It’s been over 40 years since the 205 GTI changed how we see Peugeot forever. It’s a high the French company has pursued ever since, but no new model launch has referenced that effervescent old hot hatch quite as much as this one.
When they’ve trying to sell a fully electric car to a bunch of enthusiasts, can you blame them? The 205’s entire design mood board has been flung at this E-208 GTI.
This retro formula is emulated across multiple reborn electric hatches, including the Renault 5 and its original, and more recently, Honda has drawn from the City Turbo II to create the Super One, due to go on sale in Australia this year.
The exterior makeover of the Pug demonstrates some cheesy but ultimately charming nods to the ’80s icon. There’s the same C-pillar GTI badging, replete with a retro font. Red strakes across its grille, through its headlamp units and over its wheelarch extensions. Its 18-inch rims have perforated holes to mimic old 205 alloy designs.
Swing the door open and you’ll find punchy red carpets, mats and seatbelts and some natty patterned fabric on the seats. There’s a new row of performance dials within the central touchscreen and a synthesised motor sound to accompany your acceleration – a warbly electronic note rather than a misguided imitation of an internal combustion engine.
It’s a nice place to sit, the interior neatly mixing premium fabrics with pragmatic plastics to keep the price competitive. Peugeot’s love-or-loathe i-Cockpit is present and correct; those under six foot are likely to find it an easy place to get comfy, the view of its digital speedo over the top of its uncommonly dinky steering wheel.
The seats are fab, neatly fitting the GTI aesthetic while hugging you tight in corners. They’re perched surprisingly low for a front-driven supermini, too.
The climate controls are tucked too deeply within the central display and the drive mode switch is fiddly, but there’s decent space in the rear and a reasonable, 309-litre boot. The best hot-hatches always had a practical edge…
Beneath the skin is where it shouts loudest, however. Peugeot claims there’s know-how from the chiselled 9X8 racecar of its World Endurance Championship programme in here – specifically around its battery cooling, for greater stamina when driven quickly – yet the GTI’s on-paper changes all tally with those of the Opel Corsa GSE.
Plenty of its Stellantis cousins combine this 207kW/345Nm front-axle motor and 54kWh battery (51kWh useable). Yet with a bit less weight to carry, this is a genuinely rapid car, claiming 0-100km/h in 5.5 seconds (albeit a limited 180km/h top speed).
It also claims 352km of range on its standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S tyres or 375km if you go for an optional Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 (and likely enjoy a bit less grip with it).
Max DC charging is 100kW, allowing you to replenish from 20 to 80 per cent in around half an hour. Efficiency is quoted at 15.9 to 17.1kWh per 100km.
A host of chassis tweaks help mitigate its near doubling of the base E-208’s power. The ride height drops 25mm, the tracks are wider, there’s a new anti-roll bar at the rear, and a Torsen mechanical limited-slip differential operates at the driven front axle. Stiffer spring rates are offset by hydraulic bump stops to better balance precision and comfort.
Its Alcon brakes are enormous 355mm items up front and the regen system decouples in the GTI’s Sport mode, for more natural pedal response in rapid driving. Sport also opens up a more lenient stability control mode to better dig into the hooligan heritage of the original Peugeot 205 GTI.
In reality, it’s a nicer car kept in Normal. The steering is cleaner and you get maximum power on full throttle regardless of your mode. And boy, is it rapid. That 0-100km/h time feels genuine yet there’s a generous linearity to its throttle response, freeing the GTI of the novelty, whipcrack acceleration of bolshier performance EVs.
You quickly build a confident, rapid flow in here, high grip levels allowing you to tip it eagerly into bends before the Torsen diff tenaciously gnaws you out the other side.
The ride is pretty taut through town, to the potential detriment of its everyday useability, though the GTI breathes better with speed. There’s fun to be had even if it inevitably stops short of the outright playfulness of the car it’s trying to cosplay.
The looser ESP shackles would need a circuit to fully explore and the system can’t be disabled entirely. This is a more mature proposition than an old 205.
We scored an efficiency of 23kWh/100km in reasonably spirited driving, for a real-world 160-200km of range while occasionally indulging the GTI’s dynamics on a decent road. Experience of its Corsa GSE cousin on a circuit suggests this would be a great track car, too, however unlikely owners are to endure the logistics involved in that.
We’ve tested it on the gorgeous roads of the Scottish highlands, where prices start at £33,495 with a government incentive – or a whisker under $65,000.
It never punches much harder than the sum of its parts, but there’s enough dynamic intrigue to cash the cheques of its appealing design makeover and it sits comfortably amid the increasingly competitive electric hot hatch sector.
Time to lobby for some imports now, though Stellantis Australia needs to first commit to selling Peugeot in Australia after the previous distributor Inchcape dropped the French brand earlier this year.