Peugeot 308 GTI 270 Review: Blisteringly Quick With One Fatal Flaw

The 270 version of Peugeot's 308 GTI is fast, handsome and well built, but it's let down by a single major flaw
Peugeot 308 GTI 270 Review: Blisteringly Quick With One Fatal Flaw

While it’s always been Peugeot’s inability to produce a proper successor to the 205 GTI that’s caught all the attention (although arguably it’s now done that with the 208 GTI Anniversary), the thing that’s always irked me is the lack of 306 GTI-6 follow-up. Up until recently, I’d argued that it was the last heroic hot hatch Peugeot built. The 307 never spawned a hot variant, and although the previous generation 308 did have a GTI model, it was so pathetic Peugeot dropped the ‘i’ from the name in Britain and sold it as the ‘GT’.

This time though, it looks as though Peugeot has done things properly. On the new 308 GTI there’s a wider front and rear track, lower, stiffer suspension, bigger brakes and a lot more power. The base ‘250’ car kicks out 247bhp and 243lb ft of torque from its 1.6-litre turbocharged four-pot, but if you do things properly and bag the 270, you’ve 267bhp to play with. Oh, and you get an even bigger set of brakes - 380mm discs with four-piston callipers up front - bigger wheels, sports seats, and a Torsen limited-slip differential thrown in. Not bad considering it’s only £1600 more at £28,445.

Peugeot 308 GTI 270 Review: Blisteringly Quick With One Fatal Flaw

Naturally, the one we tested was the most powerful 270 version, and from the off, it’s rather impressive. It’s a handsome thing - even if I’m not so sure about the two-tone, £1400 ‘Coupe Franche’ finish of our test car - and everything about it has a well-built, substantial feel about it. The doors and boot all feel reassuringly hefty, the interior is solid, and yet the whole lot weighs a thoroughly reasonable 1280kg.

The good news continues once you start poking it with a stick. The dinky little 1.6-litre lump is enormously punchy from 2500rpm all the way up to the 6000rpm redline, even if it doesn’t make a particularly inspiring noise. It’s pokey enough to get you from 0-62mph in six seconds dead, on to a top speed of 155mph.

Peugeot 308 GTI 270 Review: Blisteringly Quick With One Fatal Flaw

I’m a fan of the chassis, too. There’s no fancy adaptive suspension to fiddle with here, just well-judged damping, spring rates and stiffness. It’s one of the more comfortable cars in the class, and yet it possesses properly tidy body control, allowing for just enough give to get into a nice flow without resulting in a floppy mess. Up front the Torsen diff allows for good traction, although it’s much easier to push the 308 into understeer territory than something like a Seat Leon Cupra.

It all feels nicely frantic and boisterous - this is a bloody quick point-to-point car that goes about its business in an exciting, slightly lairy manner as it scrabbles for grip on corner exits. All sounds jolly good so far, and that’s before we get to the subject of the brakes, which are mighty strong, and the standard equipment list, which is respectably long. You even get massage seats. Fancy.

Peugeot 308 GTI 270 Review: Blisteringly Quick With One Fatal Flaw

Unfortunately though, there’s a problem. And it’s a biggie: the steering. I’m not just talking about the usual modern car complaint of a slight lack of feedback, either. It’s particularly numb, and is so light and inconsistent (it’s very quick just off centre and slower thereafter), that your confidence in the fine chassis is drastically sapped. It doesn’t help that the wheel is so damn small, and that the Torsen diff is a bit grabby and torque steer-inducing. All this comes together to make a nervous-feeling front end.

Because this is rather a big deal, it means the more forgivable faults become particularly annoying. For instance, I don’t like the decluttering ethos which has relegated the heater controls to the not-terribly-responsive touchscreen, and while we’re on the subject of the infotainment system, I find it baffling that the navigation won’t let you enter postcodes.

Peugeot 308 GTI 270 Review: Blisteringly Quick With One Fatal Flaw

Then we have the annoying noises to contend with. The augmented engine sound that’s piped through the speakers during sport mode (this mode also turns the dials red, so you can’t see the redline) makes the car sound like a frigging spaceship. And on that theme, the noise it makes if you open the door when you don’t have the parking brake on makes it sound as though the Starship Enterprise is under attack. I’ve thought about it long and hard, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard a warning sound on a car that’s quite so aggravating. Still, at least that means it does its job…

Peugeot 308 GTI 270 Review: Blisteringly Quick With One Fatal Flaw

The trouble is, this little corner of the market is so fiercely contested that any major flaw just won’t fly. We’re in a world where the aforementioned Leon Cupra is now arguably third best or lower behind the mighty Ford Focus RS and Honda Civic Type R, after all. And while Peugeot seems to be gunning more for Golf GTI buyers, the VW would tempt me away, particularly with the Performance Pack and its sensational VAQ differential fitted.

It’s a shame as the good bits here are very good, and this is the closest Peugeot has ever come to making a true 306 GTI-6 successor. What the 308 GTI is then, is a step in the right direction, but a missed opportunity.

Comments

Anonymous

Is the flaw that its a Peugeot?

04/16/2016 - 08:52 |
2 | 20
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

You should try driving a modern Peugeot, they’re a lot different to the unreliable generations that spawned people like you to hate them

04/16/2016 - 09:12 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Peugeot has made a lot of great cars. Your statement is invalid

04/16/2016 - 09:14 |
14 | 0
Anonymous

Simple. Cars had to get safer. Therefore fatter. Fatter = heavier = crappier than previous generations.
Previous generations = fun = probable crash.
Newer generations = overly smothering safety standards.

04/16/2016 - 09:02 |
28 | 8
JonathanT75

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

at 1280kg It’s really not that heavy

04/16/2016 - 11:47 |
48 | 0
Thomas B

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

the new focus RS is 200 to 300kg heavier and no one complains about that

04/16/2016 - 14:09 |
10 | 2
Anonymous

Do people even test their cars? Surely someone at Peugeot would notice this major fault?

04/16/2016 - 09:03 |
2 | 0
Ian Gale

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

The thing is, it’s a major fault for car enthusiasts but the average driver just wont notice. My good friend just bought a 2011 Nissan Sentra and he thinks that the car is amazing. He LOVES the way it drives and yet it’s one of the most dynamically bland cars I’ve ever driven. Imagine putting him in one of these hot hatches. He would lose his mind with how “good” this car is. The sad reality is most buyers are like that so it’s likely to sell anyway.

04/16/2016 - 15:19 |
6 | 0
Aaron 15

Great review man, I think you forgot to mention that £28,000 is too much money for a hot hatch
Still, I love the way you write things :)

04/16/2016 - 09:21 |
16 | 0

Thanks! £28k is about the going rate for a hot hatch with this much power though, you’ll pay about the same for a Seat Leon Cupra or a Golf GTI with PP, while the more powerful Civic Type R, Focus RS etc are all a bit more

04/16/2016 - 10:01 |
14 | 0

I wish people would stop saying this. People are comparing these cars to something a lot cheaper back in the day like a 306 gti or a cliosport. You’re forgetting the fact that these new cars are just as quick, if not quicker, than there more “sporty” rivals like BMW M cars for a fraction of the price. If you want a cheap hot hatch that more closely resembles the performance and price of older models go for a Fiesta ST or a Peugeot 208 gti.

04/16/2016 - 13:52 |
2 | 0
Anonymous

Well written review, showed both sides of the story.

04/16/2016 - 09:46 |
2 | 0
Left Light Blinker Fluid (The Supra Maniac)

Honestly, the front looks like taken from an Opel.

04/16/2016 - 10:16 |
0 | 0
Raregliscor1

I do love this car. I think it just looks superb. xD

04/16/2016 - 10:17 |
2 | 0
iCypher(Joel Chan)

Wait..What about the gearbox?How’s that like?

04/16/2016 - 10:41 |
2 | 0

Short throw, firm lock but still a bit light, and for me the gear knob perfectly fit in your hands. But the gears themselves are a bit long. Nice gearbox but not the best one.

04/16/2016 - 18:29 |
0 | 0

its nice to use, tested it other day, but in comparative whit the new mx-5 is to long and soft, but its at same level as a golf…

04/24/2016 - 13:20 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

I actually drove the 308 quite a bit, a few thousands miles, but not the gti (a more “modest” version of the 1.6 THP) and i had no issue whatsoever with the steering.

04/16/2016 - 12:09 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Looks great but for £28,000 I’d rather get something like a new GT86 and with some of the spare cash put a supercharger in from Cosworth of something like that. I love hot hatches but I can’t justify the price of a new one unless it really takes my fancy (the new Focus RS for instance)

04/16/2016 - 13:15 |
0 | 0

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