Peugeot 208 GT Line

REPORT 2

£23,775 OTR/£25,225 as tested/£318pcm

WHY IT’S HERE

Is a small French car supposed to be posh and grown up?

DRIVER

Ollie Kew

IF I HAD MY THREE WISHES ON THIS 208, I’D HAVE TO START OFF BY sorting out the driving position, and getting the engine start button to work straight away. Then I’d be deleting the panoramic glass roof. Now this isn’t a weight-obsessed grumble about the centre of gravity. The 208 is not a car that sells on handling. It sells on its spaceship interior. And why wouldn’t you want that bathed in all the glory of a beautiful summer’s day?

Answer: heat. This is my bugbear with giganto-glass roofs: they provide a deeply ironic real-life case study of the greenhouse effect. And no matter how much the glass is tinted, or electrochromatically farted about with, or even how well insulated the sliding blind beneath is, I’ve never encountered one that didn’t turn the cabin into a gently simmering slow cooker.

The 208’s glass roof is indeed tinted to what the trade calls ‘hen night limo levels of privacy’. I guess people presume it’s a black painted roof. And there’s a sliding blind I can drag forward, to no avail – it’s always a stuffy sweatbox, and I’ve taken to driving to weird and secluded corners of local car parks in a futile attempt to seek out shade.

Of course, the answer is to use the 208’s climate control. But I’ve noticed that left on auto, the blower seems to work exceedingly hard to maintain a stable temperature. This was confirmed when I spent a few days in the e-208 – which had a metal roof, not a glass one. Now, in an EV, with no engine noise to muffle the fan speed, it quickly becomes blatantly obvious – and annoying – if the aircon is doing overtime.

But in the e-208 – where sparing use of the aircon is critical for ultimate battery range – with no glass roof ushering in the sunlight, the 208 was able to keep its cool. And you know what? Even with a sheet of steel for a roofskin, it certainly didn’t feel any less futuristic inside.