Peugeot 208 GTI by PS

We just couldn’t get enough of this feisty little French hatch

IREALLY DIDN’T WANT TO GIVE THIS car back. Every time Peugeot called to say our time was up, I asked road test editor James Disdale to think of a reason why we needed to keep it. First it was for a group test, then a twin test, then a track test. Only when we ran out of decent excuses did we finally arrange a date for Peugeot to try to prise the keys from my grasp.

I still don’t feel I had enough time in the 208, though. Not because I didn’t understand it, not because I couldn’t read it intimately, not because it couldn’t be enjoyed unless the environment was perfect. Far from it. It’s because I hadn’t tired of it, at all. Every time I got behind the wheel something exciting or memorable happened, because I almost always failed to drive it in a calm or relaxed manner. The car’s attitude was so energetic – it didn’t want to cruise along, it wanted to force its short snout through the air, sniffing out any interesting stretches of tarmac.

You’d experience one, if not all of its party tricks in any drive. The way the diff engaged just at the right moment, pulling you around a corner and keeping you locked on the perfect line; the way the Michelin Super Sports would dig in after the car had shuffled sideways when you hit a mid-corner bump; how the perfectly spaced, easily judged pedals would allow you to perform plenty of fancy footwork.

The interior could have felt more solid, but beyond the brittle plastics and slightly tinny sounds, the chassis felt robust and durable. You didn’t hesitate to commit down bumpy, craggy roads, because although the firm set-up would throw you and the car around somewhat, when the tyres were in contact with the ground you could feel them vehemently clawing away at the asphalt.

What tipped the scales in favour of fun was how the front end was greedier for grip than the rear, always wanting to stay glued to the road while the back end was happier to skit around. This balance, as found on some of the best, top-tier performance cars, gave the Peugeot Sport 208 the ability to feel incredibly serious but still eminently exploitable. I even got used to its tiny steering wheel and could overlook that it obscured most of the dials.

I didn’t just love the way this car drove either; it was a joy to live with too. Just basic cruise control, none of that radar-guided nonsense, was perfect for reining in the eager, 205bhp engine when meandering through towns and villages. Meanwhile the infotainment system, once you’d got to grips with the steering-wheel buttons, made switching between the navigation and entertainment, or skipping songs or changing radio stations, incredibly easy. More complicated tasks were a little trickier, though, and they weren’t made any better by a slow touchscreen and a NON-QWERTY keyboard for your inputs. Also, the Bluetooth connection developed a little quirk during our last month with the car, cutting out for a moment every couple of seconds. After 15 minutes or so, when things had warmed up, the problem stopped – much to the relief of passengers, who seemed to prefer listening to songs in their original form rather than with my rendition filling in the missing snippets.

The 208 fitted into my life perfectly. it didn’t need to be bigger, faster or more economical, and I can’t imagine it being any more exciting. I even learned to love the Coupe Franche paintjob: it made it clear to everyone that this was no ordinary 208 GTI. I am going to really miss it. In fact, I must think up some reasons why Peugeot needs to lend us one again…