Car of the week: Peugeot 208 GT Line

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  • Many moons ago when I was a teenager I bought a brand spanking new black Peugeot 205 GTI and it was my pride and joy. Looking at pictures of that car now it looks ridiculously old fashioned but back then it was THE hot hatch to own.

    It was quick, fun to drive and although I managed to put a huge dent in the side of it weeks after buying it after pulling out into the path of another driver (he was not a happy bunny) I kept it for a couple of years before moving on to something a little less boy racer-ish.

    Since those days I have not really been tempted by anything Peugeot have to offer. Don’t get me wrong, they are excellent cars, and I particularly like the RCZ although that seems to have slipped off the product list in this part of the world, but executive saloons and small family cars seem to have taken priority, not that there is anything wrong with that.

    Peugeot Sport’s GTI is still around but sadly not here in the UAE, which is a great shame. However all is not lost because what you can get your hands on here is the 208 GT Line, or if you want something a little larger, you can get GT Line versions of the 308 and 508.

    Thanks to Dubai’s Peugeot dealer, Swaidan Trading, I took the pocket-sized 208 GT Line for a spin and I have to admit that although this is definitely not in the same league as the GTI, as a lookalike it’s not half bad. In fact, I really liked it and my wife fell in love with it because although it is tiny it has a massive personality.

    This is a very compact car, ideal for buzzing about town, and the latest design is really appealing with plenty of style and the extra bits you get with the GT Line which is based on the Allure model of the 208.

    It has chrome window and front grille surrounds, spotlights, red features on the grille, sophisticated looking headlights, really nice 17-inch alloy wheels and the GT Line badge on the back. I have to say, the rear of this car looks really cool with distinctive tail-lights and a chrome tipped exhaust.

    The wing mirrors also fold in when you park the car which is only a small thing but a nice touch for a car in this class. This is really one of the nicest looking small cars on the market which will probably appeal more to women than men.

    The interior is also very trendy with really comfortable seats – they are not the bucket seats you will find in the GTI but there is extra support and they look great with the GT Line heavy red stitching and leatherette trims.

    This car has the now signature Peugeot head up design with the steering wheel below the instrument cluster which is supposed to stop you looking down to see the instruments. The idea is fine and the design is interesting and refreshing but the fact is it doesn’t really work because the steering wheel, which is very small, actually obscures the instruments so you have look over it to get a clear view.

    In the end you have settle for an almost complete view and you sort of get used to it. Although the flat-bottom steering wheel is very small it is leather wrapped and feels bulky and it really adds to the sporty feel of this car.

    There is a 7-inch touch screen for the infotainment system and you get a decent sat-nav. There is also a rear parking camera. The cockpit, which has a nice soft-weave trim, is pretty compact but uncluttered and there is room enough for two adults in the back. The boot space is also pretty decent.

    The car is powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo engine with 115bhp and 160nm of torque. It is married to a four-speed automatic gearbox and the power is put down to the front wheels.

    Now, this may be a GTI lookalike but if you are looking for the same sort of power associated with a hot hatch then you will be disappointed because the similarities are purely cosmetic and the performance does not match up to the real thing.

    However, there is actually a sport mode for driving this car which provides a slightly firmer drive and the feisty four-cylinder engine, although a little revvy and a bit noisy, will get you from 0-100kmh in around nine seconds which isn’t too bad.

    For some reason it also feels a lot quicker than it actually is which means it is great fun to drive. The handling is also pretty  impressive and you can throw it into corners and it will perform in a spirited fashion. The 208 GT Line may not be the fastest little car on the road but it is not the performance that makes this so appealing.

    As I said earlier, it is one of the prettiest hatchbacks on the market at the moment and you will pay Dh71,500 which is not incredibly cheap for a vehicle of this size but French chic comes at a price and although the 208 GT Line is small it has big appeal.

    I would still like to see the GTI for sale in the UAE but for now this lovely little car is the perfect compromise.

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