Peugeot 208 review

This is the important bit, since there have been a fair few people who remember the gorgeous fluency of the 205 and lament the dullness of the 207. And the 208 is… pretty bloomin’ good actually. It feels light, no doubt a direct result of a weight loss of well over 100kg over the 207, but with an impressive ability to soak through nasty roads with the poise of a bigger car. Peugeot’s damping seems to have had a thorough going-over on this one.

Most of the range isn’t fizzy enough to exploit it, though: the GTi is the exception. There is at least a 109bhp version of the sweet 1.2-litre tripple though, which we found usefully more sparky than the 81bhp standard motor. And there’s a further caveat or two – even though direction changes from the tiny, sporty steering wheel are dead-shot accurate, the feedback is a bit lacking. Which means that so far, if you want the best possible handling from a small car, you’ll still be choosing a Fiesta.