Peugeot e-208 GTI: a hot hatch hit, or miss?

Sam Burnett: “It’ll be fun to drive – more so than most other EVs”

This e-208 GTI is a bit of fun, isn’t it? I’m not a schmaltzy sort of person, I don’t really understand the obsession with navel gazing nostalgia – if you want a Peugeot 205 GTI, get a 205 GTI. They’re still cheaper than this e-208 will be.

But you won’t like it, it doesn’t have CarPlay or heated seats. I like that this new car has nods to the past but looks forward. It should be fun to drive – certainly more so than almost all other EVs – and it’s fairly understated too.

Looks like it’ll be a perfect everyday companion for the modern driver. Especially one who can’t remember the 1980s.

Ollie Marriage: “We all know this isn’t the second coming of GTI”

Perfect preparation prevents poor product planning. Take note, Peugeot. Because nothing says “Hang about Jean-Claude, I spy a bandwagon” more than waiting six years from the launch of the e-208, then launching your hot one on the heels of the Alpine A290.

What am I saying? Not hot, tepid. Because we all know this isn’t the second coming of GTI that we want it to be. Yes it has usefully more power than the 217bhp A290 but the GTI visual nods look like a desperate riff on an old tune Peugeot hasn’t played for 35 years.

My only hope is the Cup2 tyres and slippy diff are evidence that some proper engineering has gone on underneath. But knowing Peugeot of late, I doubt it.