The GTi is back
In the automotive world, few three-letter combinations speak to the imagination as strongly as GTi. For years, it was missing from Peugeot’s menu. Until now. Meet the brand new Peugeot e-208 GTi. Never before has a compact GTi been so powerful.
You naturally know the abbreviation GTI from Volkswagen, but – with a small ‘i’ – undoubtedly also from Peugeot. If there is one car in Peugeot’s history that you can’t ignore, it’s the 205. The Peugeot 205 was the car that introduced the GTi label to the brand. Successor 206 got a GTi variant, the 207 did not. At least, not in the Netherlands. The 207 called RC here was sold as GTi elsewhere. The previous generation Peugeot 208 did get a GTi flavor again, but the current 208 had to do without it until now. It is here now. It’s called Peugeot e-208 GTi and is not only the first electric but also the most powerful GTi from Peugeot ever.
The Peugeot e-208 GTi is clearly thicker from every angle.
280 hp on the front wheels
Yes, GTi and not PSE. Peugeot sticks that illustrious abbreviation on a very strong variant of the electric e-208. It has a 280 hp and 345 Nm strong electric motor that drives the front wheels. Yes: 280 hp electric horses in a compact hatchback in the B-segment. For comparison: the GTi of the previous generation Peugeot 208 delivered 208 hp in its strongest form – as 30th by Peugeot Sport. The firecracker therefore has the same powertrain as, for example, the Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce and the Lancia Ypsilon HF. The e-208 GTi is of course lightning fast. It thunders from standstill to 100 km/h in just 5.7 seconds. Its top speed is less impressive, because it is limited to 180 km/h. The battery pack is a familiar one. It measures 52 kWh (gross) and is therefore the same as that in the 156 hp e-208s. Its range is 350 kilometers.
Also full of GTi references inside.
Throw-and-slam party
To prevent the Peugeot e-208 GTi from sliding straight out of the bend, the model has been tackled considerably. For example, the car is not only 3 centimeters closer to the asphalt than a regular model, but the track width has also been significantly increased. It is 2.7 centimeters wider at the rear and no less than 5.6 centimeters wider at the front than that of a less unusually motorized model. That directly explains its firmly attached wheel arches filled with 18-inch light metal. What should also bring the throw-and-slam character of the 205 GTi to the e-208: a limited-slip differential, adapted power steering, Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 rubber, adapted springs and dampers, a stabilizer bar at the rear and extra potent brakes. At least at the front. The brakes are no different at the rear than those of a regular e-208. So no red brake calipers here either.
Wheels inspired by the past under the Peugeot e-208 GTi.
Full 205 GTi
Returning to the wheels: they clearly refer to the pepper pot wheels of the most famous ancestor of the e-208 GTi. Furthermore, we see red accents in the grille, as well as around the Peugeot logo on the front and even in the headlights. In addition, Peugeot’s strongest street-legal GTi has an adjusted front bumper with three openings at the bottom and a subtly adjusted rear bumper. The rear spoiler that sits at the top of the rear window is – you wouldn’t expect it – also partially finished in red. Even the GTi logo winks at times long past.
Those slippers are not the only reference to the 205’s GTi. The red piping around the wheel arches and the red introductory color of the model in the photos also wink at that legendary powerhouse. No GTi without historically responsible red accents in the interior, so in the e-208 GTi you will not only find red carpet and red floor mats, but also red seat belts and red accents on the sports steering wheel covered with a combination of perforated leather and alcantara. The sports seats are also tinted red. The 205 GTi references are therefore flying around your ears, and we understand that all too well.