Peugeot 308 1.2 T GT-LINE

STANDING ALONGSIDE A  Magnetic Blue Peugeot 308 GT at the Paris motor show, it seems strange to be discussing how German this French car feels. With the chrome lion flanked by menacing eyes and freshly clawed rear lamp signature, you wouldn’ t mistake it for anything other than a Peugeot, but it’s the clean, strong surfacing of the side panels and pillars that lends some Germanic steel. Head of design for 308 Yann Beurel is talking me around Peugeot’s ‘Golf’. ‘ We wanted to create a beautiful shape with Latin expression and a German quality feeling. This is
really important for us’, says Beurel.

Outside, away from the motor show’s dramatic artificial lighting, the 308 appears somewhat subdued. It sure is pretty enough, with ace proportions and a great balance between soft, full shapes and tense lines, but I wonder if it is a little too safe? No matter, safe is a design strategy that certainly works for the VW Golf. Perhaps conservative design reinforces the perception of quality for many customers? I imagine car designers will be taking psychology classes before long. For now though the 308 seems to be pressing all the right buttons, starting with it claiming the European Car of the Year title for 2014. But as ever, there is more to a car than appearances and gongs, and I’m about to find out if the new 308 can win me over as well.  

The door opens and shuts with appropriate weight and precision and the seat feels foamy yet firm. As for the instrument binnacle, get used to its placement above the steering wheel rim. ‘ It’s controversial, it makes people talk, but just have a ride and you’re convinced. We are quite sure it’s the best way forward,’ said Beurel at the show two days earlier. I’m sure some will continue to hate it, but I’m a fan of the small wheel in your lap driving position. Peugeot can keep its cruise control buttons hidden on an auxiliary column stalk, though. If sibling Citroen can fit all the functions on the boss where you can see them why persist with hiding them behind the wheel? Minor, personal gripe over, I greet the smiling Cyclops that passes for a centre console and play the press the dashboard to see how squishy it is game. Nice, there’s some quality right there. The impression is amplified by judicious use of brightwork some of it real metal that encamps the air vents, gear lever housing and 9.7-inch touchscreen display. Also pleasing is the lack of switch clutter. It just might have the least number of buttons this side of a Tesla Model S. Just about everything is controlled via the central display including A/C temperature and fan speed there are no trad rotary dials or separate toggles whatsoever.  

Hit the starter button positioned between the gear lever and the electronic handbrake switch and the 1. 2-litre triple begins its thrummy hum. Direct injection, turbocharging and an intercooler combine to produce 96kW and 230Nm of punchy torque through a six-speed manual transmission. Peugeot claims a 9.6-second sprint, but it feels a little faster than that, especially in Sport mode, which sharpens the throttle response, adjusts the amount of steering assistance and whips the exhaust note into a digital frenzy. Some may find it boomy on boring freeways, but it certainly ups the
sporting ambience on the twistier roads of rural France. Riding on Peugeot’s new EMP2 platform, the 308 displays a level of agility and dynamism more akin to the hot hatch crowd. Much of that comes down to its reduced mass which at 1 090 kg is 140kg down on its predecessor. That’s the kind of fat loss that really begins to show. Fortunately, ride quality hasn’ t been forgotten in the quest for nimbler handling. As a result the 308 feels well damped with good noise insulation and a settled gait. We did find the rear torsion beam suspension setup bottomed out quite quickly over fast undulating roads, though there were four adults on board at the time.

You’ll get to sample it yourself in March next year when the 308 launches in turbocharged GT Line trim. This will be followed in June by an 81 kW naturally aspirated Active model that is expected to be priced around the R275k mark. Capping off the range sometime in the third quarter is the far hotter GT model packing a 150 kW punch.

Winning European Coty for 2014 was a warning shot, poking around its impressive interior at the show ramped up the expectation, but actually driving it confirmed the Peugeot 308 has genuine star quality.

PEUGEOT 308 1.2T GT-LINE
ENGINE 1 190cc, 12v, 3-cyl petrol turbo, 96kW @ 5 500rpm, 230Nm @ 1 750rpm
TRANSMISSION  6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
SUSPENSION  MacPherson type strut front, torsion beam rear
LENGTH/WIDTH/HEIGHT 4 253/1 804/1 457mm
PERFORMANCE 9.6sec 0-100kph, 206kph, 4.8ℓ/100km, 110g/km
WEIGHT  1 090kg
ON SALE  Now