Twin test: nippy little city cars

Peugeot takes on Ford in the hard-fought battle for supermini supremacy

Ubiquity, thy name is Fiesta. If you don’t have one yourself, the odds are you’re related to someone who does. Yep, it’s Britain’s best-selling car, a now-three-year-old model that recently fended off attacks from the new Clio and Corsa in TG issue 331.

Enter, then, the also-new Peugeot 208, which is in essence the same car as the Corsa.

Only – spoiler alert – much better. The problem with the Vauxhall isn’t so much its engines or the way it drives, but with its boring, cheap-feeling interior and the bare fact it isn’t very memorable or endearing. The 208 addresses both of these problems.

Few other manufacturers would have the balls to sign off this interior, with its tiny steering wheel you look at the instruments over, instead of through, and modernist, minimalist dashboard. It looks astonishing, which is why it’s such a pity it doesn’t work very well. The infotainment is laggy and not the easiest to use, the touch-buttons aren’t at all intuitive, and if you’re of a certain height you keep hitting your knee on the steering column and can’t see how fast you’re going.

It’s not very interesting inside the Fiesta. But everything is where you’d expect it, and it all works just like it should. The seat position is great and the dials crystal clear, though it doesn’t feel as richly appointed as the Peugeot.

And for the most part, the 208 is as practical as the Fiesta – their boots are similar size, shape and depth, and they both have rear seats you wouldn’t want to be stuck in for more than a few minutes. Shame the backs of the Peugeot’s front seats are scratchy, unyielding plastic. At least in the Fiesta your knees are jammed up against soft fabric.

What we’ve got here are the sporty looking ones. An ST-Line X Edition Fiesta and GT-Line 208 costing £21,365 and £23,350 respectively (the Ford is cheaper on lease, too), with comparable engines in the form of turbocharged, 3cyl petrols. The 208’s an auto because if you want this engine (you do)

Peugeot doesn’t give you a choice. Said gearbox probably accounts for most of the £2,000 price difference, but is worth its weight in gold.

There isn’t much between the engines – both are very quiet, refined and economical, though the Peugeot’s feels brawnier because it has another 44lb ft of torque.

But the Ford remains more fun – poised and reactive in a way the Peugeot, which still drives very well indeed, just isn’t. A big part of that is the controls – all weighted just so, the Fiesta has an inherent rightness to it. It feels like a lot of money has been poured into giving it an unquantifiable correctness – something Peugeot can’t replicate until it gets bored with the whole tiny steering wheel thing.

A winner? The 208 is impressive – it looks the business and drives well. But there’s no getting around how well-rounded the Fiesta is – no, it doesn’t look as cool, but it works better, drives better and costs less. It’s the car we’d recommend – in the same way we’d recommend a Golf or 3-Series Touring for largely the same reasons – but if you’re tempted by a 208, that’s OK. After all, it looks bloody cool. And it almost won.