Having driven its rival Ford Fiesta ST, I would say the Ford wins as a driver’s car – but only just. The Peugeot offers a slightly different sort of experience. It’s more composed, more refined and, like the Ford, is great fun.

Peugeot would have faced all sorts of pressures when deciding how the 208 GTi should look and perform. In the final analysis, I think they got it just right.

The keen driver will get plenty of enjoyment behind the wheel. Yet the driver looking for steady progress, decent fuel economy and a quality cabin with a high specification, will feel equally at home.

And that’s not an easy trick to pull off. Congratulations, Peugeot, on avoiding the pitfalls and creating a very fine motor.

Fact file

Peugeot 208 GTI

PRICE: £18,895

ENGINE: 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol, producing 197bhp

TRANSMISSION: sixspeed manual

PERFORMANCE: 0 to 62mph in 6.8 seconds; top speed 143mph

ECONOMY: 47.9mpg combined

CO2 RATING: 139g/km