Peugeot 308 GTI review

It should be surprisingly easy to live with, considering what a wild streak it has. The 308 breaks 35mpg without a sweat and you’ll likely top 40mpg if you’re being sensible. Those are crazy numbers in the hot hatch world, where high 20s is usually as good as you can hope for.

It feels like a premium item, too. While operating the air con through a touchscreen isn’t ideal in practice, the decluttered dashboard lends it a classier feel than every one of its rivals, as does the Aston Martin-inspired anti-clockwise rev counter and perhaps the best bucket seat in its class. When every other hot hatch fits a wonderfully grappling seat too, that’s high praise indeed. Peugeot’s even has a massage function…

The GTI sits quietly at 70mph streaming whatever you want to listen to via CarPlay. There’s loads of room and kids’ seats slot easily into the back. If you never passed 2,000rpm, it’d do a very good impression of a subtle, sensible hatchback.