Personal 208 Gti Review

[NFS 32]

I decided after seeing the 208 at Goodwood I would book in a test drive, I was supposed to take the car out on my own (with girlfriend of course) but apparently due to being under 25 a salesman had to come with, I expressed to him before he got in the car that I'm looking to buy a performance car and need to test the performance of the GTI! his comment was “That’s fine just don’t rag it” of course not I was thinking

 

The test drive was going well nothing to outrageous, my first thoughts was “I will get board of these weird colours on the dash and
door handles” sort of red to black fade out thing, next was that no matter how I adjusted the seat and steering wheel I never got a good view of the clock/speedo. Not good!

Anyway I thought I'm not supposed to be looking at the interior and clocks it’s about driving it, so put my foot down, little splurge of
power and then flat the whole way to redline, not impressed tbh, felt more like 150bhp 20vt golf than a 1.6 turbo 200bhp monster they are trying to sell. The steering is incredibly light, feels like it has city steering you can literally flick the steering with your little finder, I like to know I'm connected to a car and heavy-ish steering is a must in my case.

 

The ride was smooth, you can defiantly drive it every day too a forth to the shops or up the m1, not hard to drive at all. BUT there was 1
thing that really did impress me, the corning ability, it really impressed me, it felt like I was in Baz’s Miami 205 again! I was driving down a slip road to come onto the motorway it was a tight bend my astra vxr would have struggled at 70mph (as it has done before ), in the 208 I had my foot firmly planted and I looked down as the road was straightening up and I was doing 95MPH and the car was stuck, no sign of letting up or loss of grip! Nothing. The salesman was holding on for dear life. He didn’t say anything though

 

One last thing to add is the torque is vague was sitting in 6^th on the motorway and put the foot down at 70mph,and took a good 10seconds to get to 80mph. it was also on a hill as well.

 

Overall opinion? I won’t be buying one the handling alone cannot convince me to part with 18k!

 

my star rating would be a 3 out of 5 stars, good overall shopping car but not a boy racer hot hatch that it’s trying to beat, still has
nothing over the 205!

[lfallgti 12]

Not trying to be smart mate, but you've just admitted to driving dangerously on a public forum.

 

Review the car by all means and feel free to give your opinion but the speeds you claim to have been doing and the nature of your test will impress nobody on here.

[NFS 32]

Not trying to be smart mate, but you've just admitted to driving dangerously on a public forum.

 

Review the car by all means and feel free to give your opinion but the speeds you claim to have been doing and the nature of your test will impress nobody on here.

 

Your Right, come to think about it the speedo must have been reading the wrong speed as everyone on here knows that you can never speed on a public road and that no one would ever do it! silly me should of thought about the correction in the speedo doh!

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

Can you honestly hand on heart say you've never done the same?

 

Bit of pot calling the kettle black

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

A few reviews I've read have mentioned about the crap driving position

[NFS 32]

Yeah it is crap, you cant see the upper end of speedo and rev counter, im 5ft10" so im not exactly tall or small. and i couldnt see them very well and i had the seat all the way down, oh and you have to look OVER the steering wheel at the dials, MADNESS!

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

I drove a mazda 2 recently and it's the same problem. A real problem to see what speed your are going

[GLPoomobile 958]

Yeah it is crap, you cant see the upper end of speedo and rev counter, im 5ft10" so im not exactly tall or small. and i couldnt see them very well and i had the seat all the way down, oh and you have to look OVER the steering wheel at the dials, MADNESS!

 

Well that explains your confusion over what speed you were doing then

[Tom Fenton 1,542]

Can you honestly hand on heart say you've never done the same?

 

Bit of pot calling the kettle black

Couldn't agree more, bit of a strange comment on a forum of GTI owners as why would you buy a GTI when an 1100 cc 205 will happily do the speed limit?

[welshpug 1,657]

Odd these comments about visibility of the instruments, I've sat in a gti and a standard model and fiddled about with stuff and Goliath has had a test drive of a lower spec car a few months ago and had no issues, I'm 6 foot and George is 6'8" or thereabouts!

 

Personally I don't think heavy steering is required, as long as it is accurate.

[eddie bullit 37]

I had a look in the 208 today, f*ckin awful! Dash is all over the place with the media centre stuck on top of the dash, instruments hidden by a tiny steering wheel. What were Peugeot thinking? And I'm tired of them refering back to the 205. We all know it's what people remember when you mention Peugeot but that was 20+ years ago..Leave the little design cues paying homage to the 205 behing as well. Until they can look forward and really put full effort behind their hot pugs they will continue to be s*ite! They need to pintch a few members of the Renault sport team..they know how to make a hot hatch.

[welshpug 1,657]

guess you haven't seen the new Clio then :lol

[eddie bullit 37]

guess you haven't seen the new Clio then :lol

Haha! yeah I know what you mean..still better than Peugeots effort though I reckon. I think the Clio will come good as the gearbox software is improved. Always seems the same with hot Renaults. They start off luke warm and then near the end of their production life they are class leading.

[marksorrento205 80]

I have done just over 450 miles in a 208 GTi on both motorway and back roads I know very well. Although the handling may not be as hard and crashy as a 205, I found it to be very precise and rode the bumps mid fast bends very well whilst maintaining loads of grip, feel and remaining planted. After doing that run I thought the reviews did not do the car justice. A few people that have had a real drive in one have said the same and the people I have taken out (all 205 drivers) were also impressed. Having the 205, 306 rallye and a Clio 182 at home I had something to compare it to They love a bit of loo's on the roundabouts too

 

I also love the black into red that the int door handles have, the red lit up outline on the dials and the steering being light was not an issue. The Mrs gave it a good thrash and loved it too.

 

What I did not like is the lack of sound when driving it. I am not talking a chav loud s*ite noise, more a std GTi noise. Nothing a decent exhaust would not cure. Oh and having to keep putting fuel in it

 

Everyone has different views on different cars, this is mine on this one

Would I pay £18 - 20k for one - no. Why? I will wait three years and pick a low mileage one up for less than half that

[jackherer 543]

Personally I don't think heavy steering is required, as long as it is accurate.

The problem with new cars is lack of feel/feedback, they can be incredibly accurate but its like playing a computer game.

[eddie bullit 37]

I have done just over 450 miles in a 208 GTi on both motorway and back roads I know very well. Although the handling may not be as hard and crashy as a 205, I found it to be very precise and rode the bumps mid fast bends very well whilst maintaining loads of grip, feel and remaining planted. After doing that run I thought the reviews did not do the car justice. A few people that have had a real drive in one have said the same and the people I have taken out (all 205 drivers) were also impressed. Having the 205, 306 rallye and a Clio 182 at home I had something to compare it to They love a bit of loo's on the roundabouts too

 

I also love the black into red that the int door handles have, the red lit up outline on the dials and the steering being light was not an issue. The Mrs gave it a good thrash and loved it too.

 

What I did not like is the lack of sound when driving it. I am not talking a chav loud s*ite noise, more a std GTi noise. Nothing a decent exhaust would not cure. Oh and having to keep putting fuel in it

 

Everyone has different views on different cars, this is mine on this one

 

Would I pay £18 - 20k for one - no. Why? I will wait three years and pick a low mileage one up for less than half that

 

 

 

Not driven one myself but from what I've read they are supposed to handle very well. I'm making a judgement of the way it looks really. They lack presence as well I think. Fiesta looks a better bet

[Jez G 6 1 Cars]

I've just brought one. Had it since Saturday and still on less than 200 miles on the clock. It's going to Epynt over the weekend so I will have a chance drive it out of town. I have to agree the steering is a bit light but you can adjust the driving position to suit after a bit of playing around.

 

I would have liked to try a Fiesta ST but there was none around and the deal on the 208 was too good to pass on. Only time will tell if we brought the wrong car!

[lfallgti 12]

Can you honestly hand on heart say you've never done the same?

 

Bit of pot calling the kettle black

Not really is it.

 

I can honestly say I've never admitted to speeding On this forum and scaring a salesman on a test drive, yes.

 

You seem to have missed the point of my reply.

[marksorrento205 80]

Not driven one myself but from what I've read they are supposed to handle very well. I'm making a judgement of the way it looks really. They lack presence as well I think. Fiesta looks a better bet

Having read the reviews of the Fiesta I am going to book a test drive to see what the hype is about. If it is better then it is going to be one hell of a car Also cheaper and I agree it does look and sound better!

[eddie bullit 37]

Having read the reviews of the Fiesta I am going to book a test drive to see what the hype is about. If it is better then it is going to be one hell of a car Also cheaper and I agree it does look and sound better!

Let us all know what you think when you do marksorrento.

[mowflow 67]

It seems that all new cars are suffering from the steering wheel obstructing bottom/top of the instruments. My theory is that instruments are getting bigger to accommodate all the useless info such as economy, time, temperature, phone books, iPod tracks and all manner of other s*ite. Either that or the airbags are getting bigger to stop our ever expanding arses from going through the windscreen.

 

My problem with a lot of the small hot hatch offering is how similar they look. On the top gear test of the 3 the footage showing the 3 in side profile going round the track in split screen really emphasised just how similar they were.

 

We also seem to have reached an odd stage in car progression where 200bhp in a small car is pootling about the shops power. We need at least 300bhp in a hatch for it to be regarded a monster. Maybe horse powers are getting smaller like wagon wheels. So although we can fit more in you are still starving.

[BusEngineer 7]

I really like the 208, hardly driven it but very impressed with the looks, feel and trim/spec level. My only concern is the Fiesta, as its a good looking machine and Top Gear made it out to be some kind of 'Hero' car, that in my book requires further investigation.

 

But me and the other half have made a deal to buy a 208 GTi in 3 years time

Edited July 25, 2013 by BusEngineer

[eddie bullit 37]

Probably be a good deal at 3yrs old.

[mechanicalrepairs 8]

I've just brought one. Had it since Saturday and still on less than 200 miles on the clock. It's going to Epynt over the weekend so I will have a chance drive it out of town. I have to agree the steering is a bit light but you can adjust the driving position to suit after a bit of playing around.

 

I would have liked to try a Fiesta ST but there was none around and the deal on the 208 was too good to pass on. Only time will tell if we brought the wrong car!

I see you are localish, which dealer did you buy from and if you don't mind me asking what sort of deal did you get?

 

Cheers, Carl

[Jez G 6 1 Cars]

I see you are localish, which dealer did you buy from and if you don't mind me asking what sort of deal did you get?

 

Cheers, Carl

 

The Research Garage in Hinckley, The sales man really wanted to sell the car in the show room and gave us 2x list price on the trade in. It made the deal way better than anything Ford could do on an ST.