Peugeot 308 Turbo 1.6 A Review

The 308 has exactly the same engine as the 207 GTI - the 1.6-litre petrol turbo co-developed by PSA Peugeot Citroen and BMW, also found in the MINI Cooper S.

Europe sells the THP175 version of 308, but we get a rather detuned, 140hp "warm hatch" that Peugeot plainly calls, a 308 Turbo.

The 308's historical model was actually quite the promising thing. The days of 205 GTi spawned a one-up 309, which was a true blue pocket rocket and a devil in the corners without much short wheelbase "snap" oversteer.

Not many talk about it these days, but we felt it was the more interesting, not to mention promising, of the two. It also had sixteen valves, 122hp (160hp in limited run, left-hand drive form for the 1.9-litre GTI16 variant), and as far as we observed, it handled better and was more fun to drive.

Today, things are a little different, probably because we aren't stuck in the golden age of Peugeot hot hatches. Don't get us wrong - they put together really excellent cars further down the 207 and 307 line-up. The 407 and 607 are both elegant and classy while being perfectly balanced cars. But when Peugeot empowers small cars with more than adequate power, things start to go wrong.

Really wrong

The biggest gripe about the 207 GTi THP 175 was that the suspension was too stiff, while the pedals and steering were too vague. While the old 205 and 206 GTi were not very far off, they were manageable if you knew what driver and car were actually doing.

The 207 ricochets off bumps in the road rather than absorbing them. Coupled with a big, numb wheel, it simply wasn't as capable as it should have been.

The 308 turbo, ironically, is the polar opposite. It has a brilliant steering wheel that was surprisingly full of feel and resistance in corners. However, when it stumbled upon strings of irregularities, it had close to no idea as to what it should have done next. When it was done bouncing around, there was an unusually long recovery period where we had to wait for things to settle in order to steady the car.

After all that, we had to cruise through the next few corners, just because the car couldn't recover from the previous bump salvo quick enough.

That strange suspension mismatch reared its ugly head too many times during our road test of the Pug. The springs did a decent job of cushioning the bump, but those dampers do not damp sufficiently - bad enough to nearly upset the car into a spin when the springs unload. Up and down they went, bouncing like a pogo stick, resulting in rather mediocre bump-steer characteristics by traditional, Peugeot standards.

Straight-line performance, while not exactly sloppy, wasn't the least bit inspiring either. Our test car came with a four-speed automatic, which unfortunately, feels very uninspiring. Don't be fooled by the "Tiptronic System Porsche" endorsement, because it does not match up in anyway to that of the Stuttgart automaker's prestigious and excellent pedigree.
Full throttle acceleration revealed alarming, irritating "lag" in all shift modes. The engine spooled normally; 2500rpm, 3000rpm and finally 3500rpm where it suddenly "decelerated" back down to around 3200rpm.

After that, it continued up the tachometer as usual. This caused a huge in-gear acceleration rift most apparent in second gear, and was a serious damper in the overtaking confidence department.

Downshifts were rather jerky, especially when shifting in manual mode down from third into second, reminiscent of Citroens during the late 90s. We're confident that a well sorted benchmark automatic from Honda would easily outdo this particular application in the way of smoothness.

Saving grace

Well then, it might have taken all the fun out of the original 175hp powerhouse and at the same time, introduced a lower rev limit than previous, "hellbound" Peugeots, but you can't deny that this car is rather well equipped.

17-inch alloys with 225/45 profile Continental Sport Contacts, half-leather sports seats, carpet mats, tyre pressure sensors, xenon headlights, MP3 CD player and optional Bluetooth connectivity.

Its interior is pretty snazzy too, so are the aesthetics, boot space and build quality. However, that acrid smell was still there - a characteristic of automatic transmission-ed Peugeots during the initial run-in period.

Alternatives?

And so we have a 207 which was too harsh and a 308 which is too vague, leaving us with an enormous gap in the middle where these otherwise two, very ideal hot hatches should rightfully be.

The asking sub-$90,000 price tag doesn't seem like much, but it is the local dealer's misfortune that Volkswagen Singapore launched the rather potent and well anticipated, but not nearly as good looking Golf 1.4 TSI - a 1.4-litre turbocharged, 122hp monster with 200Nm of torque and 7-speed DSG.

The average fuel consumption of the Vee-dub is just 5.9 litres per 100km, while the 308 clocks in at 7.3 l/100km on the average. That works out to around $10-$15 worth of difference per tank, depending on your driving style.

The cost of the Golf? Just over $85,000 (approximate) so we'll leave you to do the math.

Furthermore, the Vee-dub's 0-100km/h time of 9.4-seconds might suggest a car that is slower on paper (ed. keep a lookout for our road test on this car soon).

We're not going to deny that in minute quantities, the Peugeot 308 is fairly fun, and it makes for a spirited drive, but it has enough shortcomings that will frustrate the enthusiastic driver. Let's be honest - if you were seeking this much power in a Peugeot, you would also expect it to be a lively drive.

That's where we have a problem with it - the Pug wasn't nearly as pleasurable to punt around as some cheaper, slower cars in its range.

This includes the naturally aspirated 308, 1.6 automatic, which doesn't have much power, but feels better balanced. Unless we've missed something out, that shouldn't be the case, no?